History and Architecture
Update:
The National Museum of Ireland - Natural History on Merrion St remains closed for refurbishment works. Staff are working with the Office of Public Works to complete necessary building improvements and to prepare galleries for reopening early 2010. In the meantime, a temporary exhibition entitled The Dead Zoo At Large -Treasures of the Natural History Museum is on display in the Riding School, Collins Barracks, Benburb Street, Dublin 7.This building is closed as part of a major restoration project which is in the early stages. Staff are working on documenting 10,000 exhibits and preparing over a million specimens for removal from the building. The collections must be removed for safety during what will be a major construction project. The plan is to restore the museum to its original glory, while adding a lift and other features to ensure full access for all visitors. Major works are also planned on the fabric of the building to provide a better environment for the long term needs of the exhibits.
The Natural History building was built in 1856 to house the Royal Dublin Society’s growing collections, which had expanded continually since the late 18th Century.
The building is a ‘cabinet-style’ museum designed to showcase a wide-ranging and comprehensive zoological collection, and has changed little in over a century. Often described as a ‘museum of a museum’, its 10,000 exhibits provide a glimpse of the natural world that has delighted generations of visitors since the doors opened in 1857.
The building and its displays reflect many aspects of the history and development of the collections. It was originally built as an extension to Leinster House, where the Royal Dublin Society was based for much of the 19th Century. The building was designed by architect Frederick Clarendon in harmony with the National Gallery of Ireland on the other side of Leinster Lawn. The foundation stone was laid on 15 March 1856 and the building was completed in August 1857 by contractors Gilbert Cockburn & Son. It formed an annexe to Leinster House and was connected to it by a curved closed Corinthian colonnade.
In 1877 ownership of the Museum and its collections was transferred to the state. New funding was provided for the building, and new animals were added from an expanding British empire during the great days of exploration.
In 1909 a new entrance was constructed at the east end of the building facing Merrion Street. This reversed the direction from which visitors approached the exhibitions and explains why some of the large exhibits still face what appears today to be the back of the building: it was too difficult to turn the whales and elephants around to face the new entrance.