On 15 July 1864 the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland held its first business meeting in its newly built home at 6 Kildare Street, Dublin. Although the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland had been in existence for over 200 years this was the first occasion that a College meeting had been held in a building owned by the College.
This paper looks at the history behind the construction of a home for the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland. It will examine why it took over 200 years for the Physicians to find a permanent home, how they ended up with the building they did, and what they borrowed from the Royal College of Physicians in Edinburgh in the process.
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CoakleyD. Medicine in Trinity College Dublin. An Illustrated History. Dublin: Trinity College Dublin; 2014. p.20–2.
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WiddessJDH. A History of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland 1654–1963. Edinburgh; E & S Livingstone; 1963. p.9–10
4.
CoakleyD. Medicine in Trinity College Dublin. An Illustrated History. Dublin: Trinity College Dublin; 2014. p.29–31
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Charter of the King and Queen's College of Physicians of Ireland, 15 December 1692 (RCPI/1/1/2).
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WiddessJDH. A History of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland 1654–1963. Edinburgh; E & S Livingstone; 1963. p.192.
7.
Physicians Hall Petition, 1814 (RCPI/9/1).
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WiddessJDH. A History of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland 1654–1963. Edinburgh; E & S Livingstone; 1963. p.193–4. 9 Debenture Book, 1861 (RCPI/9/3/4).
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WiddessJDH. A History of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland 1654–1963. Edinburgh; E & S Livingstone; 1963. p.196–7.
10.
Minutes of the Building Committee, 6 May 1861, in Occasional Committee Minutes (RCPI/2/2/1/1/1).
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Minutes of the Building Committee, 17 July 1861, in Occasional Committee Minutes (RCPI/2/2/1/1/1).
12.
New College of Physicians. The Dublin Builder 1 August 1861; p.589
13.
Letter from Duncan Ferguson, July 1861 (RCPI/9/31).
14.
Letter from James Beardwood, October 1863 (RCPI/9/3/3).
15.
Minutes of the meeting of 15 July 1864, College Journal Vol. XXII (RCPI/2/1/1/14).
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Minutes of the Building Committee, in Occasional Committee Minutes (RCPI/2/2/1/1/1).
