More than 350 members of the public are expected to visit RCSI over the next three days as National Heritage Week 2015 begins this morning at the College.

This annual festival will see the College open its doors from 24-26 August, for tours of the building, an RCSI Heritage Collections Exhibition and talk. The tours will be run at 11am, 2pm and 6pm on each of the three days and are completely free of charge to the public but registration is essential.

Guests will learn the history of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, one of Dublin's iconic buildings and how it came to be built. They will also find out about some of the individuals and events which have shaped, not just the College's history, but the local and national history over the past 230 years, including when the College was seized by rebels of the 1916 Easter Rising led by Michael Mallin and Constance Markievicz.

The tours will be guided by Bryan Sheils (Front of House Manger, RCSI), Frank Donegan (Head Porter, RCSI) and Joseph Byrne (Deputy Head Porter, RCSI). Meadhbh Murphy the College's Archivist will lead the Heritage Collections exhibition and talk.

The talk, entitled ‘Dublin in the Rare Ol' Times' will look at what life was like in Dublin in the decades leading up to the 1916 Easter Rising with a particular focus on the living, health, sanitation and hospital conditions during those years. The exhibition will feature material relating to this, such as medical instruments used at the time, photos of hospital procedures and advertisements for the latest medicines.

All events for National Heritage Week 2015 at RCSI are free of charge to the public but registration is essential due to limited capacity. Register your place on these guided tours by visiting www.rcsi.ie/heritageweek2015. Places are limited and will be distributed on a first come, first served basis. National Heritage Week 2015 is organised by the Heritage Council and will run from the 22-30 August.