Northern Ireland Screen's Digital Film Archive is a free public access resource for teachers, students, historians and anyone who has an interest in moving images. Spanning from 1897 to the present day, the films in the Digital Film Archive cover all aspects of life in Northern Ireland and includes everything from dramas to documentaries, newsreels and features, animation to amateur footage.
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Royal Victoria Hospital Belfast
Fascinating behind-the-screens look at the iconic hospital.
From the collection of:
Overview
From diagnosis to treatment, this curious film allows us to see the everyday life of the hospital and provides a glimpse into what was, at the time, the height of medical science. These are thought to be the earliest moving images of the Royal Victoria, and the film allows us to see just how radically scientific medicine has evolved since the 1930s.
The Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH) has its origins in a number of successive institutions, beginning in 1797 with the Belfast Fever Hospital and General Dispensary. Completed in 1906, the current RVH on the city's Grosvenor Road is a landmark in building engineering, which claims to be the first air-conditioned public building in the world. Despite the myriad changes that are apparent since this film was made, it's striking that the footage ends with an appeal by the Chairman of the Board of Management to reduce waiting lists.
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