RCSI Heritage Collections

With the theme for this year's Heritage Week being 'It's in your Nature', this is the perfect time to delve into the history of the RCSI Museum, which held an impressive collection of zoological specimens. Much of the information in this post comes from Sir Charles A Cameron’s great work 'History of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, The Irish Medical Schools etc' which in 2016 RCSI Heritage Collections made available to read and search on-line . It is an immensely readable tome and contains fascinating insights into the history of the college. We’ll also utilise other sources including J.D.H. Widdess' history of RCSI as well as the annual reports of the College. The museum began life late in the 18th century on Mercer Street; early contributions were made to it by Mr. John Halahan and Mr. William Dease . The first museum catalogue was prepared in 1795 by the professors of Anatomy. By 1819 the museum was somewhat neglected, Cameron tells us that ‘abou...

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...