RCSI Heritage Collections

Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland c.1900 As this year draws to a close, Ireland is about to embark on a year of commemorations and celebrations in 2016 as it will be 100 years since the Easter Rising took place in Dublin and around the country. Every day, thousands of commuting Dubliners pass by RCSI's iconic building on the western side of St. Stephen's Green in the heart of the city, with its impressive 19th century stone-column façade. Even regular passers-by may not have noticed the subtle reminders of our history which are scattered across the columns - now gently smoothed by 100 years of weathering, are bullet holes from the 1916 Easter Rising. The centrepiece of RCSI's 2016 Commemorative Programme, which will coincide with the official state commemorations, is a special exhibition Surgeons and Insurgents - RCSI and the Easter Rising   and accompanying public lecture series.  The exhibition will tell the story of the events surrounding the bat...

' He [Sir Thomas Myles] attained enormous strength and was a  sufficiently skilled boxer to fight a few rounds with the  heavy-weight champion, John L. Sullivan. ' John L. Sullivan , aka the Boston Strong Boy, was quite the formidable opponent for a surgeon to step into the ring with. But Sir Thomas Myles was no ordinary surgeon.   Myles was born in Limerick on 20th April 1857 to a family long associated with that city. He began his school life in Limerick which with time took him to Trinity College Dublin, Vienna and the Richmond Hospital. Myles graduated from Trinity in 1881 with his M.B. and B.Ch. That same year he was chosen to be Resident Surgeon in Dr. Steevens' Hospital. Widdess tells us 'His magnificent physique and attainments as an amateur heavy-weight boxer were to sustain his in an arduous duty, which in addition to the other more usual ones, was imposed upon him by the Governors - to keep order amongst the resident pupils.'  Sir Tho...