RCSI Heritage Collections

What has an RCSI President from 1797 and a character from Father Ted have in common??  A weird fondness for cats, it seems.    Here is a quote describing a trait of William Hartigan, President of RCSI in 1797... ' William Hartigan was noted for his fondness of cats. He frequently, on his professional rounds of visits, brought a pair of kittens with him, ensconced in the deep coat-pockets worn early in the last century '. - History of the  Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland by Sir Charles Cameron While below is Father Ted's description of Matty Hislop from the Lent episode of Father Ted called ' Cigarettes and Alcohol and Rollerblading '... Ted: 'God almighty, when I think of the sacrifices Matty Hislop made' Dougal: 'Who?' Ted: 'He was a notorious drunkard who found God and then decided to punish himself for his sins. Oh, he used to do all kinds of things. Like he had a terrible allergic reaction to cats. So instead of avoid...

Rolled up x-ray prints While wandering through the archives just before the Christmas holidays, the two rolled up bundles shown above caught our attention. Written on one of the bundles was the word 'X-rays' while on the other one can make ' Mauser in abdomen...' On returning from the holidays it was decided to investigate further. And what a belated Christmas present we found! All together there are 28 x-ray prints in fairly good condition. Not only that, the majority of them have details about the injury shown in the x-ray, where it happened, when it happened and how it happened written on the back. An archivist's delight! So when are the majority of these x-ray prints from you ask?? Black Week (10-17 December 1899) of the Second Boer War  The first print to be unfurled was the one with 'Mauser' written on it. The handwritten note states 'Mauser in abdomen - lodged in front colon - localised and extracted'. The print itself is below ...

The Corleys holidaying in Peel on the Isle of Man in 1901 The photograph on the left is believed to show the wife of Dr. Anthony Hagerty Corley (RCSI President 1887) and her children enjoying the sunshine at the traditional Corley holiday spot of Peel on the Isle of Man. It was sent to the Heritage Collections by a distant relative of Dr. Corley's, Dr. John Richards from the University of Glasgow.  Dr. Anthony Hagerty Corley was born in Dublin on the 16 th March 1840. Corley’s professional training took place in the Ledwich School of Medicine, the Queen’s College, Galway, the Mercer and Adelaide Hospitals. He became a Licentiate of the RCSI in 1861 and graduated M.D . from Queen’s University Galway in 1863. Dr. Corley’s career flourished with lecturing positions in Anatomy and Surgery in the Carmichael College of Medicine; becoming a Fellow of the RCSI in 1863; surgeon to the House of Industry Hospitals in 1865 and surgeon of Jervis Stree...