Little Museum celebrates big music

A FASCINATING exhibition focusing on the last 120 years of the Feis Ceoil will be wrapping up later this week.

This is the last chance for visitors to the Little Museum of Dublin, located on St Stephen’s Green, to learn about an exciting chapter in Ireland’s musical history.

This beloved music festival has been held annually in Dublin since 1896, and now comprises almost 200 competitions that attract over 5,000 participants from all over Ireland. 

Incredible details from the history of the Feis Ceoil are on show, including the first public display of James Joyce’s famous 1904 singing medal – on loan to the museum from its current owner Michael Flatley.

Other artefacts on display include the very first Feis programme, early judges’ scoresheets and reports and beautifully designed winners’ cups, alongside songbooks and personal mementos from the competition.

Through the decades almost every classical Irish musician has performed in Feis Ceoil.

Some of the performers through the decades includeMargaret Burke Sheridan, John McCormack, Suzanne Murphy, Bernadette Greevy, Eithne Robinson, Hugh Tinney, Philip Martin John O’Conor, John Ronayne, Emma Murphy, Geraldine O’Grady, Anne Murray and Mary Hegarty.

Earlier this year the Little Museum of Dublin won the European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage/Europa Nostra Award 2016 in the category of Education, Training and Awareness-Raising.

Currently the museum has a number of different exhibits that  help to create a big picture about what made Dublin into the city it is today.

The Director of the Little Museum of Dublin, Trevor White, praised all the people who contributed to the museum.

“It is truly an honour to receive this award,” he said. “We started this museum with a simple public call for donations, and it is thrilling to see how much the museum has grown in five years.

“But that growth is the result of a collective effort – from the members of the public who donated artefacts to the collection. It is a privilege for us to carry out this work, and for this work to be recognised at a European level.”

Recent exhibits in the museum have celebrated the 1916 Rising, for example. Fergal McCarthy retold the events of the Rising through a 60-piece set of drawings and texts displayed on the walls of the museum.

Pieces in the museum also explore more modern trends that has shaped the city.

A fan curated U2 exhibition called ‘U2: Made in Dublin’ details the band’s rise to fame with the help of fun memorabilia, which includes signed albums and photographs.

The museum was launched back in 2011 and with help from the public it now has over 5,000 pieces in the collection.

When the museum received the award, the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Heather Humphreys, explained that it helped raise awareness about the history and culture of Ireland, particularly to visiting tourists.

“This award is further positive international recognition of the wealth and depth of Ireland’s cultural offering to visitors, both domestic and from overseas,” she said at the time.

“The Little Museum is one of Dublin’s true gems; behind its relatively unassuming door on Stephen’s Green lies a treasure trove of historical and cultural objects.

“The personal nature of so many of these objects is the true beauty of the Little Museum, giving visitors a unique insight into our political and cultural history.”

REPORT: Graham McGrath