TRIMESTER - Rotunda Library Newsletter Dec 2012 | Page 2

2

Trimester
Rotunda Library Newsletter

Rotunda Royal Charter
Conservation Project

A

s part of the celebrations for the
Hospital’s Tercentenary of the birth
of Founder Bartholomew Mosse, it
was decided to provide a historical perspective
to the founding of the Hospital and the
management structures it supports today.
Royal Charter
The granting of the Royal Charter to the
Hospital on the 2nd of December, 1756, by his
Majesty King George II, raised the status of the
Hospital from a small charitable institution to
an institution of national status, ensuring its
ongoing government funding.
In addition, it discussed the overall
management of the Hospital, appointment of
the Master at a fixed term of years which is not
renewable and a Board of Governors appointed
to manage and control the trust. It clearly shows
Mosse’s considerable foresight in securing this
commitment and the development of midwifery
training at the Rotunda.
As such, this legally binding document,
produced in parchment and displaying its formal
seal, is a valuable document, which the hospital
is duty bound to maintain for posterity.
For security reasons, this document was held
in storage, but due to the nature of the
parchment it has required specialist
conservation.
Conservation Project
In April 2012, I was given the task of having
the document reviewed for conservation
purposes. A number of organisations
provided advice as to this specialist work and
consequently a report was commissioned from
the Department of Archives, Trinity College.
It confirmed the need for specialist conservation
methods to allow the parchment to be preserved,
displayed and stored appropriately.
Armed with new knowledge, we sought tenders
from two conservation companies whose
portfolio included other conservation work of
this nature and the skills to perform this task.
In June 2012, the contract was awarded to
Mr Pat McBride of Paper Conservation Studio.
Pat is a specialist who conserves and restores
works of art on paper and has experience of
working with parchment from this era.

Pat McBride working in this studio at Paper Conservation Studios
located in the Design Tower on Dublin’s Docklands

Thus work commenced on the mounting of the document for display
and exhibition purposes. The estimated time for this work was ten hours
with additional time allocated to the safe mounting of its attached seal.
The Royal Seal adds validity to the worth of the document and is
invaluable in terms of its value.
As autumn commenced, we met again with Mr McBride to review the
mounted document. My thanks to our Secretary/General Manager
Pauline Treanor and to Pat McBride for facilitating this project and for
their advice regarding display issues.
The final stage of the project will allow for the safe storage, exhibition
and transport of the Charter, as it takes its first steps from the darkness
of storage to the light of the Rotunda.
A M. O’Byrne