Dun's Library Collections:
The Dun's Library is made up of a number of interesting collections;
The Irish Collection – medical textbooks by Irish authors. Including Theobald Anguilbert’s Mensa Philosophica, probably the first medical work by an Irishman to be printed, and the very rare Speculum Matrices: or the Expert Midwife’s Handmaid by James Wolveridge (1671)
Kirkpatrick Collection – the private library of Dr T C P Kirkpatrick (1869-1954), it contains over 1,100 printed volumes, 3,500 pamphlets and 126 manuscripts, with a particular emphasis on Irish medical history.
Travers Collection – the private collection of Dr Robert Travers (1807-1888) containing both medical and non-medical works, which deal with history, natural sciences and theology.
Irish Cardiac Society Collection – belonging to the Irish Cardiac Society, it is maintained as part of the College Library. It consists of some 300 books relating to cardiology and includes some rare historical items.
Fleetwood Collection - the personal collection of the distinguished medical historian, Dr John F Fleetwood, FRCPI, which he bequeathed to the College. It consists of some 300 book, with an emphasis on Irish medical history, but also with many useful titles on general medical history.
Counihan Collection - a recent donation from the family of the late Dr Harry Counihan, FRCPI, this is a fine reference collection of some 200 books, mainly dealing with Irish medical history.
General Medical History - books dealing with the history of medicine from the earliest times in all cultures. It includes general histories of the development of medicine, histories of medical institutions, accounts of methods of treatment, biographies of medical personalities, dictionaries and other reference works.
Journals - the Library holds runs of over 400 different medical journals dating from the 18th century to the present day. As well as complete runs of such standard titles as The British Medical Journal, The Lancet, and The Irish Journal of Medical Science, the Library also contains substantial holdings of many short-lived English language journals and major foreign language journals from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Archive Collections:
The College’s large archive is made up of material from two sources. Firstly, the records produced by the College itself and relating to the functions and activities of the College. Secondly, material produced by other bodies and deposited in the College for safe-keeping and preservation.
The College – the oldest item still in existence is the Grant of Arms, issued to the College in 1667. Almost as old are two account books, listing financial transactions of the College in the 1670s. The minute books of College meetings commence in 1692 and exist in an unbroken sequence up to the present day. The College Registers, listing Fellows, Honorary Fellows, Licentiates and Members also date from 1692 up to the present. These primary sources of the College’s history are supported by bound volumes of correspondence from the 18th century onwards and minutes of various committees set up by the College. A very large collection of legal documentation exists in relation to Sir Patrick Dun’s Estate, which played a key role in the financing of the College from 1713 up to the late 20th century.
The College Library - a substantial quantity of material exists in relation to the College Library. This includes Library Committee Minute Books, registers of borrowers and books borrowed, lists of purchases, donations, binding and accounts beginning in the late 18th century. Several manuscript catalogues of the Library exist, the earliest dating from 1800.
Hospitals - the College holds the archives of some important Dublin hospitals. Sir Patrick Dun’s Hospital was founded by the College in 1815 and closed in 1986. On its closure, all its records, archives and many artefacts were deposited with the College. The Westmoreland Lock Hospital was founded in 1792 for the treatment of venereal disease and closed in the mid-1950s. The College now holds a very comprehensive collection of minutes, patient registers, reports and accounts of this Hospital from its foundation up to the end of the 19th century. St Ultan’s Hospital was the first hospital for infants in Ireland. It was founded by Dr. Kathleen Lynn in 1919 and its records, archives and artefacts were deposited in the College when the Hospital closed in 1984. In 2010 the archive acquired the papers of the Newcastle Sanatorium for tuburculosis in county Wicklow, this collection contains administrative and patient record.
Personal Papers - the personal diaries of Dr. Kathleen Lynn, the pioneering paediatrician and political revolutionary, were presented to the College by her descendents in the 1990s. The College also holds the private papers of Sir Dominic Corrigan, the prominent 19th century physician, including Corrigan’s diaries, case books, fee books and voluminous correspondence.Medical Historians - the archive holds the research papers of several imporant Irish medicial historians including John Fleetwood, Thomas Percy Claude Kirkpatrick and Eion O'Brien.
Miscellaneous - A few other items in the College archives are worthy of mention. These include transcripts of lectures delivered by doctors in the early 19th century, some records from hospitals in India, a sales book from a firm of surgical instrument makers and a Dublin doctor’s diary for the years 1814 to 1816 containing case histories of patients, weather observations and temperature readings.Heritage Items:
The College’s collection of heritage items is made up of paintings, silver and glassware, commemorative items and medical instruments. The collections fall into two main catagories.
College's History - items relating directly to the College’s history, such as the collection of portraits and statues of former College Presidents, and the furniture, glass and silverware collected by the College over time, including the College Mace.
The history and practice of medicine in Ireland
- including surgical and amputation kits and the contents of a dispensary from the first half of the twentieth century. Several of the archival collections donated to the College contained objects, an example would be the tray carved by Constance Markievicz which forms part of the Saint Ultan’s Hospital Collection.
Genealogical Collections:
Medical Register and Medical Directories - published annually since 1852, these list all the doctors registered in the British Isles, with some details of their qualifications and positions held. The Heritage Centre has an almost complete run of these publications, plus two earlier Irish directories that appeared in 1843 and 1846.
To find out more about any of the Heritage Centre collections, or to make an appointment to view the material please contact us;
Email - heritagecentre@rcpi.ie
Phone - +353 1 6698817
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