RCPI Heritage Centre

Join us on Thursday 8 May for an evening in conversation with author + historian Juliana Adelman 📖 She will be talking about her book, "The Grateful Water" and her work in medical history Email membership@rcpi.ie to book your free ticket. More info here: tinyurl.com/3k4z6kwc

We are proud to share that RCPI's Heritage Centre has signed the Safe to Create Dignity at Work Code of Behaviour - safetocreate.ie Signing this code reflects RCPI’s ongoing commitment to supporting an inclusive workplace for all.

RCPI has a selection of glass lantern slides, including images related to mystic Therese Neumann. Born in Bavaria in 1898, she claimed she had visions of Christ & bleeding from her eyes. She claimed to eat only the Holy Eucharist & was targeted by the Nazis for her opposition 🚫

We've been working away #behindthescenes reboxing and rehousing our medical instrument collection. This is part of our ongoing cataloguing project, which has seen nearly 1,500 objects photographed and added to the catalogue in the last year - tinyurl.com/2pem5bjx

Every month we highlight a product from @RCPI_news shop that we think you will ❤️ With summer approaching, RCPI has the perfect hydration companion. Our water bottle allows for drinks to stay cold for 24 hours or hot for up to 12💧 You can get yours: tinyurl.com/4rhm9wmr

New blog post celebrating the life of our recently deceased Fellow Dr Anne Merriman (1935-2025), who passed away in her Ugandan home last Sunday having just turned 90. We extend our condolences to those closest to Anne. You can read her In Memoriam here: tinyurl.com/4vy4edw5

Join us for what will be an evening of insight and fun this Thursday 8 May! Email membership@rcpi.ie to register you FREE place now!

#WhyArchive? As we have, hopefully, shown this month archives contain something for everyone – from donkeys to frankly terrifying home remedies! Archives preserve our shared history & make it available to everyone. #Archive30

Day 29 #Archive30. Our #UCD MA Archives intern catalogued the #ArchiveCollection of the Convalescent Home Stillorgan, containing minute books & financial records. CHS was founded in 1862 by Sir Joseph Napier & his wife as a place of rest & recovered for those of limited means 🤒

Day 28 #Archive30. Today is #ArchivesBuildings so we’re taking a look at some of the many 18th & 19th century architectural prints here in the collection of #rcpiheritagecentre – everything from hospitals & villas, castles & cathedrals, round towers & temperance halls 🏛

A huge thank you to Brian Crowley for the absolutely fantastic tour of Kilmainham Gaol he gave a group of our Members and Fellows on Saturday, a fascinating insight into the links between medical history and the history of the gaol.

Did somebody say DISASTER? Because today is #ArchiveNightmares for #Archive30... Thanks to our just-in-case kit — gloves, bucket, mop, sponges, absorbent strips, Tyvek, and a deeeep breath — archivists can still sleep soundly 💤 (Well... moist of the time)

Day 26 #Archive30. In 1860, President Dominic Corrigan received his Grant of Arms; "a Chevron between two Trefoils slipped Verts in Chief and a Lizard in base proper" 🦎 Presented in a lovely box, it also features in the stained glass of Corrigan Hall, making it an #ArchiveObject

Day 25 #Archive30. We’ve acquired #SomethingNew. A first look at the medical certificates & papers of Martin Joseph Bray (b.1825). Bray studied medicine in Dublin c.1841-47 & was the Medical Officer for Newbridge & Kildare. He moved to Chicago in 1859 & worked as a physician 🩺

Day 24 #Archive 30. Our most #PopularItem are the diaries of Kathleen Lynn kept between 1916 & her death in 1955, covering both her political & medical careers. The diaries are in an unusual form, with very small, cramped handwriting, creating compact blocks of illegible text.

Day 23 #Archive30 is #CommunityArchives. Dr Kirkpatrick (1869-1954) collected newspaper cuttings and notes of 12,000+ Irish doctors living between 1650 + 1950. The Index is available digitally on Ancestry.com for uncovering Ireland's medical and family history 👵👴

Day 22 #Archive30. In late 1900, #RCPI and #RCSI brought legal action against a Mr Haddock who was found to have impersonate someone else at a College exam 🕵️📝 The legal costs for proceedings in this #ArchiveAction: £29.11.10 = over £4000 in today's money 💰

Day 21 #Archive30. Our #ArchiveMyths comes with a don’t try this at home warning! Dr MacNamara’s 'Do-it-yourself medicine in County Clare during the first half of the nineteenth century’ has medical receipts for eye inflammation, sore throats & deafness. Spoiler 🥚 required

Day 20 #Archive30. This 1947 edition of “The Anchorite” newsletter, produced by patients at the Royal National Hospital for Consumption, Co. Wicklow, includes stories, poems, puzzles & advice on how to keep boredom at bay while in hospital. Lamp shade making anyone? #FunandGames

Day 19 #Archive30. In the summer of 1895 Sir Dominic Corrigan visited Great Britain, France & Italy. This extract & illustration from his travel diary gives a detailed account of mix bathing in Italy. Corrigan was ‘not a little startled’ by the whole experience. #ArchiveTravel