Complete Archive

The cartoons in this collection relate to public health concerns in Dublin and/or Sir Charles Cameron. Sir Charles Cameron (1830-1921) was born in Dublin, the son of a Scottish army officer and Irish mother. Cameron first worked in the laboratories of the apothecaries Bewley & Evans, before studying medicine in Dublin and Germany. He had a number of hospital and teaching appointments including Professor of Hygiene and Political Medicine (1867-1920) and Chemistry (1875-1920) both in Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, of which institution he was also President. Best known for his contributions to hygiene and public health, Cameron was the first public analyst for Dublin (1862-1921). He used the powers granted under the Adulteration of Foods Act (1860) to close unhygenic slaughter houses and condemn diseases/unsound food. He was also Dublin's Medical Officer of Health (1874), medical superintendent officer of health (1879), and chief sanitary officer (1881). He was responsible for numerous reforms in public health administration, especially in the provision of public housing. He understood the importance of adequate sanitation and undertook measures to improve the water supply and drainage, introduced widespread sanitary inspections, provided free disinfectant, and trained female sanitary officers to educate the poor in domestic hygiene. During this time the death rate from infectious diseases in the capital declined from 9 per 1,000 in 1879 to 1.3 per 1,000 in 1919.

The collection contains the personal diaries of Dr Kathleen Lynn for the period 1916 to 1955. Two volumes also contain family history notes on the Lynn and Wynne families.

A collection of glass lantern slides belonging to Sir William John Thompson, the majority created [for him] by Thomas Holmes Mason. The slides are statistical in nature, dealing with Irish censuses, birth and marriage rates, and diseases frequency and mortality rates. The slides were probably produced to illustrate talks given by Thompson, either as Registrar General for Ireland or to the Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of Ireland. Thompson presented a number of papers to this society, between 1911 and 1926, on the Irish Censuses and on mortality rates in Ireland.

Papers of Dr Eoin O'Brien relating to his extensive research into Sir Dominic Corrigan, and O'Brien's biography of Corrigan Conscience and Conflict. A Biography of Sir Dominic Corrigan, published in 1983. Collection includes a number of articles written by O'Brien, and others, on Corrigan, correspondence and newspaper cutting relating to the research and publication of O'Brien's biography, and draft scripts for proposed TV and radio productions. The collection also contains some papers relating to Michael Beresford Corrigan, a doctor who died in America in 1919 and claimed to be a son of Sir Dominic.

The Living Medical History Project was initiated by the History of Medicine Section of the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland in 2012. The project seeks to record the unique memories of medical practitioners who have worked in Ireland over the last seventy years. The project consists of interviews with ten medical practitioners representing a cross-section of medical fields and specialties. Seven of the interviewees hail from the Republic of Ireland, and three from Northern Ireland. Interviews were conducted by Susan Mullaney, Honorary Secretary of the History of Medicine Section of the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland, and by Ida Milne, a member of the Oral History Network of Ireland, in 2012 and 2013. In addition to audio recordings, transcripts of the interviews were produced. The audio recordings will be withheld for ten years, while the transcripts (which have been edited where appropriate) are available to consult in the Heritage Centre of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland. Throughout their working lives, doctors have accumulated a vast knowledge of professional practice. This project records their unique memories to help others learn from the past, and to document the enormous changes that have taken place during their lifetimes. The testimony of the ten interviewees provides a unique insight into a type of practice that has all but disappeared. They worked with diseases that are no longer common, such as polio and tuberculosis, and in an environment that did not have MRI scanners, CT scanners, or in some cases, access to antibiotics. The interviews also sheds light on changes that occurred in individual specialties over the last seventy years, the many advances in medical treatment, medical training, the experiences of medics in the Second World War, and the family and social lives of medics.

