RCSI Heritage Collections

This year is the year of celebrating the rebellion and what those few hoped to achieve. So with this theme of rebellion in mind, who should be found amongst the early giants of Irish surgery and the history of RCSI but a rebel so rebellious he is expelled! Enter the aptly named William Lawless There is a little confusion over the exact year that Lawless was born in Dublin, some sources say it was 1772 while others say it was a little earlier in 1764. Either way we know he had completed his surgical studies and received his Letters Testimonial from RCSI on 11th June 1788. How can we be so exact? It is written in the RCSI Roll of Licentiates from that time, see below William Lawless' name is the first listed above (RCSI/Lic/01/02) In 1790 Lawless was elected a Member of the College and on 1st September he was appointed Professor of Anatomy and Physiology. Lawless was an avowed nationalist and along with his fellow surgeon, William Dease, was an active member of the Unit...

As the RCSI Heritage Collections is full of interesting and intriguing stand alone pieces we have decided to start a series dedicated to these. First up is this..... Field surgical kit RCSI/MI/252 This is a field surgical kit that was used by surgeons during the Battle of Vitoria , in the Basque region of Spain. This battle took place on 21 June 1813 and it was between an army of British, Portuguese and Spanish soldiers under the command of General Arthur Wellesley, the 1st Duke of Wellington  and a French army under the leadership of Joseph-Napoleon Bonaparte , eldest brother of the Napoleon Bonaparte.  This battle was one of a series in what became known as the Peninsular War, which eventually lead to the defeat of the French and Napoleon. 'Victoria of Vittoria' by John Masey Wright 1814 Courtesy of the British Museum   How can we tell this kit was used on the battlefield, you ask. Well we have a receipt! Accompanying this item is the receipt below. ...