Join the Conversation at the National Museum of Ireland in 2025
- Changing Ireland to open at Collins Barracks –most significant expansion of public galleries in the National Museum in decades
- Largest ever international loan of ancient manuscripts from Stiftsbibliothek, St Gallen to feature as part of major exhibition in Kildare Street, Words on the Wave
- New Dead Zoo Lab to open at Collins Barracks
Words on the Wave at Kildare Street
A major exhibition, Words on the Wave, will open at the National Museum, Kildare Street in May, exploring Early Medieval Ireland and its influence on Europe.
In a world first, 17 manuscripts will travel to Ireland for this exhibition from the UNESCO World Heritage site, Stiftsbibliothek, St. Gallen –home to a very important collection of early medieval manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts were written by Irish scribes and they will be returning to Ireland for the first time in more than 1,000 years.
The National Museum holds the world’s largest collection of early Medieval Irish objects, and this exhibition will showcase more than 150 objects from this extraordinary collection to illustrate the level of contact between Ireland, Britain and the Continent in the Early Medieval Period, including the famous Faddan More Psalter and the Lough Kinale Book Shrine- the earliest and largest container for a sacred book found broken apart in a Westmeath lake, conserved and interpreted in its entirety and on exhibition for the first time since its discovery.
Changing Ireland at Collins Barracks
September will see the most significant expansion of public galleries at the National Museum in two decades. A legacy project of the Decade of Centenaries Programme, Changing Ireland will occupy a newly refurbished and designed space in Collins Barracks.
The new galleries have been designed to support the regular rotation of artefacts, which will support unprecedented access to the National Museum’s 20th and 21st century history collections.
Amongst a varied range of everyday, artistic, institutional, political and military objects will be many that are on public display for the first time, including Rory Gallagher’s 1961 Fender Stratocaster.
In this exciting new public space, and through a range of artistic and public interventions, visitors will be invited to consider, ‘What does Ireland mean, to you?’
New Dead Zoo Lab at Collins Barracks
With the National Museum at Merrion Street now closed for much needed conservation and refurbishment works, a new Dead Zoo Lab will open at the National Museum, Collins Barracks in Summer 2025 ensuring that the public can still visit some favourite specimens from the Natural History Collection such as Spoticus the Giraffe and the Giant Irish Deer, as well as some specimens that haven’t been on display for years such as the collection of Blaschka glass models of marine life. The Natural History team will be using this new space to engage the public in conversation and actions to address biodiversity loss and climate change.
A place of Sanctuary and Surprise
The National Museum is open seven days a week, and with free admission offers the public constant opportunities to be inspired, engaged and informed through its inclusive and accessible events and public programmes.
Every year, the National Museum seeks to make strategic new acquisitions, which allows the national collection to better reflect our recent and contemporary experiences. These new acquisitions, joining the existing public displays, also enable curatorial teams to reinterpret and reimagine existing exhibitions, creating a place of sanctuary and surprise for its more than one million visitors annually.
The iconic Honda 50 or ‘nifty fifty’ is a recent acquisition that will be on display for the first time in the National Museum, Turlough Park in 2025. A ubiquitous feature of Irish life that evokes strong memories for many, it was an affordable solution enabling greater mobility particularly in rural communities.
Throughout the year, the National Museum will be working with the wider public, students and communities in an extensive range of in-museum and on-line initiatives. For example, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Ireland’s Marriage Equality Referendum, a new LGBTQI+ guided tour will also be launched this summer exploring the Museum’s exhibitions through a queer lens.
Director of the National Museum, Lynn Scarff, said:
“Our ambition for 2025, and always, is to spark conversation. Museums are dynamic, inviting and evolving spaces where cultural heritage is not only preserved, but actively explored and reimagined; places of both reflection and inspiration, where ideas are welcomed, and new perspectives can emerge. Our National Museum is for everyone. We have a lot of exciting developments ahead in 2025 and we are delighted to be sharing some of the highlights today.”
Further additions to the 2025 Programme will be announced in the coming months.
For regular updates see www.museum.ie
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