Museum of Dublin?

West Brit

How come Dublin doesn't have its own museum anymore? I'm sure it used to when I first visited the city in the 1990's or so.
what happened?

shinikins

Its own museum

It has many museum's, Collins barracks, the National Art Gallery, the National history Museum, IMMA, Kilmainham Gaol.....the list goes on....but i've never heard of a Dublin Museum?!



(and i've lived there all my life!)

Sundew

West Brit wrote: »

How come Dublin doesn't have its own museum anymore? I'm sure it used to when I first visited the city in the 1990's or so.
what happened?

I think West Brit is talking about The Dublin Civic Museum (near the Powercourt Town Centre) which I also visited around 2000. I remember going in with my cousin to view an exhibition about "The PepperCanister Church" where he was a choirboy. It was a nice little museum.
Seems it closed in 2003 which is a real shame. I had been wondering what happened to it myself as I had wanted to revisit but couldn't find it.
http://www.dublincity.ie/Press/PressReleases/PressReleases2008/Press%20Releases%20Mar%202008/Pages/DublinCivicMuseumCollectionsCataloguingProject.aspx

I'm always amazed at what places the "Local Dubs" don't know about.......and I'm married to one.
I've had to give him and his father guided tours around their own city ;-)

humberklog

City Hall on Dame St. have the history of Dublin museum. It's only ok, not great and it is (oddly) a pay in job. Can't remember how much but do remember it not being worth it... here.

Riamfada

Dublina still represents the best part of Dublin history in my honesttotally bias opinion!

http://www.dublinia.ie/

WindSock

The City of Dublin is a museum in itself

/ lame answer

ollaetta

The City Council had a Civic Museum in South William Street but it closed a few years ago. Nothing much on the Council website about what's happening to it except that a tender was issued in 2008 to source a company to properly catalogue and archive the various collections.

ODS

Here's an idea:

Aldborough House is one of the city's most important urban mansions; located right beside the Five Lamps on Amiens Street, it is right beside Connolly Station, just under a kilometre from O'Connell Street, and 500 metres away from the IFSC / Docklands. Very similar to the Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery on Parnell Square, the building was the last great Georgian mansion built in the capital.

Sadly it is now in the process of falling into great disrepair:

http://www.archiseek.com/content/showthread.php?t=7878

Left empty for the last number of years, initially one or two windows were broken - however more recently the lead was stolen from the roof, and other disrepair has set in

Apparently the current owner had intended to redevelop it, having acquired it during the boom - but obviously all of that is now up in the air.

Whenever I travel I am always amazed as to the amount of museums in other cities; Paris city has well over 100, as to does Amsterdam for example. In contrast, in Dublin during the 'boom', we actually lost museums and tourist / cultural attractions and other venues - be it the former Civic Museum on South William Street, the Bank of Ireland's Arts Centre on Foster Place - now housing the Wax Museum, which departed from just off Parnell Square, and even the SFX. (For a true horror story, have a glance of Dublin City Centre map from circa. 1980 as to the loss of cinemas).

Point being, we have lost attractions and venues during the 'boom' - some of which could actually be really useful to us now if we are trying to attract tourists and visitors to the city.

Tourists frequently cite 'Georgian Dublin' as to why they are attracted here - yet here is a once fine Georgian building falling into disrepair; if it were acquired from the owner at a reasonable price, we could kill two birds with the one stone - save a fine Georgian building, while providing a much needed museum as to the story of Dublin. So,

What say Aldborough House become a new museum for Dublin City?

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=183090&id=98882993873&l=e4efd6e4ab

Sundew

@ODS:
The amount of museums we could have.
Stockholm has some amazing museums!
Was in the new An Post museum recently and it is a nice addition to the city but jaysus ya can't swing a cat in it. I've been in the Postal Museum in Stockholm and it's fantastic with a huge shop selling all sorts of postcards and postal memorabilia.
I went up to the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre and asked could I buy a postcard of the Phoenix Park and guess what reply I got "we don't sell postcards" :rolleyes:

ODS

Sundew wrote:

I went up to the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre and asked could I buy a postcard of the Phoenix Park and guess what reply I got "we don't sell postcards"

Hilarious - if it wasn't so sad.

Only this summer, I was also myself in Phoenix Park at the Bloom Festival. In the middle of the festival, almost as a focal point was Ashtown Castle. Perfect for parents to bring their kids into and up, and normally open to the public, was it open when people would have queued up to go in? It was like shide - instead the guides had been directed by their manager to man an OPW stall nearby, advertising the castle and the park - rather than having it open :mad:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashtown_Castle

Why is it that are management in our state sector are tolerated when they are not doing the job needed - be it the Civic Museum closed in 2003, or a chief feature such as Ashtown Castle left closed on a day that it could have been coining it... and that's before we consider how another poster recently stated in this forum that they were told that historic plaques on Dublin buildings are now 'actively discouraged'.

