National Museum receives €2.2m to develop new exhibition

The National Museum of Ireland (NMI) has been allocated €2.2m in funding as part of the Decade of Centenaries Programme.

The museum is to receive the investment for the development of a new exhibit – 20th Century History of Ireland Galleries.

This is the most significant single capital funding investment received by the National Museum since 2006 when it developed its permanent Soldiers and Chiefs: The Irish at War at Home and Abroad from 1550 to the present-day exhibition.

The 20th Century History of Ireland Galleries will be located across the upper level of the North Block of Clarke Square in Collins Barracks, which has never been open to the public.

This funding will be used for refurbishment works and to develop the first phase of the 20th Century History of Ireland Galleries, which will span the last 120 years of contemporary Irish history, from 1900 to 2020.

This exhibition will be the largest ever interpretive showcase of Irish political, cultural and social history for this period.

Work on the project will commence this year and the first phase of the exhibition – examining the 20th Century – will open in 2023, coinciding with the centenary of the foundation of the Irish Free State.

A public consultation will also be launched by the museum in order to get people’s thoughts on what the exhibition should consist of.

“It is the ambition of the museum that 20th Century History of Ireland will resonate with a wide range of audiences – at home and abroad,” says the museum.

“It will also ensure that hundreds of thousands of artefacts in the national collection, go on display for the first-time ensuring opportunities for communities throughout Ireland to engage, enjoy and learn from these objects of contemporary history.

“Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin TD said: “Our national cultural institutions have a significant role in the Decade of Centenaries Programme and they create opportunities for people of all traditions to reflect upon the complexities of the events of this period and the various related themes.

“I am delighted that my department is supporting the development of this project.

“I hope that the project will demonstrate the important legacy of the Decade of Centenaries and create a world-class exhibition which reflects the last 120 years of Ireland’s history in a compelling and connected way.”

Catherine Heaney, chairperson, National Museum of Ireland, said: “The 20th Century History of Ireland Galleries, will offer an important opportunity for a wider public consultation process with communities across Ireland – and our diaspora – on our contemporary history, ensuring that the exhibition is relevant and engaging to multiple audiences and identities within our communities.

“We will be asking the public to help us decide what objects and what stories best reflect our collective history since 1900.

“We want to ensure that the story of Ireland is meaningful and connects with the lives of all of our citizens.

“The historical collections of the National Museum of Ireland number in their hundreds of thousands, and these new, permanent exhibition galleries will represent the largest ever interpretive showcase of Irish political, cultural and social history dating from the year 1900 to the present.”