Cork Societies
The Cork county and city Horticultural Society, established under the patronage of the Duchess of Kent, published its first report in January 1835, by which it appears that, during the three first exhibitions, 233 prizes were awarded to successful candidates for the best specimens of vegetables, fruits, flowers, and herbaceous plants; and according to the 2nd report published Jan. 1836, 274 were awarded: the society is liberally supported by subscription, and promises to be eminently conducive to the horticultural and agricultural improvement of the district. An agricultural society was formed in 1836. The Cork Library Society, in the South Mall, was founded in 1790, and the library contains a valuable collection of more than 10,000 volumes in the various departments of science, art, and general literature; it is managed by a committee who meet every alternate week for the selection of books, the admission of members by ballot, and the transaction of ordinary business.
The Cork Royal Institution was founded in 1803 by subscription among private gentlemen of the city and county, for diffusing the knowledge and facilitating the introduction of all improvements in the arts and manufactures, and for teaching by lectures the application of science to the common purposes of life. The obvious usefulness of such an institution recommended it to the favourable consideration of Government, and in 1807 the proprietors obtained a royal charter of incorporation and a parliamentary grant of £2000 per annum. For several years lectures were annually given on Natural Philosophy, Natural History, Chemistry, Mineralogy, Botany, and other useful branches of Science; but in 1830 the grant was withdrawn, and the lectures have been since discontinued. On withholding the grant, Government presented to the proprietary the old custom-house, a fine spacious building in Nelson-place, subject to a rent of £65 per ann., to which the Crown was previously liable.
There are at present, belonging to the institution, museums of natural history and mineralogy, a scientific and medical library containing more than 5000 volumes, philosophical and chemical apparatus, and a splendid series of casts from the antique. Several efforts have been made to convert this institution into a collegiate establishment, which the situation of Cork in a populous district remote from the metropolis and surrounded by numerous large towns, and the opportunities of practical study afforded by its Medical and Surgical Charitable Institutions and the existence of a School of Physic and Surgery, render peculiarly desirable, and would compensate for the loss which the inhabitants of the city and surrounding districts have sustained by the withdrawal of the parliamentary grant.
The Cork Scientific and Literary Society was founded or revived in 1834, after the dissolution of a former society about ten years previously, and consists of about 90 members and 15 subscribers who pay 10s. per ann.: the former are required to produce in rotation an essay at each meeting of the society, which is read on that evening and discussed at the next meeting, in which discussions the subscribers are permitted to take part: the meetings are held in the lecture-room of the Cork Royal Institution. The meetings of the Cuvierian society, formed in 1835, are held in the same place. The object of this society is the promotion of a friendly intercourse among those who wish to cultivate science, literature, and the fine arts, so as, by personal communication and occasional courses of lectures, to diffuse more generally the advantages of intellectual and scientific pursuits.
The Society of Arts was established about the year 1815 for the advancement of painting and sculpture, and was at first liberally encouraged; George IV., when Prince Regent, presented to the society, in 1820, a very valuable collection of casts from the antique; the students were numerous, and were instructed in drawing, and a course of lectures on Anatomy as connected with the art of design was regularly delivered; but the funds becoming in a few years insufficient to defray the expenses, the casts presented by the King were transferred to the Royal Institution. The society, however, still exists, and affords patronage and assistance to youthful genius; Dr. Woodroffe continues to give lectures on the Anatomy of expression, the Philosophy of the human body, and on Phrenology.
The Mechanics' Institute was founded in 1824, and has a library of 1500 volumes, a reading-room, and two schools, one for instruction in the arts and sciences, and one for design; there are 210 members, and lectures on scientific subjects are occasionally delivered. The school of Physic and Surgery was founded by Dr. Woodroffe in 1811, and continues to flourish; lectures on Anatomy, Physiology, the theory and practice of Surgery and Midwifery, Materia-Medica, practice of Physic and Clinical Surgery are delivered during the winter half-year: this School is connected with the South Infirmary and the Hospital of the House of Industry, and, being duly recognised by the Royal College of Surgeons in London, the Apothecaries' Hall, Dublin, and the Army and Navy Medical Boards, has been of great benefit to medical students of the south of Ireland. Certificates of attendance at Dr. Cesar's lectures on Anatomy and Materia-Medica, delivered at the Royal Institution, are recognised by the Royal College of Surgeons, London, at Apothecaries' Hall, by the Army and Navy Boards, the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, and many continental universities.