Harriet Wheelock / Thursday 28 February 2019 New Collection: Read's Medical Instruments We have just received an extraordinary part of Ireland’s medical history, with the loan of a large medical instrument collection from Read’s Cutlers. Read's shop on Parliament Street, was Ireland’s oldest shop and one of Europe’s oldest brands with a unique Irish family history. The history of the Read’s company goes back to 1712 when James Read arrived in Dublin as an apprentice cutler to a business on Crane Lane in Dublin city. Read took over the business in the 1720s, and by the 1760s the business extended on to the newly created Parliament Street. Successive members of the Read family established themselves as Ireland’s finest knife, sword, cutler and instrument makers. In 1821 Thomas Read & Co. were granted a Royal warrant to supply cutlery and surgical instruments. The shop remained in the family, and in its original location on Parliament Street, Dublin 2, until the 1990s. The building was left empty for some years before being purchased in 2011 by Clem Kenny. Following four years of meticulous and painstaking restoration, the property and its Georgian interiors have be restored to their former glory. The project turned up many surprises, including a huge quantity of Read’s stock in the basement. The 11,500 items found covered all parts of Read’s business from cutlery to swords, but the largest quantity of material turned out to be medical instruments. This unique collection of antique medical instruments, representing an important part of Ireland’s medical heritage, has now been loaned to the RCPI Heritage Centre. Clem Kenny, owner of the building on Parliament Street, said, "I am delighted to make available this unique find to RCPI as it is the perfect home for the collection where the items found will be properly researched, preserved and made accessible and will add to the collections of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland." If you would like to find out more about our medical instrument collections, or make an appointment to view items from the collections, please contact us at heritagecentre@rcpi.ie