RCSI Heritage Collections

On the centenary of Sir Charles A. Cameron's death, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences is celebrating his life, work and tireless campaign to improve the health of the city of Dublin and its people. To mark Cameron's birthday on the 16th of July, we are exploring his connections with Belleek, County Fermanagh and its famous pottery. Castle Caldwell, Photograph taken by Canon W.H. Dundas, circa 1900.  Image courtesy of Fermanagh & Omagh District Council's Museum Service. Castle Caldwell Cameron recounts in his autobiography how he spent several of his Christmas holidays during the 1850s with Mr and Mrs John Caldwell Bloomfield DL at Castle Caldwell on Lough Erne, County Fermanagh. Cameron, an accomplished geologist, while out shooting with his host noticed a white patch of clay, and took a portion of it to the Castle. John Caldwell Bloomfield DL. © Courtesy Belleek official website. "I heated it to redness, and on removing it from the fire and allowing ...

To commemorate the centenary of the death of Sir Charles Alexander Cameron, which occurred on Saturday 27 February 2021, the RCSI Library team is delighted to announce the launch of www.rcsi.com/Cameron a new commemorative website highlighting his life, work and legacy. Sir Charles A Cameron,  RCSI Heritage Collections The Corporation of Dublin appointed Cameron as Public Analyst in 1862 (as did Limerick, Waterford and most other boroughs and counties in Ireland). He qualified in medicine in the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland in 1868 and was appointed Professor of Hygiene at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. He was also a Member of the Royal Irish Academy from 1860. As Medical Officer of Health for Dublin from 1874, Cameron was a tireless campaigner for better hygiene, health and welfare for the city and its people. His discoveries, innovations, research, publications and campaigning led to improved public health. The Dublin death rate between 1901 and 1911 reduced...

RCSI Heritage Collections celebrates World Digital Preservation Day today. As an increasing number of our collections are being digitised or are born-digital, Digital Preservation is becoming a key aspect to our cataloguing and archival work. In order to meet the requirements for these new types of collections we are working towards putting in place a robust system, workflows and IT infrastructure to ensure that our digital records will remain accessible and usable in the years to come. For today we thought we would delve a little into an ongoing Digital Preservation project- the RCSI COVID-19 Archive. About the project RCSI Library has invited students, faculty, staff, alums and other members of the RCSI community to document their personal experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic and contribute them to the RCSI Heritage collections. While RCSI’s official response to this unprecedented event will be recorded and preserved in the University Archive, we want to ensure that personal exp...

From the 15-23 August, RCSI Library Heritage Collections is celebrating Heritage Week 2020: ‘Heritage and Education: Learning from our Heritage’ This year’s theme offers an opportunity to celebrate our centuries of educational heritage. The University is hosting online events throughout the week centred around the wonderful Women on Walls project, in which Heritage Collections was proud to be involved . You can learn more about these eight extraordinary women and the artists who painted them and listen to the podcast series. Here in Heritage Collections, we have an all ages, 4-page printable activity pack for you to download and print out at home, as many times as you like. You can colour in some of our 'Women on Walls' portraits, draw some inspirational portraits of your own and even help sort out some of our collections for us! Dr Mary Josephine Hannan by Celeste, aged 2 We would love to see your work! Share with us on Twitter or by Email .

RCSI Library invites students, faculty, staff, alums and other members of our community to document their personal experiences during the coronavirus outbreak and contribute them to the RCSI Heritage collections. While RCSI’s official response to this unprecedented event will be recorded and preserved in the University Archive, we want to ensure that your personal experiences and reactions are included as well. We therefore invite and encourage all members of the RCSI community to participate. We are interested in hearing of your experiences of working and living during this period- those working directly in the frontline, those working from home for the first time, those carrying out research work on COVID19, student experiences of distance learning, how your interaction with colleagues, family, friends have changed etc. They can be recorded thoughts, ideas, photographs, drawings, press cuttings, letters, audio or video recordings, diaries and so on. There is no restriction on the fo...

For the love-ly day that is in it, Sarah Timmins from RCSI Library's Heritage Collections team has curated a 'hearty' 10 minute walk in the streets around RCSI, taking in the medical, romantic and macabre! Our curated tour route to get your heart racing this Valentine's Day! The historical front of RCSI on St. Stephen's Green today and as it was originally built in the early 19th century. 1. Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland - 123 St, Stephen's Green The historic RCSI Building on St. Stephen's Green, the 'heart' of medical and surgical education and training since the late 18th century. As you stroll past the building, get some inspiration from Instruments & Innovations , an exploration of 10 medical innovations developed by RCSI figures. Or read about the preservation of the RCSI Charter - the founding document of the College from 1784. Walk down from RCSI towards St. Stephen's Green shopping centre and take a left to get a gre...

Ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes in RCSI Library's Heritage Collections? Preservation and conservation are key tasks that the team carries out on works housed within our collections, and on new items donated. Here, Sarah Timmins of the Heritage Team shares an insider view of that process to mark Archives Week 2019. The gloves are off. Or are they on? If you’ve ever visited a reading room to consult archives or heritage collections, you will be familiar with some handling guidelines - no pens, no drinks, clean hands, no flash photography... These kinds of common-sense rules for readers extend from the duty of Collection Care which is undertaken by the RCSI Library Heritage Team. The long-term preservation of our collections takes on a varied approach. At the heart of it is prolonging the usable life of records and items. The principle concept is minimal intervention but, as long as interventions are carried out properly, every little effort counts towards this preserv...