PERSONAL BELONGINGS of IRA volunteer Seamus Quirk and Fr Michael Griffin; Bronze Age artefacts from Dún Aonghasa; the myths of the River Corrib; and an exploration of Gaelic Ireland - there is a wealth of local and Irish history to be experienced at the Galway City Museum.
The Galway City Museum, which re-opened in May, has four intriguing exhibitions spanning politics, revolution, architecture, culture, and folklore running on its ground floor and first floor galleries. It will be the first time since March 2020 that the public will have a chance to visit the museum and experience the various exhibitions.
“There is no substitute for the real experience and engagement which exhibitions offer,” said Ríona Egan, the museum’s marketing and communications officer. “Since reopening we have had such a positive response from visitors thrilled to be back ambling through the galleries once again, but also from local business people surprised at just how much they missed the museum while it was closed. Galway City Museum is an inspiring public space marinating in Galway history, archaeology, and culture.”
Revolutionary Galway
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James ‘Seamus’ Quirk.
Galway city and county played a not inconsiderable role during Ireland’s revolution and fight for self determination. That period, 1913 to 1923, is examined, often through very personal artifacts, in Revolution in Galway, 1913-23.
“It tells the story of this turbulent and seminal period in our history from a Galway perspective, using evocative objects, historical photographs, film footage, and archive material,” says Brendan McGowan, museum education officer. “As the centenary of the foundation of the Irish Free State approaches, the exhibition is a great and easy-to-follow introduction to the events that shaped our island.”
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Fr Michael Griffin.
On display is a ‘green ensign’ flown from Moon’s Corner during the visit of King Edward VII to Galway in 1903; a German Mauser from the Asgard; items belonging to Liam Mellows - who lead the Rising in Galway in 1916 - including a chess piece carved in Mountjoy Jail before his execution in 1922; an RIC revolver captured during an IRA ambush at Merlin Park in 1920; a biretta belonging to Fr Michael Griffin; an autograph book from Ballykinlar internment camp belonging to a volunteer Crowe from Bohermore; and a bronze bust of Éamonn Ceannt by Domhnall Ó Murchadha.
New to this exhibition are two very personal and deeply poignant items - a handkerchief which James ‘Seamus’ Quirk, battalion adjutant of the IRA, had with him the night he was abducted, shot repeatedly, and left for dead by Crown Forces, as well as a stole, an item worn around the neck, used by Fr Michael Griffin to administer the last rites to the fatally wounded Quirk. Fr Griffin was himself murdered by Crown Forces two months later. The items were donated to the museum by the Quirk and O’Callaghan families, Cork.
Life in Dún Aonghasa
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Eithne Verling, director of the Galway City Museum. Photo:- Mike Shaughnessy
MONUMENT goes back into the earliest periods of Galway history, looking primarily at the stone forts in the Aran Islands, and on Dún Aonghasa in particular.
Curated by Eithne Verling, director of the Galway City Museum, and Sybil Curley, and developed in partnership with Galway 2020, the exhibition features items from the National Museum of Ireland which were taken from excavations at Dún Aonghasa between 1992 and 1995.
Dún Aonghasa, at the edge of Inis Mór, the largest of the Aran Islands, dates from the Late Bronze Age (around 1000 BC ) and continued in use until c1000 AD. For MONUMENT, the museum will display Bronze Age cooking pots; tweezers; amber beads, which probably formed part of a necklace; an early Mediaeval comb; and bone pins and needles for making clothing and stone tools.
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Photo:- Mike Shaughnessy
MONUMENT also features specially commissioned craft pieces by textile artists Áine agus Tarlach de Blácam of Inis Meáin Knitting Company; glass artist Róisín De Buitléar; silversmith Cóilín Ó Dubhghaill; ceramicist Katherine West; basket-maker Joe Hogan; knitter Elain McBride; graphic artist Maeve Clancy; woodturner Alan Meredith; currach-maker Patrick Flaherty; designer Sarah Joyce; and film-maker Colm Hogan.
“The exhibition blends digital, physical, and tactile experiences to tell this story in a manner that we hope will entertain, inform and delight audiences of all ages,” said Eithne Verling and Sybil Curley.
Tales from the riverbank
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Photo:- Mike Shaughnessy
Lough Corrib, the second largest lake in Ireland, is connected to Galway Bay by a short river that is also the fastest flowing in Europe. The Corrib: Myth, Legend, and Folklore, curated by Brendan McGowan, features specially-commissioned artwork by Sadie Cramer, and explores old myths and stories about the lake, river, and bay, setting them in a broader context.
Visitors can request a copy of the Myth, Legend & Folklore tour brochure specially designed as a walking tour that extends around the city. “The sound of the River Corrib as it rushes towards Galway Bay is, and always has been, the soundtrack to life in Galway,” said Mr McGowan. “This beautifully-illustrated exhibition, and accompanying walking trail, explores some of the myth, legend and folklore that the river and bay have inspired over the centuries. After visiting, you will never look at them the same again!"
Our Gaelic heritage
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Photo:- Mike Shaughnessy
Keepers of the Gael - Caomhnóirí na nGael is an exciting, multi-media exhibition which explores of Gaelic culture and society in Ireland through the lens of the learned families of historians, lawyers, physicians, poets and musicians who served Gaelic and English ruling families in Ireland between 1200 and 1600.
'The human concern with uniqueness is a contemporary issue. This is a contribution to understanding who we are'
Among the highlights are the meadar or drinking cup of O’Tully, who was physician to some of the major Gaelic families of Connacht, and a slate inscribed with cures, both on loan from the National Museum of Ireland; a chalice which belonged to Mathew MacCraith, c1500, on loan from Clonfert Diocesan Museum; a beautiful reproduction of a cláirseach crafted by the harp-maker and harpist, Natalie Surina; and an original copy of James Hardiman’s History of Galway (1820 ) from the Galway City Museum collection.
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Photo:- Mike Shaughnessy
“Keepers of the Gael brings together a selection of objects to illustrate the different aspects of the life and culture of people in later mediaeval Ireland,” said Helen Bermingham, the museum’s collections officer.
The exhibition also features images and interactives that highlight what we know of the origins of the Gael, their customs and cultural practices, the territories, landscapes, and settlements where they lived, their relationship with the sea and the Christian church, and the influential roles Gaelic arts played in society.
“The human concern with uniqueness is a contemporary issue with a long history,” said Prof NUI Galway’s Elizabeth Fitzpatrick, the guest curator on the exhibition. “This exhibition theme looks at Gaelic identity on this island, as a contribution to understanding who we are.”
Admission is free but tickets are required. Tickets are available via www.galwaycitymuseum.ie or www.eventbrite.com Visitors can book tickets from one of four daily time slots: 10am; 11.30am, 2pm, and 3.30pm. Tickets will need to be presented as a printout or on your mobile phone at the main entrance. Visitor numbers will be controlled and those attending will have to adhere to correct social distancing and health and safety protocols.
