Healing Touch Book Launch
‘Healing
Touch: an illustrated history of the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland’
written by Alf McCreary and published by the Royal College of Physicians of
Ireland was officially launched on Tuesday evening, 13th October
2015, after a full day of Heritage Centre lectures on Irish Medicine during the
First World War. The book has over 500 illustrations and many beautiful photographic
images including those from the Royal College of Physicians’ own archive. The
images in the book include photos and architectural plans of the building and
its interior; past and present, the medical instruments and heritage items,
like the portraits of ex-presidents and the historical medical books in our
extensive library collection, to photographs of Dublin hospitals like Sir
Patrick Dun’s Hospital, Cork Street Hospital, The Rotunda and St. Ultan’s Hospital; there are also images of important events in Irish political history
and interesting eighteenth century images of Malton’s views of Dublin.
‘Healing
touch’ gives the reader not only a comprehensive history of the Royal College
of Physicians from its foundation in 1564 to the present day, but the history
of medicine, the College and of the physicians who practised medicine in
Ireland. Prof Des O’Neill, a geriatrician and member of
the Council of the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland wrote a review of the
book for the Irish Times published on Tuesday, 13 October, 2015 entitled ‘A taste of our own medicine: a history of the Royal
College of Physicians in Ireland’. He says that ‘this book […] can be
recommended to lay and professional readers alike’.
The book is a very
‘accessible’ one not intended to be read in one sitting from cover to cover;
nonetheless it is an important book in understanding the key physicians who
played a valuable role in the advancement of medicine over the last 350 years.
For example, one cannot talk about the history of the College without
discussing important figures like Dr. John Stearne, a professor of medicine who
founded the Fraternity of Physicians of Trinity Hall, just outside the grounds of Trinity College in 1654,
and Dr. Patrick Dun, one of the most important figures in the history and
greatest benefactors of the College and the most influential presidents (13
times president). One of his most important legacies was leaving all his
property in trust including his personal library collection to the College.
The College bought the premises of the Kildare Street Club in
1860 for £5,000 only to be destroyed by a fire soon after the purchase. An
insurance payout of £6,000 was received and was put towards the construction of
a new building. The College was able to have a design commissioned specifically
to suit their needs and tastes and it eventually moved in into its new premises
at no.6 Kildare Street in 1864. It was the first time the College had a
permanent home of its own and it is still where the College is based today. The
period coincided with the ‘Golden Age of Irish Medicine’; rapid advancements in
medicine and medical training in Ireland thanks to Graves, Stokes and Corrigan,
as well as political changes and important changes to the College in terms of
new legislation, an area the author focuses on extensively in the book.
The book recounts the
evolution of the College spanning over 350 years and how the College has become
an internationally recognised medical training and education institution
promoting best practice amongst healthcare professionals in Ireland. The book is available to purchase online through the RCPI website.