This collection contains the records of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland from its foundation in 1667 to the present. The first four sections cover the governing statutes of the College, the College administration and finances, including the Sir Patrick Dun's Trust which was administered by the College and owned land in county Waterford. Three further sections cover the membership of the College, including Members, Fellows, Licentiates, Honorary Fellows and Officers, the Association of Members, where members discussed medical topics, and the Institutes and Faculties established in the College in the twentieth century. The collection contains a substantial amount of material relating to the Heritage Centre of the College, epecially the Dun's Library and the items collected by the College over time relating to their history. There is also a large collection of material relating to the College's building on Kildare Street, including papers relating to its construction and subsequent repair and improvement works, as well as a number of architectural plans. The final five sections of the collection cover specific areas of the College's activities over time; their involvement with the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in founding and running the Conjoint Examinations Board Ireland; the often fractious relationship between the College and apothecaries and the professions representatives in Apothecaries Hall; the production by the College of the Dublin Pharmacopaeia; the opinion of the College on legislation which directly or indirectly effect the medical profession; the College's involvement in and views on medical education and registration; and events held by the College. The majority of the papers date from the nineteenth century onwards, as this was when the College found a permanent home and so were able to more systematically collect and maintain an archive. There are some papers dating from the eighteenth century, especially in the areas of College administration and the Dun's Trust, as well as a handful dating from the seventeenth century.

Sir Dominic Corrigan Papers and other items in case, covering his medical and political careers including his involvement in reforming medical legislation and the education system in Ireland. The collection also contains a small number of the personal papers of Sir Dominic Corrigan as well as members of his family, most notably his daughter Lady Mary Martin.

Records in this collection range in date from 1801 to 2005, spanning the entire existence of Cork Street Fever Hospital (1801-1953) and over five decades of its successor institution at Cherry Orchard. Many individual items and files range across time periods covered by both hospitals. Records in this collection include: - a run of minute books from 1801 to 1961 (with a gap of fourteen years between 1828 and 1842), - annual reports (which often include medical reports), - reports of Medical Superintendents, other hospital staff, and health authorities - staff and student records - a small amount of correspondence and other administrative records - records relating to hospital finances and domestic supplies - Medical Superintendents' papers, dating mainly from Dr Christopher Joseph McSweeney's time in the position (1934-1953) - some patient records, including a short run of patient registers between 1924 and 1948 - files relating to hospital events and the history of Cork Street Fever Hospital and Cherry Orchard Hospital - records relating to governing statutes of Cork Street Fever Hospital and legislation - records relating to the buildings and premises of Cork Street and Cherry Orchard, including architectural drawings of new buildings - records relating to Local Government Inquiries in 1937 and 1944.

Small collection of ephemeral items belonging to Dr Matthew Russell, Dublin City Medical Officer of Health, and his wife Dr Angela Russell (nee Coyne). Items focus on the Dr Russells' interest in public health and social welfare issues, or relate to Sir Charles Cameron.

Collection of documents and slides mainly relating to Ephraim MacDowel Cosgrave's medical education and time as Professor of Biology in the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. Collection also includes Cosgrave's certificate and insignia as a Knight of the Order of St John of Jerusalem, and his portrait.

A small collection of paper which belonged to Edward Hill, including family papers, letters and invitation cards, papers relating to his education and the School of Physic Act (1800), as well as some notebooks.

