RCSI Heritage Collections

RCSI is committed to embedding equality, diversity and inclusion across everything we do. Today, more than seventy countries are represented across RCSI's student population, continuing a proud tradition of welcoming students from around the world that can be traced back to the early years of the College through the RCSI Roll of Licentiates. Once a graduate had completed their studies, passed exams, and received their licence, they were invited to enter their names in the RCSI Roll of Licentiates. From 1828, the Roll contains the full names as well as normal place of residence of all RCSI Licentiates. The vast majority of those early licentiates hailed from across Ireland, alongside a very small number of students from England, Scotland, and Wales. The first international licenciate to appear in the Roll was a William Boxwell Thompson from Madras (Chennai), India, on 6 August 1830. Over the following decades, students began to flock to RCSI from around the world. Check out the map

This week saw the unveiling of a commemorative plaque in honour of Dr Kathleen Lynn and her partner Madeleine ffrench-Mullen for their services to paediatric care in Ireland.  In addition to their contribution to Irish healthcare and society, both women have extensive links to RCSI. Lynn was a student in RCSI during the 1890s, and was awarded the prestigious Barker Prize in Anatomy in 1898. She later became a fellow of RCSI in 1913. ffrench-Mullen was a member of the Irish Citizen Army Stephen's Green garrison stationed in RCSI during the 1916 Rising. Kathleen Lynn and Madeleine ffrench-Mullen were heavily involved in the Irish nationalist movement and both played key roles in the events of Easter Week 1916. As a trained doctor, Lynn was Chief Medical Officer of the Irish Citizen Army during 1916 and taught first-aid to Cumann na mBan members. ffrench-Mullen was a lieutenant in the Irish Citizen Army and was in charge of the first-aid station at the RCSI garrison.  Interior of Col

In honour of Bloomsday this year, RCSI Heritage Collections looks at some of the intersections that can be mapped between the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, James Joyce and the history of medicine in Dublin Ulysses by James Joyce So, will you find RCSI in Ulysses? Yes you will yes... Seek a Joycean connection in Dublin and you shall likely find one.  RCSI’s historic location with a campus spanning from 123 St. Stephen's Green, places it in the right setting. But the College's existence in the realm of Ulysses features more through its people than its locale. Mercer's operating theatre (1908) - 'The Quality of Mercer's', J.B. Lyons In 1904, the year Ulysses takes place, the Mercer building on Mercer St. & Stephen St. Lwr. was operating as a hospital. Today, Mercer’s is part of the RCSI’s Dublin city campus and is home to RCSI Heritage Collections and to Mercer's Medical Centre . In May 1904, Mercer’s Hospital held an extravagant fundraising event

There has always been a need in healthcare for blood replacements. According to medical folklore it is thought that the Incas were the first civilization to use blood transfusions as a healing procedure. The methods used are unclear but they were somewhat successful (official numbers unknown) due to the fact that a large part of the indigenous people in the Andean region would have the same type blood making the risk of fatality far less.

On the 15th of April, 1912, the RMS Titanic sank after striking an iceberg and over 1,500 lives were lost. The ship slipped from view under the Atlantic Ocean with only 705 having escaped. Of the victims, some felt their duty was to remain and go down with the vessel. One such man on duty was Dr William Francis Norman O'Loughlin, Senior Surgeon White Star Line and RCSI graduate. Dr. W.F.N. O'Loughlin. Senior Surgeon White Star Line, Died April 15, 1912, On Duty. William Francis Norman O’Loughlin was born on 22 October 1849 in Tralee, Co. Kerry. He embarked on his education journey in the 1860s, reportedly to Trinity College and the Catholic University of Ireland, the precursor of UCD on St. Stephen’s Green. He took medical training in Cecelia St. and went on to take his exams with the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, signing the Roll of Licentiates in August, 1870. Signature in the RCSI Roll of Licentiates, 1870 A year later, in 1871, he became a Licentiate of the Royal Co