Catalogues and collections
RCSI Heritage Collections maintains the College Archive, charting the development of RCSI from its establishment as the national training body for surgery in 1784 to its present day iteration as a world-leading health sciences university.
The collections also comprise the personal papers and private collections of prominent individuals associated with RCSI and Ireland’s medical heritage, as well as various special collections including medical instruments, antiquarian books, medical pamphlets and artwork and sculpture.
Discover a growing body of digital material and online resources exploring the history of RCSI and the development of healthcare in Ireland from RCSI Heritage Collections.
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Watch 'Before anaesthesia: What was it like to be a patient in the 19th Century'
Medical instruments
RCSI houses an extensive collection of medical instruments from Ireland and abroad. The collection includes instruments used in historical battlefields including the Battle of Vitoria (1813) and the Crimean War (1853-1856).
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Personal papers and published works of population health pioneer and longtime RCSI associate, Sir Charles Alexander Cameron (1830-1921).
Personal papers of the first female Fellow of RCSI and one of a small group of pioneering female doctors active in Ireland in the 1890s, Emily Winifred Dickson (1866-1944).
Patient casebooks and illustrations amassed by early pioneer in the field of dermatology and RCSI alumnus, William Wallace (1791-1837).
Heritage Collections online catalogue
The RCSI Heritage Collections online catalogue provides researchers with access to detailed information about the collections, opening a portal to the wealth of knowledge that resides within.
This material is in a variety of formats such as casebooks, diaries, medical instruments, photographs, illustrations and pamphlets.
Explore the online catalogue
Antiquarian books
Our antiquarian book collection is a valuable source of information on surgery, medicine and allied topics.
Works by Irish surgeons and doctors, particularly those associated with RCSI, form the basis of the collection, which dates from the 1700s to the present day.
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