You have up until the end of the month to get on board with the Focus on Irish History (1850-1950 ) daily tour at the Museum of Country Life. Once December kicks in the daily tour will focus on Christmas Customs in the lead-up to the festive season. The tours take place daily at 3pm, from Tuesday to Saturday. The tours cost €2 per person and children under 16 go free. Tours can be pre-booked also.
Other exhibitions currently on show in the museum include; Safe Secrets: The Story of the Coggalbeg Hoard. This important hoard of Early Bronze Age sheet gold work was found in a bog at Coggalbeg, Co Roscommon, in 1945. The lunula and the discs were placed in a safe in Sheehan’s pharmacy in the nearby town of Strokestown in 1947. In March 2009 a break-in took place at the shop and the pharmacy safe was stolen. This led to a massive investigation by An Garda Síochána which eventually led to the recovery of the gold in a rubbish skip in Dublin city. This exhibition will run until summer 2012. Also running is Straw, Hay and Rushes; you can imagine a mat made from straw. How about horseriding using a saddle made from rushes or insulating your home with plaited straw draught excluders? This exhibition includes these and more than 40 objects made from these natural materials, some of which you can experience for yourself. This exhibition has now reopened in the temporary exhibition gallery on Level B.
