RCSI Heritage Collections

Look closely and you will see that Heritage Collections has installed a display of microscopes in the '1784' restaurant! At various times in the mid 19th century, Dublin was home to two trailblazing microscopical groups: the Microscopical Society of Dublin and the Dublin Microscopical Club. The former was founded in 1840 and lasted for only 15 years, and was attended by John Barker (1818-1879), Curator of the Museum in RCSI. The latter, however, ran for around 70 years until c.1926.   The microscope became an important tool for studying nature, using preparations of animals, plants, blood and tissue. Both a leisure activity for the middle class and an emerging field in the leading institutions, club membership began to see an increase of professionals and the microscopical activity on the Dublin scene in this era was distinguished. Several societies in Dublin were involved in natural history, including the Royal Zoological Society, Dublin Naturalists' Field Club, and the Ro...

To mark World Digital Preservation Day 2023, RCSI Library Heritage Collections has published its collection of digitised Annual Reports of RCSI Council spanning the years 1844-1961. Comprising 118 individual reports and almost 3000 pages in total, this is the latest release of digitised material from the RCSI College Archive. Each report is fully word searchable, and the collection can be accessed at the RCSI Digital Heritage Collections site here .   A History of Healthcare Education The Annual Reports of RCSI Council are a rich resource for the study of the development of healthcare education in Ireland and Britain and the regulation of the surgical and medical professions. They reflect broader areas of concern regarding healthcare education and practice in these isles and document RCSI’s interaction with other educational institutions and regulatory bodies on matters of professional importance.  The Annual Reports also show the development of RCSI as an educational ins...