Brian Cleary, RCSI Honorary Professor and Pharmacy Executive Manager at the Rotunda Hospital will join us to present ‘Gibbet Hill’, the story of his extraordinary discovery of a long-lost short story by Bram Stoker, the legendary author of Dracula with a close connection to RCSI via his brother, William Thornley Stoker, Professor of Anatomy and a past President of RCSI. 

Brian will be joined by Paul Murray (Stoker’s pre-eminent biographer) and visual artist Paul McKinley to discuss Brian’s incredible find, the fascinating and heartwarming story behind it, and what it means for the legacy of Bram Stoker.

Brian’s journey began in 2021 when sudden sensorineural hearing loss changed his life. This condition affects about 1,000 people in Ireland each year and requires urgent treatment by an ENT specialist to potentially reverse the hearing loss. After having cochlear implant surgery and while on leave to retrain his hearing, Brian visited the National Library of Ireland (NLI), to indulge one of his interests; historical literature and the works of Bram Stoker. There he uncovered this hidden literary gem.

Brian systematically searched the British Newspaper Archive and eventually found an advert dated 'New Year’s Day 1891' in the Dublin Daily Express advertising their Christmas supplement, that was published on 17 December 1890. Brian found this edition and uncovered a hitherto undocumented ghost story by Stoker entitled ‘Gibbet Hill’.

Before his death, Stoker had planned to release three volumes of short stories. One was published posthumously by his wife Florence, but the other two never appeared. Brian believes Stoker most likely planned to include ‘Gibbet Hill’ in one of these volumes but died before he managed to compile them. Brian has searched, and collaborated with recognised Stoker authorities, but no evidence has been found that the story has appeared anywhere else, nor been noted in any historical documents or Stoker bibliographies.

The discovery of ‘Gibbet Hill’ culminated in the creation of a unique book which was launched in October 2024, with proceeds benefitting the Charlotte Stoker Fund which is dedicated to research on preventable deafness in vulnerable newborns, and honours the legacy of Bram Stoker’s mother Charlotte, a pioneering social justice campaigner and an advocate for the education of deaf children in her time.

The talk will begin at 6pm and is free to attend. We look forward to welcoming you to RCSI for Culture Night.