Includes bibliographical references (pages 135-140).

Preface: A new way of thinking -- Setting the scene - From the marsh to the mall -- Influential societies: the age of reason -- From Hackney to Cork: Rev Thomas Dix Hincks -- The early years of the Cork Institution, 1803-1820 -- Formation and consolidation -- Acquisition of the Canova Casts, 1818 -- Portrait of a Cork Sculptor: John Hogan -- An exquisite library catalogue, c.1820-c.1826 -- The British commision on education interviews -- Aftermath of the inquiry -- Decline of an institution, C1830-c.1850 -- Portrait of a city -- A changing world -- The quest for a Cork art academy -- The making of the Crawford Art Gallery, 1885.

"In this volume, Kieran McCarthy sheds light on an important aspect of the educational heritage of the city which, in the nineteenth century, laid important foundation stones for our twenty-first century education.Although little remembered or spoken of in current day Cork, the Royal Cork Institution was remarkable in its time and the city owes a great debt to those who founded and maintained that institution. Cork Institute of Technology, particularly it’s Science Faculty and its constituent schools of the Crawford College of Art and Design and the Cork School of Music can trace their origins back to the influences of the Royal Cork Institution. This establishment also played a critical role in the movement that led to the foundation of Queens College Cork, later re-named as University College Cork." - Back cover.