RCSI Heritage Collections

He went as far as the clock of the College of Surgeons: it was on the stroke of ten. He set off briskly along the northern side of the Green, hurrying for fear of Corley....  - James Joyce; 'Dubliners' With the release of the Central Bank of Ireland's commemorative medal to James Joyce a few months back the above quote from 'Two Gallants' has been in my mind. The clock above the front entrance to the College is a beautiful eye-catching sky blue colour, much like Dublin's sky these last few sunny days. It was made by James Booth and Sons who were prominent watch and clock makers based in Dublin. James had his workshop near Stephen's Green North from 1823 and he is registered in the Dublin Street Directory 1862 as a 'foreign and English watch and clock maker' . His son James Jnr. worked on Nassau Street in 1868 and the business continued up until the 1950s. Booth was popular among the fashionable and wealthy in Dublin and he received a large sh...

On Friday 10th May the RCSI Heritage Collections were paid a visit by Ms. Heather Elliott and her mother Mrs. Roma Peare. Mrs. Peare gifted a silver center piece given to Thomas Lewis Mackesy (1790-1869) by his medical brethren on 6th June 1864 to the College in 2007. The piece was in Mrs. Peare's family for generations with her husband being a distant relation of Thomas Mackesy. Thomas Lewis Mackesy (1790-1869) Thomas Lewis Mackesy was born in Waterford in 1790. His father was an apothecary and his mother was a Miss Lewis. He was apprenticed to his father and saw a good deal of practice at the Leper Hospital in Waterford. Mackesy came to Dublin and was prepared in twelve months for the office of assistant-surgeon in the army. He served for seven years in the artillery and was present when the British were repulsed at Guadeloupe  If it wasn't for his running speed and agility he would most certainly have been ...

The RCSI Heritage Collections are delighted to announce the arrival of its latest collection that of the Charitable Infirmary (Jervis Street Hospital) received from the Charitable infirmary Charitable Trust (CICT). The full and colourful history of the CICT can be found on their website http://www.cict.ie/history/  Mr. Peter McLean (1934-2010)  The Charitable Infirmary Collection made its way to the   Royal College of Surgeons through the foresight of one of   our past Presidents and member of the CICT Trust   Committee Mr. Peter McLean.   Mr. McLean studied at the RCSI, became a Fellow of the   College in 1962, a Council Member in 1984 and President   from 1996 to 1998. He interned in the Charitable Infirmary   in Jervis Street, worked as a consultant in there and in  Beaumont Hospital and sat on the CICT Trust Committee.  He had a passion f...

    The late J.D.H Widdess, Librarian and Professor of Biology, knew more about the College than any other person. His account of the Arms of the College explains how suitable armorial bearings were devised and used from 1784 until 1907 when it was realised that formal authority to use a coat of arms had never been obtained.   An application was made immediately to the Ulster King of Arms, the heraldic authority in Ireland, who had his office in Dublin Castle. A grant of arms was given on 20th March 1907 consisting of a shield, crest and supporters. Its official description in the language of heraldry is quite a mouthful:      'Argent on a Saltire gules, a dexter hand apaumée fessewise, couped at the wrist proper, on a Chief      ermine harp crowned between two fleams or; for CREST on a wreath of the Colours an Eagle     preying on a serpent proper; for SUPPORTERS two Irish elks each gorged with a C...

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...

The Library in the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, 1947   Please note that the Heritage Collections will be closed from 1st March 2013 until further notice to facilitate a major cataloguing initiative. Keep checking our blog for regular updates and interesting posts about our collections.