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Coláiste Ríoga na Máinleá in Éirinn | |
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| Motto | Consilio Manuque (By Advice and by Hand) |
|---|---|
| Type | Not-for-profit |
| Established | 11 February 1784 |
| President | Deborah McNamara |
| Vice-Chancellor | Cathal Kelly[1] |
| Students | 4,094[2] (as of 2020) |
| Address | ,, D02 YN77 ,53°20′21″N6°15′45″W / 53.33918°N 6.26257°W /53.33918; -6.26257 |
| Campus | Urban |
| Language | English |
| Affiliations | NUI |
| Website | rcsi |
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  Location in Central Dublin | |
TheRoyal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) is a not-for-profit medical professional and educational institution, which is also known asRCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences.[3] It was established in 1784 as the national body for the surgical branch of medicine in Ireland, with a role in supervision of training, and as of 2021 provides a broad range of medical education in multiple countries.[4][5]
RCSI's main campus is situated onSt. Stephen's Green and York Street in centralDublin and incorporates schools ofmedicine,pharmacy andbiomolecular sciences,[6]physiotherapy, population health,[7]dentistry[8] andnursing and midwifery. It offers undergraduate and postgraduate education in a number of healthcare fields.[4]
RCSI was ranked first in the world for SDG3 Good Health and Well-being in theTimes Higher Education Impact Rankings 2025.[9]
Since theMiddle Ages, the practice ofsurgery in Dublin was licensed by one of theGuilds of the City of Dublin, theBarber-Surgeons'Guild, also known at times as the Guild of St. Mary Magdalene. The guild chapel was inChrist Church. Guild membership was obtained by a three-yearapprenticeship, followed by two years as ajourneyman. The College of Surgeons maintained a mandatory period of apprenticeship to become a qualified surgeon until 1828.[citation needed]
In 1446, the Barber-Surgeons' Guild wasincorporated by a royal decree ofHenry VI, becoming the first medicalcorporation in Britain or Ireland.
In 1765Sylvester O'Halloran, a surgeon fromLimerick, proposed a College of Surgeons along the lines of the College de St. Cosme in Paris, which had been regulating French surgeons since its creation by a Royal Charter byKing Louis IX in 1255, to train and regulate surgeons.[10] The Dublin Society of Surgeons was founded in 1780 at the Elephant public house on Essex Street (now Parliament Street).
Trinity College, Dublin, did not teach surgery as a subject until 1851, so in the 18th century Ireland was without a school focused on surgery. To have a separate organization providing standardised surgical education became one of the goals of the new Society of Surgeons, and it lobbied for a Royal Charter, in 1781 presenting theLord Lieutenant a petition to be incorporated separately from thebarbers. The awaitedcharter was granted byKing George III on 11 February 1784. The governing body, including the first President, Samuel Croker-King, and William Dease, first professor of surgery, met in the boardroom of theRotunda Hospital for the first time on 2 March 1784.
At the time of theProtestant Ascendancy, the admission or employment of surgeons was not subject to discrimination on sectarian grounds. Two of the RCSI's leading founders, Sylvester O'Halloran and William Dease, as well as eleven of its first 57 presidents, were Roman Catholics. From 1856, the college also recognized the medical qualifications given by theCatholic University which gave more weight to its own diplomas.
The first candidate for examination was John Birch, in August 1784.
The RCSI's first home, at the corner of York Street, was acquired in September 1805, with additional land at Glover's Alley bought in 1809. The site was previously an abandonedQuakerburial ground.John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford, laid the foundation stone of the new building on St. Patrick's Day, 1806, and this reached completion in March 1810. As of 2021, it remains the primary location of the college.
A supplemental charter was granted byQueen Victoria in 1844, dividing medical graduates intoLicentiates and Fellows. Initially, physicians were trained alongside surgeons. In 1886 these two disciplines were merged, and the medical school began operation. As a result of this historical legacy, graduates of medicine still receive Licentiate diplomas from the two Royal Colleges as well as now being awarded MB (Bachelor of Medicine) BCh (Bachelor of Surgery) and BAO (Bachelor of the Art of Obstetrics) degrees by theNational University of Ireland.
Now defunct subjects formerly taught include: Logic (1852–1862), Military Surgery (1851–1860) andbotany (1792–1889).
In 1885, the RCSI became the first medical school in Ireland to admit women to its classes.[11] The first woman to qualify as a fellow of the RCSI wasEmily Winifred Dickson in 1893 and the secondMary Strangman in 1902.[12]
During the1916 Rising, the main college building onSt Stephen's Green was occupied byIrish Citizen Army forces, led by CommandantMichael Mallin andCountess Markievicz. After surrendering, both were tried and sentenced to death. Mallin was executed while Markievicz's sentence was commuted due to her gender.
The subject Hygiene or Political Medicine (1841–1921) was retired, and its Chair united with Medical Jurisprudence.
The RCSI became the firstmedical institution of learning to offer a4-year graduate entry programme for medicine in Ireland.[13]
Ethna Gaffney became the first female professor at RCSI in 1967.[14]
During the period 2014 – 2018, RCSI-affiliated researchers collaborated with over 2,100 international academic and industry institutions producing over 2,900 co-authored publications. The university's field-weighted citation impact is twice the world average and scores in the top decile internationally in theTimes Higher Education World University Ranking (2020).[4]
In December 2019, the RCSI was authorised as a university, becoming the ninth in Ireland, following a change in legislation, and an application by the college. The long-sought change in status was complicated by the RCSI's status as a private body but eventually a standard process was created and the college met the conditions set out in it, and following ministerial approval, the change was endorsed by votes in both houses of theOireachtas.[3] This also made it the eleventh university on the island of Ireland, includingThe Queen's University of Belfast andUlster University.
Since the 1980sBeaumont Hospital, Dublin has been the principal centre for medical training. Other affiliated hospitals include teaching hospitals such asConnolly Hospital,Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital,St. Joseph's Hospital, Dublin and University Hospital Waterford.
The institution has a structure ofFaculties andSchools, some parts of which focus more on undergraduate studies, some more on post-graduate and continuing professional education.[15]
| Global rankings | |
|---|---|
| ARWU (2025)[16] | 901−1000 |
| THE (2026)[17] | 251−300 |
The RCSI is active in medically related sectors of education in multiple locations. During the South AfricanApartheid, for example, the RCSI provided medical education to those that were discriminated against.[18] More than 95 countries from each continent are represented in the RCSI student body.[19]
RCSI-Bahrain had Bachelor of Medicine (MB, BCh, BAO) programme, a 4-year Bachelor of Science in Nursing programme and a 2-year research based Master of Science in Nursing programme.[20][21][22]
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The RCSI was granted independent degree-awarding status by theIrish government in 2010, which also allowed the then college, now university, to awardhonorary degrees. Among others, the following individuals have received honorary doctorates from the RCSI.
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The Royal College of Surgeons Ireland (RCSI) has been formally authorised to use the title of "university" for the first time in 235 years. ... It follows an amendment to the Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) (Amendment) Act 2019, which provides a new legislative route for private education providers to apply for university designation. ... It now becomes the ninth university in the State
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