National Museum of Ireland at Kildare Street celebrates its 125th anniversary
On Saturday 29th August 2015, the National Museum of Ireland on Kildare Street will be celebrating its 125th anniversary with a full programme of events.
PREAS RÁITEAS THAR CEANN ARD-MHÚSAEM NA hÉIREANN
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED ON BEHALF OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF IRELAND
20th August 2015
National Museum of Ireland at Kildare Street celebrates its 125th anniversary.
On Saturday 29th August 2015, the National Museum of Ireland on Kildare Street will be celebrating its 125th anniversary. A day of free hands-on activities, talks & demonstrations marking the public opening of the Kildare Street Museum buildings in 1890 have been arranged to celebrate the collections of the Museum of Archaeology.
Museum under construction 1889
The National Museum of Ireland was founded under the Dublin Science and Art Museum Act of 1877. Previously, the Museum’s collections had been divided between Leinster House, originally the headquarters of the Royal Dublin Society, and the Natural History Museum in Merrion Street, built as an extension to Leinster House in 1856 - 1857. Under the Act, the government purchased the museum buildings and collections. To provide storage and display space for the Leinster House collections, the government quickly implemented plans to construct a new, custom-built museum on Kildare Street and on 29 August 1890, the new museum opened its doors to the public. Originally housing the Museum’s collections of antiquities, ethnography, folklife, decorative arts and history, it is now dedicated to the display of archaeological material from Ireland and abroad.
Preparation for the opening ceremony of the Museum, 1890
At the inaugural event on 29th August 1890, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (1889 – 1892), Lawrence Dundas said that it was his: “fervent hope that this National Museum may in the fullest measure fulfil the purpose for which it (has) been raised: that (it) may not only prove a source of recreation and instruction to the general public but may afford such real assistance to Irish students and workers that their inauguration today may hereafter be regarded as making a new growth of the arts and industries of the Country.”
Central Court with two women seated 1890
Commenting on the anniversary of the Museum, Raghnall Ó Floinn – Director of the National Museum stated: “The collections housed in the Museum’s magnificent Kildare Street building have fascinated and enthralled millions of visitors from home and abroad since opening in 1890. Join us in celebrating our 125th birthday as we take a closer look at the building and its collections and learn how we have cared for our archaeological heritage over the generations”
Arrival of the Addergoole Canoe from Galway, 1902
Siobhan Pierce Education and Outreach Officer for the NMI Archaeology & Natural History - said: “Those visionary Victorians who opened the Museum 125 years ago always intended the galleries would amaze and inspire, so for this milestone anniversary we are planning a full day of events for people of all ages. We have workshops and trails, as well as talks and curator tours, replica artefact handling sessions and a special pop-up display. It will be a good day to get those questions people have, answered about the Museum’s artefacts, from the ancient Egyptian amulets to glistening Irish chalices!”
What’s on?
See the full programme of events marking this anniversary.
For More Press Information, please contact:
Maureen Gaule, Marketing Executive, Marketing Department,
T: 01 648 6429 | M: 087 9031690| E: mgaule@museum.ie
Ann Daly, Head of Marketing, Marketing Department,
T: 01 648 6457 | M: 087 2368067| E: adaly@museum.ie
Images available on request
Notes to the Editor:
The National Museum of Ireland building on Kildare Street, designed by Cork architects Thomas Newenham Deane and his son Thomas Manly Deane, is an architectural landmark. It is built in the Victorian Palladian style and has been compared with the Altes Museum in Berlin, designed by Karl Schinkel in the 1820s. Neo-classical influences can be seen in the colonnaded entrance and the domed rotunda, which rises to a height of 20 metres, is modelled on the Pantheon in Rome. Within the rotunda, classical columns – made of marble quarried in Counties Cork, Kilkenny, Galway, Limerick and Armagh – mirror the entrance colonnade.
Admission to the National Museum of Ireland and its Exhibitions is Free
Open Tuesday – Saturday 10.00am – 5.00pm
Sunday 2.00pm – 5.00pm
Museum Shop & Café on site
For full details go to What’s On at www.museum.ie.
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