Kerry County Museum ( ga, Músaem Chontae Chiarraí) is a

museum 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 ...

located in

Tralee Tralee ( ; ga, Trá Lí, ; formerly , meaning 'strand of the Lee River') is the county town of County Kerry in the south-west of Ireland. The town is on the northern side of the neck of the Dingle Peninsula, and is the largest town in County ...

County Kerry County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...

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 ...

. The museum is based in the Ashe Memorial Hall in the centre of Tralee. The aim of the museum is to collect, record, preserve and display the material heritage of County Kerry.

History

Before the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Kerry County Council Kerry County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae Chiarraí) is the authority responsible for local government in County Kerry, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for housing and c ...

had been based in a purpose-built building on Godfrey Place; however the building had been set on fire by British special constables during the

Siege of Tralee The siege of Tralee was an event that took place between 1 and 9 November 1920 in Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland. History Patrick Cahill, the Officer Commanding Kerry No. 1 Brigade, Irish Republican Army instructed the Tralee Battalion to carry o ...

of November 1920. A new building, which was dedicated to the memory of the republican

Thomas Ashe Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

opened as offices for

in 1928. After the county council moved to County Hall, the building fell empty in January 1989. Kerry County Museum was established in the early 1990s as an initiative of Tralee Urban District Council to exhibit the material heritage of County Kerry. In the early years the museum focused on exhibited Kerry's archaeological treasures as part of its "medieval experience".

Exhibits

Exhibits include an early

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

brooch and duelling pistols used by

Daniel O'Connell Daniel O'Connell (I) ( ga, Dónall Ó Conaill; 6 August 1775 – 15 May 1847), hailed in his time as The Liberator, was the acknowledged political leader of Ireland's Roman Catholic majority in the first half of the 19th century. His mobilizat ...

in the early nineteenth century.

References

External links

Official website
1992 establishments in Ireland Buildings and structures in Tralee History of County Kerry Museums established in 1992 Local museums in the Republic of Ireland Museums in County Kerry {{Ireland-museum-stub