RCSI Heritage Collections

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the RCSI Heritage Collections Photo of a snow covered St Stephens Green taken in the winter of 1910.  The College can just about be seen in the background.  (RCSI/News/01)

Last week the RCSI Heritage Collections were involved in the recording of the brilliant The Book Show on RTÉ Radio 1  which will be aired this Saturday 20th December. The show is about the rise of Gothic novels and ghost stories. Sinead Gleeson, The Book Show presenter, discusses Edith Wharton's novel The Eyes with Dr. Ian Flitcroft, an eye surgeon at Temple Street Hospital and author of the short-listed People's Book Prize 2013 The Reluctant Cannibals .     To set the scene for The Eyes  the RCSI Heritage Collections pulled out a number of antique eye instruments and gave a brief description on how they were used. RCSI/MI/964 The instrument on the left is an eye retractor (RCSI/MI/964). This would have been used to pull and hold the overlying tissue out of the operating field. RCSI/MI/942 is an eye scoop. This would have been used after the removal of an eye to scoop out any of the remaining tissue. The instrument below is an eye speculum (RCSI/MI/...

In these dark, damp and deeply cold evenings it is nice to gaze at a beautifully crafted stained glass window with its magnificent array of colours. And what better way to to do so then while keeping warm indoors! The RCSI is very fortunate to have a number of stained glass windows in it's historic building on Stephens Green. Two of which come from the internationally revered and highly sought after Harry Clarke Studios. Harry Clarke took over his father's stained glass studios in Dublin in 1921 and soon became synonymous with unique and exceptionally crafted stained glass. Despite his untimely death in January 1931, the Harry Clarke Studios continued to produce stunning pieces of art for all over the world. In 1930 Terence Clarke, a nephew of Harry, entered the family studios as an apprentice quickly learning and honing his skill as a stained glass artist.     Detail of 'Mother and Child' stained glass panel in the RCSI Chapel of Meditation  Terence Cla...

The RCSI Heritage Collections has recently digitised the RCSI Examinations Register from 1784 to 1803 (RCSI/LIC/01/02). The 12 folios list alphabetically the names of those who have been examined in the RCSI for Letters Testimonial, Mateship, Army Surgeon, Surgeoncy, Army Mate, Navy Mate, Assistant Surgeon and to be a ranked mate to a ranked officer. Find the full register on our website. RCSI/LIC/01/02 pg.1 RCSI/LIC/01/02 pg.2 - Researched and written by Meadhbh Murphy