RCSI Heritage Collections

In April 1865 Mary Anne Dooley, a 14 year old girl, was brought to Jervis St. Hospital after an accident in the paper mill where she worked had left her right hand lacerated and torn. On duty was a respected and learned medical man who decided that in one last attempt to save the girl's life he would attempt the first ever human to human blood transfusion in Ireland. This man was Robert McDonnell. Robert McDonnell (1828-1889) McDonnell was a confident surgeon who came from a prominent medical family. His father, John McDonnell, had carried out the first amputation using ether as an inhalation anaesthetic in Ireland on New Years Day 1847 in the Richmond Hospital. So you can say Robert was definitely following in his father's first steps! Robert was born in 1828 in Dublin. He entered Trinity College Dublin in 1844 and was apprenticed to Richard Carmichael in November 1845. He graduated with B.A and M.B in 1850 and obtained his Licence from the RCSI in February 1851. Robert...

The RCSI Heritage Collections were delighted to hear this morning that our blog has made the short list in the 'Best Arts & Culture' category for the Blog Awards Ireland 2014. Blog Awards Ireland 2014 Short List Nominee A gúna will have to be purchased!!

'For the purpose of demonstrating the destructive effect of firearms upon the human frame, Bully's Acre (a pauper's graveyard) gave up its cleverest treasures for the performance of the experiment. The subjects being placed with military precision along the wall, the lecturer entered with his pistol in hand, and levelling the mortiferous weapon at the enemy, magnanimously discharged several rounds, each followed by repeated bursts of applause. As soon as the smoke and approbation subsided, then came the tug-of-war. The wounded were examined, arteries were taken up, bullets were extracted, bones were set, and every spectator fancied himself on the field of battle, and looking upon Mr. Kirby as a prodigy of genius and valour for shooting dead men'.  - Erinensis Sketches of the Surgical Profession in Ireland No. IV Mr. Kirby, Lancet 1824 This quote caught our attention here in the RCSI Heritage Collections. So we decided to look further at this Mr. Kirby and what ...

As the commemorations of World War I continue the RCSI Heritage Collections have decided to follow Monty Python's suggestion... Amongst the Heritage Collections you can come across such hidden gems as 180 glass plate slides taken by John Alfred Scott, Professor of Physiology in the College from 1889 to 1926. These slides are housed in 3 bespoke wooden boxes with handwritten labels attached.  Wooden bespoke box with manuscript labels containing Scott's glass plate slides (RCSI/IP/Scott) Scott's glass plate slides (RCSI/IP/Scott) John Alfred Scott was born in Dublin on 2 October 1854. He was educated in Waterford and after leaving school took up a job making apparatus for lighthouses. This occupation did not last long and soon Scott was enrolled and studying medicine in the Ledwich and Carmichael Schools. He received his medical qualifications from the College in 1881 and the Royal College of Physicians in 1882. In 1886 Scott obtained his Fellowship fr...

The RCSI Heritage Collections are delighted to announce that they have been nominated in the 'Best Arts and Culture Blog' category of the Blog Awards Ireland 2014. Check out all the other categories and nominees on the Blog Awards Ireland 2014 website.