New exhibition launches celebrating the Faculties of Occupational Medicine and Public Health Medicine

We are delighted to announce the launch of our newest exhibition Hard Hats & Vaccines: Fifty years of the Faculties of Occupational Medicine and Public Health Medicine. The official opening took place on Tuesday 14 July 2026 in the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland's (RCPI) historic home of No.6 Kildare Street.

2026 marks the 50th anniversaries of the founding of the Faculty of Occupational Medicine and the Faculty of Public Health Medicine in RCPI. The faculties are responsible for providing training and continuing professional development for doctors practicing in those specialties.  We were grateful to have a range of speakers on the day, with College President Dr Diarmuid O'Shea and Faculty Dean's Dr Alex Reid (Occupational Medicine) and Dr Kevin Kelleher (Public Health) representing their specialties for the audience of staff, members of the public and those who kindly loaned items for display. While separate Faculties, Dr Kelleher highlighted the historic overlap between Occupational Medicine and Public Health and how that can be used today.

This exhibition celebrates these specialties through the selection of key archives, books, and objects from our collection that represent their stories, past, and present. The exhibition spans over 320 years of history, from early advocates to the more recent global health responses.  

Bernadino Ramazzini (1633-1714) is considered the father of occupational medicine, and we are delighted to display both the English and Latin versions of his constitutional text in the new exhibition. You will also be able to see working equipment from Guinness, and marketing from CIÉ and Aer Lingus, the Irish companies that advocated for worker’s health – as well as the doctors who led the way and ultimately became the founding members of the Faculty of Occupational Medicine at RCPI. 

Explore Edward Jenner’s (1749-1823) legacy in Ireland with the Cow Pock Institution vaccination registers and the equipment used to give thousands of people a lifeline. You will be able to read the letter from Irish trade union leader James Larkin (1874-1947), calling for better sanitation in Dublin north inner city and the disinfection lamp that would have been used to do so. And of course, you can reflect on the public health response to COVID-19 and the race to a vaccine. 

The exhibition will be open from Tuesday 14 July downstairs in our historic home at 6 Kildare Street. To come and see it, you can book your appointment by emailing the Heritage Centre at heritagecentre@rcpi.ie. We open Monday to Friday, 10am to 1pm and 2pm to 4pm.  The exhibition will also be fully accessible during Heritage Week. If you cannot make the exhibition in-person, you can take a look at the online version here. 

Photos taken by David Coleman, Bobby Studio Photographers.