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    An Irish Radium Institute: the Royal Dublin Society and the promotion of radioactive therapy in twentieth-century Ireland


    Kirwan, Adrian (2025) An Irish Radium Institute: the Royal Dublin Society and the promotion of radioactive therapy in twentieth-century Ireland. Irish Journal of Medical Science. ISSN 0021-1265

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    Abstract

    Soon after its discovery in 1898, the potential physiological effects of radium, including its possible role in combating cancer, were recognised. Its therapeutic uses led to the founding of the Royal Dublin Society’s (RDS) Radium Institute in 1914, just 2 years after the establishment of the Institut du Radium in Paris. In tracing the history of the Institute and the use of radium therapy, this paper explores the role played by the RDS in the relationship between the emerging science surrounding radioactivity, the scientists that were promoting and developing this, and the pioneering medical professionals that sought to use this new science for the benefit of their patients in early twentieth-century Ireland. In doing so, it demonstrates that the Irish scientists and medical practitioners actively engaged with this new medical science, assimilating, contesting and reconstructing medical knowledge in a local context.
    Item Type: Article
    Keywords: Cancer; Irish Radium Institute; Radiation; Radium; Radium Institute; RDS; Royal Dublin Society; Therapy;
    Academic Unit: Centre for Teaching and Learning
    Item ID: 20626
    Identification Number: 10.1007/s11845-025-04035-x
    Depositing User: Adrian Kirwan
    Date Deposited: 29 Sep 2025 16:16
    Journal or Publication Title: Irish Journal of Medical Science
    Publisher: Springer Verlag
    Refereed: Yes
    Related URLs:
    URI: https://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/id/eprint/20626
    Use Licence: This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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