At this rate, we should simply shut up shop permanently

tony 2 tone

http://www.dublincivictrust.ie/index.php
Probably closest to what you're looking for.
They will be showing a fully restored merchant townhouse and shop on the Dublin culture night, Friday 24th September.

West Brit

Sundew wrote: »

I think West Brit is talking about The Dublin Civic Museum (near the Powercourt Town Centre) which I also visited around 2000. I remember going in with my cousin to view an exhibition about "The PepperCanister Church" where he was a choirboy. It was a nice little museum.
Seems it closed in 2003 which is a real shame. I had been wondering what happened to it myself as I had wanted to revisit but couldn't find it.
http://www.dublincity.ie/Press/PressReleases/PressReleases2008/Press%20Releases%20Mar%202008/Pages/DublinCivicMuseumCollectionsCataloguingProject.aspx

That was it! i think its a disgrace that some sort of museum about the history of Dublin is not available anymore, how come it managed to close just as the Celtic tiger started roaring?You would of thought there would be money about to reopen it, suppose there is not much 'profit' in museums

West Brit

ODS wrote: »

What say Aldborough House become a new museum for Dublin City?

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=183090&id=98882993873&l=e4efd6e4ab

Brilliant! that part of Dublin could do with a bit of a cultural uplift. On a slight tangent It seems to me that Dublin needs a bit of political direction to make things happen, it feels like its shambling along without a proper plan;shellshocked. Maybe it needs a directly elected mayor like in London.

ronano

West Brit wrote: »

Brilliant! that part of Dublin could do with a bit of a cultural uplift. On a slight tangent It seems to me that Dublin needs a bit of political direction to make things happen, it feels like its shambling along without a proper plan;shellshocked. Maybe it needs a directly elected mayor like in London.

truer word never been spoken about the mayor,there is such a large amount of population,commerce etc needs to be more focused. I thought we were getting one and i may be wrong but it's just directly elected lord mayor,wtf good does that do anyone,another pointless job for pointless politician to rest on their laurels

JuliusCaesar

What's the point of a directly appointed mayor if they have no powers?

Just gets the citizenry annoyed with the hapless mayor.

Now, if the central government let the local councils have their own income (eg rates) so that the council had some power - would you be prepared to pay rates in order to have a mayor with power?

Hmmm?

(I'd vote for Fintan O'Toole, and blinkin' pay for it too - thank heavens Dublin tends to be more lefty than the rest of the country.)

Cute Hoor

ODS wrote: »

Here's an idea:

Aldborough House is one of the city's most important urban mansions; located right beside the Five Lamps on Amiens Street, it is right beside Connolly Station, just under a kilometre from O'Connell Street, and 500 metres away from the IFSC / Docklands. Very similar to the Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery on Parnell Square, the building was the last great Georgian mansion built in the capital.

Sadly it is now in the process of falling into great disrepair:

http://www.archiseek.com/content/showthread.php?t=7878

Left empty for the last number of years, initially one or two windows were broken - however more recently the lead was stolen from the roof, and other disrepair has set in

Apparently the current owner had intended to redevelop it, having acquired it during the boom - but obviously all of that is now up in the air.

Whenever I travel I am always amazed as to the amount of museums in other cities; Paris city has well over 100, as to does Amsterdam for example. In contrast, in Dublin during the 'boom', we actually lost museums and tourist / cultural attractions and other venues - be it the former Civic Museum on South William Street, the Bank of Ireland's Arts Centre on Foster Place - now housing the Wax Museum, which departed from just off Parnell Square, and even the SFX. (For a true horror story, have a glance of Dublin City Centre map from circa. 1980 as to the loss of cinemas).

Point being, we have lost attractions and venues during the 'boom' - some of which could actually be really useful to us now if we are trying to attract tourists and visitors to the city.

Tourists frequently cite 'Georgian Dublin' as to why they are attracted here - yet here is a once fine Georgian building falling into disrepair; if it were acquired from the owner at a reasonable price, we could kill two birds with the one stone - save a fine Georgian building, while providing a much needed museum as to the story of Dublin. So,

What say Aldborough House become a new museum for Dublin City?

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=183090&id=98882993873&l=e4efd6e4ab

There is an existing Georgian House museum in Dublin, Number 29. This has provided guided tours, depicting how an upper middle class family (and their servants) lived in the late 18th / early 19th century, for over 20 years.

Unfortunately the museum is set to close next Thursday 4th April as a guided museum. It is due to open again as an unguided museum in mid June but will only open for 7 months each year and the unguided model will destroy the very essence of the museum which will almost certainly lead to it's ultimate closure.

If you would like to save the museum in its current format, please LIKE and SHARE www.facebook.com/SaveNo29