Dublin Museum #1

So - there are numerous "National" museums throughout Ireland. Three of them are in Dublin: Archaeology, Natural History and the one we visited this past week, Decorative Arts and History. This location is cool, an old military barracks and right off the tram line.  There is also a large parking area which we gladly paid our 6 euros for all day parking (parking in Dublin is .... not fun).



The building itself is an extremely important structure, filled with lots and lots of history. Called the Collins Barracks (for Michael Collins) was built in 1702 and remained a military barracks for nearly 300 years. Many a court marshal, and imprisonment took place here too.  It was built to house 1500 men. The center courtyard, Clarke Square (named for Thomas Clarke, executed rebel leader during the 1916 Rising) is massive. I can just imagine troops marching, parading or just standing at attention there years ago. Walking around I got a sense of strength, history and honor.  It was renovated in 1985 to become a museum.

So now instead of making history, the building is keeping historical artifacts safe, and lots of it. Everything from clothes, furniture, jewelry, ceramics, silver, Asian art, coins, glass ware and a boat. All really impressive and showcased well throughout the building. Definitely worth a good couple of hours strolling around being impressed by the ages of some of the items displayed there.

Hurdy-Gurdy

Housed in it's own building is Asgard. A sailing yacht built in 1905 and apparently played a pivotal role in the 1914 Howth gun-running.  At the time this was a private yacht and during the daylight hours it delivered 1500 Mauser rifles to the Irish volunteers. Getting guns in the hands of civilians was essential to the attack on the GPO in the Easter Rising of 1916. This vessel has been meticulously restored from top to bottom, and now sits proudly for all to come and honor her.

After walking around the museum we walked a short distance into town to meet up with our next door neighbors from Kentucky (Brad & Laura) for a pint & lunch at the Brazen Head.


PHOTO ALBUM