Heritage Week Event – Celebrating the Life and Legacy of Sir Patrick Dun
As part of National Heritage Week, we will be opening out doors to the public on Tuesday 20 August 2013. Visitors will be able to explore this historic building at 6 Kildare Street from 12.00pm to 7.00pm.
There will be guided tours at 12.30pm, 2.00pm, 3.30pm and 5.00pm. Tours take approximately 45 minutes. Places are limited, so to guarantee your place please contact the RCPI Heritage Centre on 01 6698817 or heritagecentre@rcpi.ie.
There will also be a pop up coffee shop in one of the College's charming reception rooms, and a medical-themed colouring competition for children.
Celebrating the life and legacy of Sir Patrick Dun
This year RCPI is marking the tercentenary of the death of Sir Patrick Dun (1642-1713) and celebrating the foundation of Dun's Library. Sir Patrick Dun was a visionary physician and an extremely influential President of the College. When he died, Sir Dun left his personal library to the College. This collection formed the nucleus of the College'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.
As well as an exhibition celebrating the life and legacy of Sir Patrick Dun, key historic texts from Dun's Library will be taken out of storage on Tuesday 20 August and visitors will be allowed to handle rare books from our collections.
Memories of Dun's Hospital
When Sir Patrick Dun died in 1713 he left his property in trust to the College. Money from this trust was used in 1800 to found Sir Patrick Dun's Hospital. Many Dubliners will remember this general hospital on Grand Canal Street (now home to a Civil Registration service), which closed in 1986 when services were transferred to St James's Hospital. When the hospital closed, its archive collection, which included antique medical equipment and administrative and patient records, was given to RCPI for safe keeping, where they remain today.
On Tuesday 20 August, a selection of items from the Sir Patrick Dun's Hospital archive will be on display, and ex-members of staff from the hospital will be sharing their memories of working in this fondly remembered Dublin institution.
How well do you know librarians and conservators?
An important aspect of the RCPI Heritage Centre is conserving its library and archive collections. On Tuesday 20 August, experienced conservators will be demonstrating the art of caring for rare and delicate books.
The Hollywood Librarian, a 2007 documentary focusing on the work and lives of librarians, will be screened in the Lecture Theatre in RCPI at 1.00pm, 3.00pm and 5.00pm. The film promises to hold some surprises for people who think they know what librarians do.
All events are free of charge and take place in the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, 6 Kildare Street, Dublin 2 on Tuesday 20 August 2013.