The Royal Hospital Donnybrook collection is a large collection of administrative, financial, patient, staff and property records ranging in date from 1771 until 2001. There is also a smaller selection of records related to the hospital’s history, ephemera and some objects including the hospital’s seal matrix. Unfortunately, records do not exist from its foundation in 1743; the earliest record is a minute book of the board of governors dating from 1771. The collection contains a substantive set of administrative records spanning over 220 years of the hospital’s existence between 1771 and 1993. These records include: - a complete run of board of governors’ minute books from 1771 until 1972; - a complete run of managing committee’ minute books 1897 until 1986; - annual reports from 1858 until 1887 (with the exception of years 1861 and 1862); - a complete run of visiting committee’ minute books from 1876 until 1983; - the minutes of various sub committees including an income and expenditure committee, building committee, patient welfare and a ‘Friends of the hospital’ committee. The administrative section also includes a large run of rough minute books which cover both meetings of the board of governors and the managing committee from 1853 until 1936. These books are also accompanied by detailed agenda books beginning in 1872 and continuing until 1975. These records, together with the formal minutes of the board of governors, the managing committee and others in existence in the collection, are a rich resource in terms of understanding the day-to-day work of the hospital and moreover, how it survived and flourished over such extended periods of time. This section also includes various legal records documenting the evolution of the hospital’s governance structures such as its governing charters, bye-laws and regulations. It includes the original supplemental charter granted to the hospital by Queen Victoria in 1886 together with its wax seal. A comprehensive range of reports from visiting governors, medical officers, the housekeeper, and the lady superintendent are also extant. The section is complemented by a myriad of administrative correspondence from and to a range of parties relating to the running of the hospital. It includes letter books from the hospital registrar from 1883 until 1943 (with a gap of five years from 1932 until 1937). The finance section contains a large amount of typical financial records such as a run of minute books of the finance committee from 1881 until 1997, as well as accounting records spanning a period from 1799 until 1974. This section also contains a large amount of records documenting subscriptions and bequests made to the hospital in the form of register books of subscribers and testators. In addition to these books, this section contains a large amount of individual testator files recording bequests made to the hospital. The section also contains a run of order books of hospital supplies, as well as records relating to pay and employment, fundraising and the hospital’s stock investments. Surviving patient records include candidate (people seeking admission to the hospital) and admission registers from 1797 until 1986. The admission registers differ in format and coherency, however between the oldest surviving register of patients admitted between 1797 and 1928, and a second register, a record of patients admitted exists until 1964. Additional notebooks record patients admitted until 1986. In addition to these records, an eclectic mix of records have survived reflecting both how patients were cared for in the hospital in the form of diet and clothing order books, as well as how discipline was upheld, most evident in a ‘defaulters book’ which records patient ‘misbehaviour’ and the consequences agreed by the board. Of note in this section is a large collection of hospital application forms from individuals seeking admission to the hospital dating from the mid 1800s. Because of the sensitive personal information contained within some of these records special permission needs to be obtained to view records under 100 years old. For full details of access rules see the Heritage Centre Access Guidelines. Records contained in the staff section of the collection are less coherent in terms of providing a concise set of employment records for any one period in the hospital’s history. A mix of records across different time periods have survived, including job application forms, appointment, and resignation letters from the late nineteenth to late twentieth centuries. There is also a small amount of nursing employment and enrolment registers from 1958 until 1986. The smallest portion of records in the collection, the hospital history and culture section, contains newspaper clippings, ephemera including hospital newsletters, hospital notices, and a small number of photographs. Notable is a collection of nearly 100 years of newspaper clippings stored in four scrapbooks, some of which include reports on key milestones in the hospital’s history and photographs. The latter, together with a disparate mix of surviving files relating to historical events at the hospital, enrich the collection and provide an insight in to the hospital’s perception in wider society. The final section contains a large collection of property records relating to the hospital campus itself and the many properties and/or property rights the hospital inherited from bequests or via purchase. Records include deeds of assignment, lease agreements, property valuations, building specifications, estimates and maps. Records relating to properties bequeathed to the hospital contain many historical deeds of assignment, the earliest dating from 1768. These property transactions are complemented by a large amount of legal correspondence from the hospital’s legal representatives.

