A time to remember and commemorate the past. Thus Charter Day, the annual surgical conference to mark the foundation of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), is held every February, to commemorate the granting of the college's charter by King George III on February 11th, 1784.

This licence gave the institution the power to control the practice of surgery and to provide surgical education for its members. This year the celebrations are scheduled for next Friday and Saturday.

Professor J B Lyons, of the RCSI's department of the history of medicine, in his essay on The Irresistible Rise of the RCSI, describes the horrific medical practices of 18th century Dublin when barbers and surgeons were both members of the same association - the guild of St Mary Magdalene established by Henry VI in 1446. "The familiar barber's pole, striped red and white, is a token of a tradition linking barbers and surgeons, and a reminder of an age when bleeding was a popular therapeutic method," he says. "The pole represents the phlebotomist's (blood-letter's) staff which the unfortunate patient gripped to distend his veins, the red stripe symbolises the fillet placed to obstruct the venous circulation, the white a bandage used when the bleeding was completed."

Happily, medical practice has come a long way since then. The college flourished from its inception and, in 1810, acquired its present premises, then a disused Quaker graveyard, at the corner of York Street, facing St Stephen's Green.

The emphasis from the start was to educate doctors in surgery, and the founders were particularly influenced in this pursuit by the high standards in French medicine which prevailed at the time. In order to lay permanent emphasis on this influence, the college adopted the motto, Consilio Manuque (meaning scholarship and dexterity) which remains its mission to this day.

A supplemental charter was obtained from Queen Victoria in 1884 establishing the institution of the fellowship which divided graduates into licentiates and fellows. A fellowship could only be obtained by an examination undertaken a minimum of three years following graduation.

This is the system by which the college operates today. The Medical Act of 1886 stipulated that graduates had to be educated in surgery, medicine and obstetrics; thus the Conjoint Board between the Royal College of Surgeons and the Royal College of Physicians came into existence. The college is a member of the National University of Ireland since 1978.

The building was lucky to survive almost unscathed when, as Prof Lyons recalls, it was temporarily employed as a battleground for Countess Markievicz and her forces during the 1916 Easter Rising. "Fortunately it suffered minor damage only," he writes. "The act of greatest disrespect, as it would have seemed at the time, was that of a youngster who cut an oil-painting of Queen Victoria from its frame and used it for leggings" - this incident featured in the opening episode of Rebel Heart, the current RTE/BBC TV coproduction.

Events of the weekend include the presidential address on Friday evening, to be presented by the college's president, Professor George Parks. Following his speech, the prestigious Colles lecture, (named after Kilkenny-born Abraham Colles, known to doctors because of his discovery of the "Colles fracture"), on the theme of the current status of esophageal surgery will be given by Professor David B Skinner, president emeritus at New York-Presbyterian Hospital and New York Presbyterian Healthcare System. This address is reserved for surgeons who have excelled in their careers. Earlier in the day the Johnson & Johnson keynote address - the Gilmore Groin lecture - will be given by O J A Gilmore of The Groin & Hernia Clinic, Harley Street, London.

The Charter Day dinner on Saturday night, a black-tie event, will include presidents from surgical colleges in Britain, Ireland and abroad. Deans of medical faculties, representatives from hospitals, registrars, the diplomatic corps, past presidents and patrons.

Representatives from Government and State-sponsored bodies will attend, as well as speciality group members and personnel from the college's administration. This year Prof Skinner will be awarded the college's honorary fellowship.

The corporate guest list includes Esat's Denis O'Brien, Heinz's Dr Tony and Mrs Chryss O'Reilly, and chief executives from companies such as Lucent Technologies, KPMG, Mayo Clinic, AIB, McDonalds, EBS and Irish Life & Permanent.

The annual meeting of the Irish Higher Surgical Training Group meets on Saturday morning when medical/legal issues and their impact for surgeons and surgery will be discussed. This forum will include contributions from patients' groups, the city coroner and Professor Denis Cusack of UCD's Division of Legal Medicine. Professor Skinner will address the meeting on recent changes in clinical practice in the US.