RCPI HERITAGE CENTRE
HIDDEN HISTORIES
The Royal College of Physicians of Ireland’s Heritage Centre is a treasure trove of fascinating stories of medicine, murder and curious mementos.
I
n Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes story, The Adventure of the Speckled Band, the famous detective tells Dr Watson: “When a doctor does go wrong, he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession.” The Pritchard referred to was notorious enough at the time that the author could assume his audience knew who he was talking about, and what he had done to be considered “the first of criminals”. The facts behind his chilling story may have been forgotten over time but they were recently unearthed among
the vast amount of records and artefacts of interest kept in the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland’s (RCPI) Heritage Centre Collections by Keeper of Collections Harriet Wheelock. His story of murder and execution is just one of many in the Heritage Centre, which is a hidden gem for anyone interested in medical history and its sometimes dark or odd connections to history. Located at the RCPI building at 6 Kildare Street, it holds more than 50,000 items relating to the history of medicine and medical education in Ireland, including books, archives, photos, paintings and objects.
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