RCSI Heritage Collections

RCSI is committed to embedding equality, diversity and inclusion across everything we do. Today, more than seventy countries are represented across RCSI's student population, continuing a proud tradition of welcoming students from around the world that can be traced back to the early years of the College through the RCSI Roll of Licentiates. Once a graduate had completed their studies, passed exams, and received their licence, they were invited to enter their names in the RCSI Roll of Licentiates. From 1828, the Roll contains the full names as well as normal place of residence of all RCSI Licentiates. The vast majority of those early licentiates hailed from across Ireland, alongside a very small number of students from England, Scotland, and Wales. The first international licenciate to appear in the Roll was a William Boxwell Thompson from Madras (Chennai), India, on 6 August 1830. Over the following decades, students began to flock to RCSI from around the world. Check out the map ...

Just like the temperature, get ready for the excitement levels to soar! The years 1920 to 1950 of the RCSI Roll of Licentiates are now available on line. Click on this link to find them RCSI Roll of Licentiates RCSI Roll of Licentiates (RCSI/LIC/02) The signature that can be seen above is that of Harry O'Flanagan who received his licence from the College in 1939. Harry was to have a colourful medical career joining the RAF medical branch in 1944 and inspecting medical facilities in Palestine, Libya and Kenya.  Harry O'Flanagan c.1944 In 1962 Harry was appointed Registrar of RCSI and under his creative thinking, energy and enthusiasm the College was revitalised, upgraded and expanded. To show the College's appreciation for all Harry had done, he was bestowed with an Honorary Fellowship in 1981. A past President of RCSI, Peter McLean, summed up Harry's influence when he said ' Harry O'Flanagan revolutionised our College '. - Researched...

With the arrival of the sunny weather, the growth in strawberry consumption and tennis racquets at the ready for Wimbledon next week, it is time to crack the Pimm's open. But how do all these elements relate to RCSI you ask? Through the man below, Dr. Joshua Pim. Dr. Joshua Pim with the Wimbledon Singles trophy Dr. Joshua Pim was not only a descendent of James Tee Pimm , the celebrated creator of the drink Pimm's , but also a holder of the Singles and Doubles Irish Championships and Wimbledon titles in 1893 and 1894. Pim burst onto the tennis scene with his first major win at the tender age of 21. Pim along with his partner Frank Stoker (a relative of the author Bram Stoker and the RCSI surgeon William Thornley Stoker ) won both the English and Irish doubles championship in 1890. But he had been playing since the age of eleven and was coached at the Lansdowne Lawn Tennis Club by the great Irish player Thomas Burke. At this time the Irish Championships was one of the mo...

Another 3 decades of the RCSI Roll of Licentiates have been made available on our website . They are the years 1890 up to 1920, so feature those who received their licence before, during and after the First World War. One such person was John Cecil Lynmore Day from Limerick whose signature can be seen below, fourth name from the top. RCSI Roll of Licentiates 1910-1911 RCSI/LIC/02 Day received his licence from the College on the 10th February 1910. He then features in the RCSI Roll of Honour 1914-1918, an honours list that was produced by the College to remember and celebrate all those staff and students that played their part in the Great War. Day's name can be seen in the image below, fifth from the bottom. RCSI Roll of Honour 1914-1918  Browse these newly added years and who knows you may find the name of that long lost relative you were told tales about when younger! - Researched and written by Meadhbh Murphy

The RCSI Heritage Collections are delighted to make available two significant lists of names associated with the College dating from 1785 to 1834. The first is entitled  'A List of the Officers and Members of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland On the First Monday in January 1785' ( RCSI/LIC/01/03 ). Members were what Fellows are today.  RCSI/LIC/01/03 The second is a list of names in the back of ' The Charter of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland' dated 1834 ( RCSI/LIC/01/06 ). These lists are relatively small but are historically important. They give the members names, addresses and dates of membership. Another list dating from 1784 until 1803 will be available shortly. So watch this space! - Researched and written by Meadhbh Murphy

The RCSI Heritage Collections are delighted to announce that another two decades of  the  Roll of Licentiates, years 1870 to 1890, are now available online A well known licentiate and Fellow of the College who graduated in 1877 and whose signature can be see in the newly released Ro ll of Licentiates documents is John Freeman Knott (1853-1921). Signature of John Freeman Knott in the RCSI Roll of Licentiates May 1877 Knott was a prolific author of medical reviews and articles, producing over 2,000 from 1880 to 1920. The variety of topics touched on by Knott ranged from Jonathan Swift's death mask to matted hair specimens to spontaneous combustion! Many medical historians and Knott's own contemporaries would use the word 'eccentric' to describe him. Legend has it that Knott was seeking entrance to the College through the front door in 1916 as he wanted to continue research he was conducting. He was unaware that a revolution was happening in the streets of Dublin ...

The Heritage Collections are delighted to announce that the years 1828 to 1870 of the RCSI Roll of Licentiates is now available online . Once a graduate had completed their studies, passed their exams and received their licence they signed the Roll of Licentiates. The student signed their full name and gave their place of residence. The variety of nationalities that attended the College in the 1800s is still reflected in the modern student body. In the photograph below the first signature is that of William Robert Wilde upon his qualification in March 1837. Wilde went on to become a renowned eye and ear specialist and ran his own hospital,  St Mark's Ophthalmic Hospital for Diseases of the Eye and Ear in Dublin. He was also  the  father of Oscar Wilde.  RCSI Roll of Licentiates extract from 1837 Follow this link to  RCSI Roll of Licentiates  - Researched and written by Meadhbh Murphy