The People's Museum of Limerick is a

local history museum A local museum or local history museum is a type of museum that shows the historical development of a place/region (local history) using exhibits. These museums usually maintain a collection of historic three-dimensional objects which are exh ...

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

History

The People's Museum is housed in a

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

building on Pery Square. Built in 1838, it was part of the Pery Square Tontine Company and was designed by

James Pain James Pain (1779 – 13 December 1877) was an English architect. Born into a family of English architects, his grandfather was William Pain, his father James Pain and his brother George Richard Pain. James Pain served as an apprentice to the arc ...

. The People's Museum was opened on 7 October 2019 by

Senator David Norris David Patrick Bernard Norris (born 31 July 1944) is an Irish scholar, independent Senator and civil rights activist. Internationally, Norris is credited with having "managed, almost single-handedly, to overthrow the anti-homosexuality law which ...

. Curators studied the Little Museum of Dublin and the Waterford Experience for ideas. For

Heritage Week Heritage Week (Irish: Seachtain na hOidhreachta) is an annual nationwide set of hundreds of events organized by the Heritage Council in Ireland. They are a celebration of Ireland's culture, history, gardens, and architecture that gives visitors f ...

2019, Dr Karol Mullaney-Dignam ( University of Limerick) gave the inaugural lecture. She sang "

Robin Adair "Robin Adair" is a traditional Irish (sometimes identified as Scottish) song with lyrics written by Lady Caroline Keppel. It was popular in the 18th century. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 8918. The song was mentioned by Jane Austen in ...

" and talked about the musical culture of Irish landed society in the late Georgian and early Victorian period.

Collection

The People's Museum hosts an extensive collection of items relating to the people of Limerick (city and

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

) and the culture of the region. It also covers

military history Military history is the study of armed conflict in the history of humanity, and its impact on the societies, cultures and economies thereof, as well as the resulting changes to local and international relationships. Professional historians norma ...

and

Limerick lace Limerick lace is a specific class of lace originating in Limerick, Ireland, which was later produced throughout the country. It evolved from the invention of a machine which made net in 1808. Until John Heathcoat invented a net-making machine in D ...

. Notable individuals profiled include

Richard Bourke General Sir Richard Bourke, KCB (4 May 1777 – 12 August 1855), was an Irish-born British Army officer who served as Governor of New South Wales from 1831 to 1837. As a lifelong Whig (Liberal), he encouraged the emancipation of convicts and ...

, Catherine Hayes,

Frank McCourt Francis McCourt (August 19, 1930July 19, 2009) was an Irish-American teacher and writer. He won a Pulitzer Prize for his book ''Angela's Ashes'', a tragicomic memoir of the misery and squalor of his childhood. Early life and education Frank McC ...

and Seán Wall. In August 2020 an exhibit of local taxidermy was opened. June O’Carroll Robinson donated a collection of items known as the "Carroll collection", being a selection of family heirlooms and military memorabilia of social and political significance dating from the 1700s to the 1920s. This includes the possessions of William Parker Carrol (1776–1842), who fought on the British side in the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

, include a coat that belonged to

Joseph Bonaparte it, Giuseppe-Napoleone Buonaparte es, José Napoleón Bonaparte , house = Bonaparte , father = Carlo Buonaparte , mother = Letizia Ramolino , birth_date = 7 January 1768 , birth_place = Corte, Corsica, Republic of ...

, captured at the Battle of Vitoria. It is part of the

Museum of Childhood Ireland A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these i ...

network, with a room devoted to toys and childhood in Limerick. It also hosts a monthly literary event entitled "On the Nail". Local

chocolatier A chocolatier is a person or company who makes confectionery from chocolate. Chocolatiers are distinct from chocolate makers, who create chocolate from cacao beans and other ingredients. Education and training Traditionally, chocolatiers, e ...

Braw opened an outlet in June 2021.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:People's Museum of Limerick Museums in County Limerick

Buildings and structures in Limerick (city) 2019 establishments in Ireland Museums established in 2019 Culture in Limerick (city)