Every sip, measured. Every sip, counted.
Clonmacduff Medical is an Irish clinician-founded company developing a patient-controlled oral hydration device — so that patients who struggle to drink independently can take safe, fixed-volume sips on their own, with their intake recorded automatically at the bedside.
The problem
Hydration is basic care — and hard to deliver.
Many hospital patients cannot reach, lift, or safely manage a cup: after surgery, in recovery, with restricted movement, or with conditions that make ordinary drinking effortful or unsafe. Helping a patient take small, frequent sips is time-intensive for nursing staff, and what a patient actually drinks between observations is largely unrecorded.
The result is familiar on every ward: thirst that waits for a busy nurse, intake charts built on estimates, and dehydration that complicates recovery.
Our approach
Put the sip in the patient's control.
The device mounts at the bedside and lets the patient drink water on demand — without lifting a cup, without calling for help, and without the risks of unrestricted free flow. It is built on three principles:
Patient-controlled
The patient initiates every sip themselves, restoring a basic piece of independence to people who otherwise wait for assistance to drink.
Measured
Each sip delivers a small, fixed volume of water — never an uncontrolled flow — so drinking stays safe for patients who need it delivered gradually.
Counted
The device records each delivered sip, giving nursing staff an objective picture of oral intake between observations, without adding to their workload.
Company
Founded at the bedside, built in Meath.
Clonmacduff Medical was founded in 2026 by Dr. Maria Darcy, a licensed psychologist and clinician-inventor whose consultation work across post-surgical recovery and end-of-life care — together with her own experience as a post-surgical patient — shaped a simple conviction: the ability to take a drink of water should not depend on how busy the ward is.
The company is based in Dunderry, County Meath, and develops its technology with Irish clinical and engineering partners.
- Founded
- 2026, Ireland
- Founder
- Dr. Maria Darcy, Ph.D.
- Base
- Dunderry, Co. Meath
- Focus
- Patient-controlled oral hydration for acute and supportive care
Where we are
In development — and looking for partners.
- Development stageWorking prototypes; design and risk documentation maintained under a structured design-controls process.
- Intellectual propertyPatent application in progress; technology described publicly at a functional level only.
- Clinical engagementPreparing for structured clinical evaluation with Irish healthcare innovation partners.
- PartnershipsWe welcome conversations with clinical evaluation sites, manufacturing partners, and healthcare organisations across Ireland and beyond.
Contact
Talk to us.
For clinical, partnership, or general enquiries:
admin@clonmacduffmedical.ieClonmacduff Medical · Dunderry, Navan, Co. Meath, Ireland