{"id":609085,"date":"2026-08-30T09:22:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T09:22:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/609085\/"},"modified":"2026-08-30T09:22:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-30T09:22:15","slug":"a-padded-cell-an-iron-lung-and-napoleons-toothbrush-wonders-await-in-planned-medical-museum-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/609085\/","title":{"rendered":"A padded cell, an iron lung and Napoleon\u2019s toothbrush: wonders await in planned medical museum \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Does Dublin <\/a>need another museum? The Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (RCPI<\/a>) believes so and is seeking expressions of interest from \u201csuitably qualified exhibition design firms\u201d for the development of a medical museum in its building on Kildare Street, a stone\u2019s throw from Leinster House.<\/p>\n

RCPI, which trains doctors and supports their professional development, was formed in 1654 and is the custodian of more than 50,000 \u201citems of national and international significance\u201d that it wants to provide the \u201cwidest possible\u201d access to. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis museum will be a story told through objects. Enabling visitors to build on their knowledge of medicine, through the remarkable collections held in the college,\u201d documents published on the eTenders website state. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we hope the museum will resonate with a broad spectrum of visitors, the key target audience is non-specialist independent adults and families with children 12+.\u201d <\/p>\n

The would-be exhibits include a padded cell from the Grangegorman Asylum; an iron lung; prosthetic legs; a silver milk jug presented in 1838 \u201cto John Jacob MD by a little girl grateful for his kind attention during a severe illness\u201d; various cures for many disorders collected by Mary Barnewall (1752); and a toothbrush said to have belonged to Napoleon. <\/p>\n

\"AA toothbrush said to have belonged Napoleon is part of the RCPI collection. Photograph: RCPI <\/p>\n

The estimated value of the tender is \u20ac2.5 million, but the total investment could hit \u20ac8 million, comprising \u20ac3 million from the college and \u20ac5 million generated through fundraising. <\/p>\n

RCPI received planning permission in 2024 for works required to accommodate the museum across 350sqm at basement level at 6 Kildare Street. The hope is that it would open in 2029 and have an annual footfall of \u201c10,000 visitors per annum by year three\u201d.<\/p>\n

Irish ram subs in to support Belichick\u2019s side in football classic<\/p>\n

Thousands crossed the Atlantic for this weekend\u2019s Aer Lingus College Football Classic between the University of North Carolina (UNC) and Texas Christian University, but there was a notable absentee from the former\u2019s ranks. <\/p>\n

UNC mascot Rameses, a 275-pound Dorset Horn ram, stayed in Chapel Hill for the weekend and his shift supporting the team, led by eight-time Superbowl winner Bill Belichick, was covered by a substitute \u2013 his \u201cIrish cousin\u201d Seamus. <\/p>\n

The stand-in is owned by Orla Hogan from Co Clare, whose family line, or so the story goes, can be traced into UNC history. Some Hogans moved from Co Tipperary to the eastern US centuries ago, with one generation reportedly helping to get UNC going by donating some of the land on which the campus was built. <\/p>\n

\"OrlaOrla Hogan with her ram Seamus, selected to stand in for the University of North Carolina’s mascot, Rameses in this weekend’s College Football Classic. Photograph: David Clinch\/X <\/p>\n

Brad Bennett, a UNC alumnus, is involved in a documentary project entitled More Than a Mascot, which is following Rameses and the Hogan family that has cared for him (and past incarnations) for more than a century. The film looks at how this voluntary role has impacted the family across generations, and how as his current minders age, they must figure out who takes on the torch.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a celebrity, basically,\u201d Bennett said of Rameses. \u201cHe represents tradition, community, pride and joy.\u201d<\/p>\n

It has been a busy week for Seamus, with his schedule featuring a welcome party in Temple Bar, a visit to a fan event on O\u2019Connell Street, a pep rally at Merrion Square and a trip to meet supporters outside the Aviva Stadium before the game. <\/p>\n

\u201cSeamus is fun,\u201d Bennett says. \u201cHe\u2019s young, energetic … We hope people feel the same happiness when they see him.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Parton met P\u00e1id\u00ed: Clip of singer\u2019s 1990 Ventry visit goes viral <\/p>\n

Taylor Swift, Beyonc\u00e9, Paul McCartney and Donald Trump paid tribute to Dolly Parton after the country musician\u2019s death was announced this week. But it was a memory from a lesser-known source that appeared to resonate most widely in Ireland. <\/p>\n

