Richard Caulfield

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Dr. Richard Caulfield (1823-1887) was Secretary, Librarian and Custodian of the Royal Cork Institution and Librarian for Queen's College, Cork^[1].

Caulfield was born in Cork on 23 April 1823, a grandson of Henry Gosnell, physician at the Lying-In Hospital and first resident surgeon at the North Infirmary. One of six children born to Catherine Gosnell and William Caulfield, he was named Richard, a common family name.

Caulfield died aged 64 on 3 February 1887 at his residence, the Royal Cork Institution, after a severe attack of bronchitis.

He was well respected across the sectarian divide. On 4 February, The Protestant Cork Constitution published a short unsigned appreciation which said of him that on more than one occasion he was chosen as arbiter in important historical and theological controversies. The funeral took place on 7 February when he was buried in St Luke's Cemetery, Douglas. beside the grave of his friend, antiquarian colleague and historian of Youghal, the Rev. Samuel Hayman. The Catholic Cork Examiner reported that among those present were the Rev. J.D. Burke, Superior of the Christian Brothers, Rev. S.O. Madden, Dean of St Fin Barre's Cathedral, city dignitaries, and a host of lecturers, students and professors from the Queen's College, including the President, William K. Sullivan.

In his memory, a bronze Door was erected at St. Fin Barre's Cathedral.