Tour at a glance
Level: 3rd to 6th class
Group size: 15
Location: Curator's Choice, Out of Storage, Irish Silver Exhibition, Reconstructed Rooms: Four Centuries of Furnishing
Duration: 45 minutes
Available: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
Booking: Please contact bookings@museum.ie to book this session
This interactive tour will give students a flavour of the wealth of artefacts on display in the Museum that show the continuity and change of food preparation over time and the fascinating insights dining can give us into life, society and culture in Ireland. Students will discover the many different ways people used dining to express themselves and the hidden stories and values attributed to everyday domestic objects.
"A tour is only as good as its guide. Today our guide made this tour with his deep knowledge and relaying of this information."
Teacher feedback
Curriculum links
SESE History
Working as a Historian
Time and chronology/Change and Continuity/Using evidence/empathy/synthesis and communication
Local studies
Homes/Feasts and festivals in the past
Change and Continuity
Food and farming
Life, Society, Work and Culture in the Past
Life in mediaeval towns and countryside in Ireland and Europe/Life in the 18th century/Life in the 19th century/Language and culture in late 19th and early 20th century Ireland
Other curriculum links
- Visual Art (Construction, Symbols, Design)
Learning outcomes
- Developing an understanding of continuity and change over time through everyday artefacts relating to food and drink
- Understanding of dining etiquette and practices in the past
- Discovering how food and drink was seen as a sign of social status, and how dining practices varied from rich to poor
- Learn about how food and drink was used to show political affiliation
Resources and suggestions
Before your visit
- Visit the Museum in advance, if possible, to get familiar with the layout, key objects and key narrative
- Plan a project around your visit. Students could research food, drink and dining in the past to have a flavour of the types of topics they will be discussing with their guide during the tour
After your visit
Ideas for post-visit activities:
- Ask students to write a review of their museum visit
- Ask students to design their own dream menu
- Consider the value of museums as places to display objects that connect us with our history