P\u00e1id\u00ed \u00d3 S\u00e9\u2019s Pub in Ventry said it had \u201ca very special memory of Dolly\u201d from when she visited west Kerry with her manager, Walter Hagan, in 1990. The pair went for a drive and stopped at \u00d3 S\u00e9\u2019s shop, where they met P\u00e1id\u00ed\u2019s mother, Beatrice, who invited them to return that night. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat followed was one of those unforgettable nights that became part of the story of the pub,\u201d the bar said in a Facebook post. <\/p>\n

A video of Parton\u2019s visit shows her holding a microphone and saying: \u201cHello and welcome to Ireland. My name is Dolly and I\u2019m here on vacation.\u201d <\/p>\n

Parton said she had come to be entertained rather than to perform, but local musicians Steve Cooney and S\u00e9amus Begley knew her song Coat of Many Colours and asked if she would sing along. Parton obliged, and brought the house down. <\/p>\n

She recalled her time in Kerry in a 2020 interview with The Irish Times<\/a>: \u201cI write about it [in the song We Irish], \u2018there\u2019s a pub on every corner, and a church to worship in\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"DollyDolly Parton with P\u00e1id\u00ed \u00d3 S\u00e9 during her visit to his pub in Ventry, Co Kerry in 1990. Photograph: P\u00e1id\u00ed \u00d3 S\u00e9\u2019s Pub\/Facebook <\/p>\n

P\u00e1id\u00ed, who died in 2012, presented Parton with the jersey he wore during Kerry\u2019s All-Ireland win in 1985 that night. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere was something very fitting about Dolly and P\u00e1id\u00ed,\u201d the pub\u2019s post added. \u201cThey came from two very different corners of the world, but they had plenty in common. Both larger than life. Both immensely proud of where they came from.\u201d<\/p>\n

Strong \u2018Sleep Score\u2019 can\u2019t help investor McIlroy to another win<\/p>\n

It was all going to plan for Rory McIlroy last Sunday. He was tied at the top of the leader board coming down the stretch at the BMW Championship at Bellerive Country Club in St Louis, where a $3.6 million (\u20ac3.1 million) first prize was up for grabs. <\/p>\n

Better again, a graphic on Sky Sports\u2019 coverage showed that the Co Down native\u2019s Whoop \u201cSleep Score\u201d had been 88\/100, which the fitness wearables company\u2019s website would suggest meant he was well-rested and primed to perform. The planets were aligning.<\/p>\n

The Irish Times previously reported that McIlroy is on course to become Ireland\u2019s first sporting billionaire<\/a> through a combination of tournament winnings, endorsements and investments. Whoop is part of the golfer\u2019s investment portfolio, and it hasn\u2019t been shy about making use of his personal information. <\/p>\n

\"RoryRory McIlroy wearing a Whoop wristband during a practice round at Augusta National Golf Club. Photograph: Patrick Smith\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

After he retained the Masters, Whoop said McIlroy\u2019s data revealed \u201chow composure, recovery, and strain shaped one of golf\u2019s most high-pressure finishes\u201d. It said his heart rate peaked at 150 BPM as he celebrated the win, he had a 92 per cent sleep score (averaging 8\u00bd hours for the weekend), and took 91,247 steps during the four-day event. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0\u2018At least I\u2019m not English\u2019 \u2013 How Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood have traded insults down the yearsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

The company has also detailed how his sleep habits (earlier meals, blue-light control and reading) improve recovery and that alcohol has become \u201ca more deliberate choice\u201d as drinking wine pushes his resting heart rate up. <\/p>\n

But not even a good sleep score could force McIlroy\u2019s putts to drop during Sunday\u2019s closing holes. Wyndham Clark secured the win and the Northern Ireland man fell back to third, banking US$1.36 million. <\/p>\n

It was another step towards the billion, but Whoop hasn\u2019t yet revealed if a few glasses of wine were sunk after his near miss.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Does Dublin need another museum? The Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (RCPI) believes so and is seeking…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":609086,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[23645,45133,93,61,60,7727,1394,143368],"class_list":["post-609085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-american-football","tag-dolly-parton","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-kerry","tag-rory-mcilroy","tag-royal-college-of-physicians-of-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=609085"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609085\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/609086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=609085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=609085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=609085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}