The collection contains the papers of Neil John Blayney. While it includes some personal items and ephemera, the substantive items in the collection relate to Neil John Blayney’s career at the Queen’s County Infirmary, as both County Surgeon and Medical Officer of troops. It provides an important insight into the career of a County Surgeon, based outside Dublin, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The collection contains administrative, financial and patient records relating to the hospital from its foundation in 1800 to its closure in 1986. There is also a large collection of photographs, as well as a small collection of ephemera and objects relating to the hospitals history. One of the largest sections in the collection relate to the hospitals administration, it contains the hospital's annual reports, the board of governors' minute and agenda books, the minutes of several of the hospital's smaller committees, and legal documents relating to the establishment and management of the hospital. These provide an invaluable insight into the administration and management of the hospital, and its developments over time. This information is supported by the surviving correspondence files, dating from the 1890s-1930s and 1960s-1980s, which provide very detailed information on aspects of hospital management. There is a small collection of financial records, including accounts from the building of the hospital in the early 1800s. There is also a large group of architectural plans showing the alterations and improvements made to the hospital from the 1930s, as well as plans for large scale building projects that were never undertaken. The collection also contains a large amount of material relating to the hospital's patients. These include patient registers, case books, operations registers and post mortem records. Most of these records date from the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Because of the sensitive personal information contained within some of these records special permission needs to be obtained to view records under 100 years old. For full details of access rules see the Heritage Centre Access Guidelines. The final portion of the collection contains ephemera, photographs and objects relating to the history of the hospital. These include a series of photographs of the resident staff and hospital rugby teams from the 1880 to 1950s, a set of medical stereoscopic slide and manuscript and printed documents relating to the hospital's history.

This collection contains the administrative papers of Saint Ultan's Hospital from its foundation in 1919 to the closure of the hospital in 1984. There is also a small amount of material relating to the National BCG Committee, including annual reports and some photographs, which was based at the hospital. The main types of records in this collection are the hospital's annual reports and minute books of the Hospital's Board and Committees. These give an invaluable insight into the administration and management of the hospital throughout its existence, and show the development of the hospital over time. There are also some records relating to the proposed merger of Saint Ultan's with the National Children's Hospital in the 1930s and the hospital's Golden Jubilee in 1969. As well as the administrative papers, the collection contains publicity and photographic material relating to the hospital. These include an extensive collection of newspaper cuttings showing the public profile of the hospital and its founders, and two photograph albums which provide a visual insight into the first decade of the hospitals existence.

Thomas Percy Claude Kirkpatrick was born on 10 September 1869 the second son of John Rutherford Kirkpatrick (c.1832-1889), a leading practitioner and professor of midwifery. Kirkpatrick was educated at Foyle College in Derry before taking a first in history from Trinity College Dublin (1891) and graduating MB and MD in 1895. Kirkpatrick was anaesthetist to Dr Steevens' Hospital, then visiting physicians to the same hospital as well as to the Westmoreland Lock Hospital. As well as anaesthetics Kirkpatrick was interested in venereal diseases, establishing a special clinic at Steevens' and publishing on the subject. Kirkpatrick was admitted as a Member of the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland in 1903, and elected a Fellow the following year. From 1910 to 1954 he served as the College's Registrar, and was secretary of the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland for almost as long. Aside from his medical career Kirkpatrick was a prolific author on the history of his profession. His three major works, histories of the medical school at Trinity College Dublin, the Rotunda and Dr Steevens' Hospitals, were published in 1912, 1913 and 1924 respectivley. He also wrote numerous pamphlets and articles on Irish hospitals, Irish medical men and other historical topics. Kirkpatrick was president of the Irish Historical Society (1948-1951), the Royal Irish Academy (1946-1949) and was a member and president of the Friendly Brothers' Club. Kirkpatrick lived at 11 Fitzwilliam Place, with his unmarried sister Sibyl. He died on 10 July 1954 in Dr Steevens' Hospital and was buried in Mount Jerome cemetary. A Note on Names - Kirkpatrick was generally known as Percy or 'Kirk' by his friends and contemporaries. Due to his membership of the Friendly Brothers' Club he was addressed by his fellow members as Brother or Brother Kirk, and while he was president as 'Your Grand Benevolence' of 'Sir John Friendly'. All of these names can be found within the collection, especially within the correspondence section. For clarity throughout this list he will be referred to as Kirkpatrick, and other male members of his family will be referred to by their full names.