Heritage Centre Lectures – The life and legacy of Sir Patrick Dun
On 16 October 2013 we will be holding a day of events marking the tercentenary of the death of Sir Patrick Dun, an influential physician who had a lasting impact on medical education in Ireland.
Sir Patrick Dun (1642-1713) was a visionary physician and President of the College. When he died, Dun left his estate in trust to RCPI. Over the next two hundred and fifty years the Dun's Trust would fund the King's Professor, who taught medicine in Trinity College Dublin, and Sir Patrick Dun's Hospital on Grand Canal Street in Dublin. In his will Dun also left his personal library to RCPI. This collection formed the nucleus of the RCPI's library, which has been called Dun's Library ever since. Dun's library today contains over 30,000 books and is a unique resource for research into the history of medicine in Ireland.
To commemorate the 300th anniversary of Dun's death, RCPI's Heritage Centre will be holding a series of lectures which will explore various aspects of Dun's life and legacy, from the social and intellectual climate of his day, to Dun's brush with the early modern 'witch-craze'. The day will also see the third annual RCPI History of Medicine Research Award, which aims to encourage research into the history of medicine in Ireland, and to promote public interest.
In the evening there will be a commemorative service for Sir Patrick Dun in St. Michan's Church, Dublin, where Dun is interred. UCD Choral Scholars will provide contemporary music to Dun's lifetime, and the service will end with the unveiling of a plaque in memory of Sir Patrick Dun.