RCSI Heritage Collections

RCSI Heritage Collections receives many visitors from all over the world, all with a varying array of backgrounds. However, one thing these visitors do have in common is a keen interest in medicine and more particularly, a keen interest in the history of medicine. So, with that in mind where else would ones first port of call when visiting Dublin be??? RCSI of course, due to its rich history and breadth of material relating to that very topic. One recent visitor, Dr Peter Mohr, FRCP, a retired neurologist from the Manchester area and honorary secretary of the Historical Medical Equipment Society (HMES), wrote to us enquiring about our Historical Instrument collection. He was particularly interested in seeing Cruise's endoscope and its original casing which are housed in the Pathology Lab in Beaumont Hospital. Peter & his wife came to see this particular instrument and on that day told us the story of a very interesting woman, Dr Edith Willcock McCrea, a Fellow of RCSI, whose ...

On his centenary year, we take a look at the life of a man who was a key player in the development and progression of the Royal College Surgeons Ireland-  Harry O’Flanagan, MD, FRCPI, FRSCI (Hon), FFCM, DPH and former Registrar of RCSI (1962-1980). Born in Dublin in 1917, Dr Harry O’Flanagan was the eldest son of Henry O’Flanagan, a well-known and successful business merchant in Roscrea, Co Tipperary and Miriam (Chew), a theater sister at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast. Harry grew up and spent his early childhood years in Roscrea, from where he went to school in Castleknock College, Dublin. He entered the Royal College of Surgeons in 1934 and after qualifying in 1939 he did his internship in the Richmond Hospital, Dublin.   RCSI Roll of Licentiates (RCSI/LIC/02) (Click to view) Dr O’Flanagan went on to obtain a Diploma in Health in 1941 and two years later he was appointed Assistant Medical Officer of Health in the Rhondda Valley, Wales. In 1944, ...

Some of our students may be in the thick of studying for exams at the moment and wondering when is it all going to end?! Some are celebrating with their well-earned results in hand, honouring the long held tradition of  rushing the RCSI Library  on results day, in which case - congratulations! Whatever stage they are at, studying for exams is synonymous with college life. No need to fear them though! All that blood, sweat and tears will be worth it in the end. Here in Heritage Collections we hold an array of material relating to exams including past papers from the early 1900's onwards and examination results registers going all the way back to 1793. Ever wonder what type of questions were students being asked at RCSI exams 100 years ago?? Take a look: Sample First & Second Professional Examinations, 1917.  Click on image to enlarge. And after the exams come results! Going by these examples you can see that just like today, students back then were striving f...

Did you know that RCSI Library holds over one hundred and fifty years of the British Medical Journal (BMJ) in its archives? One hundred and sixty four to be precise; with holdings from 1853 to the present day. Early BMJ Volumes at RCSI Library As you would expect a number of groundbreaking articles have been published in the journal. In this post, RCSI Heritage Collections takes a look at a series of seminal articles published in the BMJ which helped demonstrate the link between tobacco consumption and lung cancer. In the first half of the twentieth century, there was a massive increase in the consumption of tobacco thanks largely to modern manufacturing methods which enabled their mass production [1] . At the same time there was a sharp rise in Lung Cancer – some suspected this was a result of increased tobacco consumption while others believed it was due to improved diagnosis or air pollution [2] . A major milestone in the linking of smoking and lung cancer was the publication ...

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas..... So the song goes! RCSI Heritage Collections want to wish all our online family a Very Merry   Christmas  and a Happy New Year. We also want to thank you guys for taking an interest in the weird and wonderful that can be found in RCSI Heritage Collections. The blog has had  over 100,000 page views since it started in March 2013, which we think is a cause for celebration.  Woohoo!!  The only way to pour champagne! This is Meadhbh Murphy over and out. Until next time.....

To celebrate the centenary of the enhanced 2nd edition  Sir Charles A Cameron' s immensely rich and historically valuable book History of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, The Irish Medical Schools etc , RCSI Heritage Collections have made it available to read and search on our website. Sir Charles A. Cameron (1830-1921) Cameron was an amazing individual who not only held the position of Executive Officer of Health and Public Analyst for Dublin for 59 years, he was President of RCSI in 1885, he fought for better sanitation and living conditions for those living in the Dublin tenements but he also wrote a thoroughly researched and readable history of the College. Click on the link below to read and search Cameron's great tome. History of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, The Irish Medical Schools etc , by Sir Charles Cameron

As the number of shopping days left before Christmas continues to dwindle, RCSI Heritage Collections decided to have a look at what was on offer to those in the medical world in times gone by. By looking at advertisements in the back of the  Medical Directory  series, which spans from 1852 to today, you could pick a variety of items for those hard to get and not so hard to get people in your life. Let's have a look at what was on offer..... For the ladies, why not get the most fashionable figure hugging under apparel? An ad for Bailey's Ladies Bandages and Belts from 1853. 'No Lady Should Be Without One' - who can argue with that!  Spirella Figure Foundation Garments from 1936. How about that person who is always trying new health fads? How yummy, orange peel flavoured cod liver oil tablets?! From 1853. Many would try and claim that beer can aid sickness..... From 1889. Valentine's Meat Juice from 1936. Say no more!  Not forgetting...