One Floor Open - Two More to Go!!

Brendan and James preparing one of the cases for the 'Dancehall Days' exhibition

Reaction to our new groundfloor exhibitions has been overwhelmingly positive since reopening this week - and we're delighted that the public can once again enter the main body of the Museum and view exhibitions on Prehistoric and Medieval Galway (not to mention our favourite son, Pádraic Ó Conaire!).  But while we may be outwardly serene, work continues at a frantic pace behind the scenes as we prepare to open the next two floors in time for next Tuesday (12th July!).  These floors will host exhibitions on:  Dancing in Salthill, Cinema in Galway, the Arts in Galway, Galway and the Wars of Empire (as we had it before closure), as well as two flagship exhibitions for the arts festival:  Lamb in Connemara (an exhibition of painting by Charles Lamb) and Modern Languages, (an exhibition of craft material).  Our opening hours are Tuesday - Saturday, 10am - 5pm, and, of course, it's all free admission!

World Premiere of Pádraic Ó Conaire Animation!

The children of 3rd Class, Claddagh National School, with teacher Seán Leonard, Brendan McGowan of GCM, and Edith Pieperhoff animation artist who helped the children to produce a short animated film based on Pádraic Ó Conaire's famous story, M'asal Beag Dubh.  Click on to this youtube link to view the short film: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RO0lDX-Z4yU

This week saw the 'world premiere' of an animation based on Pádraic Ó Conaire's short story M'Asal Beag Dubh (My Little Black Donkey). The animation was the result of a joint project between Galway City Museum and Claddagh National School.

As part of the Museum's People's History of Galway initiative the children of third class were asked to re-imagine and retell Ó Conaire's much-celebrated, comic tale about the author's first encounter with his long-time travelling companion – a little black donkey – purchased at a fair in Kinvara.

Galway City Musuem worked with sound recorder, Maud Hand, and animator, Edith Pieperhoff, to record and pull together the children's unscripted, and often rambling, retelling. The resulting 5 minute video now forms part of a new exhibition around the Ó Conaire monument. It may also be viewed online via youtube:

We're Open Again!

James Reynolds of Galway City Museum, with Noeline Kavanagh of Macnas, and of course, the Macnas Boy Explorer, who will form part of our upcoming exhibition on the arts -  planned for our second phase of redevelopment, opening on July 12th!

• 15ft Macnas Boy will form part of second phase redevelopment

We reopened our ground floor yesterday, with exhibitions on Prehistoric Galway, Medieval Galway and a fresh look at Pádraic Ó Conaire... and now we're working on phase two of our redevelopment, and welcoming a very special boy indeed....

He's 15ft tall, cute as a button, and has walked the length and breath of Ireland to find amazing ideas from the country's children. Now the Macnas Boy Explorer has come to settle with us here in Galway City Museum for the rest of the summer!

The Boy will represent the street performance group Macnas in our upcoming exhibition on the arts in Galway – an exhibition which is due to open on July 12^th, as part of the our second phase of redevelopment.

Our second phase of redevelopment will feature exhibitions on Cinema in Galway, Dances in Salthill, a major exhibition of art by Charles Lamb and an exhibition of craft which will feature as part of the Galway Arts Festival programme in July.

We will also be retaining our 'Galway and the Wars of Empire' exhibition, which looks at the input that Galwegians have had in the many wars of Empire from the 18^th century up until the First World War.

The Museum is free of charge, and is open Tuesday – Saturdays, 10am – 5p

National Museum Crew Come to Galway - Getting Close Now!

Carol Smith (NMI), Karen Wilson (NMI), James Reynolds (Galway City Museum), Mary Cahill (NMI) and Helen Bermingham, (Galway City Museum), working on the new ground floor 'Medieval Galway' exhibition, which is due to open next week!

'A significant event for both the National Museum of Ireland and for Galway City Museum', is how Mary Cahill, Assistant Keeper with the NMI described the loan of prehistoric and medieval artefacts, which were put on display in Galway City Museum a few days ago by the staff of Galway City Museum, with the aid of National Museum crew.

The collection, which is made up of objects discovered on archaeological digs throughout the 1980s and 1990s in and around Galway City, as well as some more recent finds accruing from the NRA development of the M6 roadway, constitutes a significant loan to a regional Museum from the National Museum in Dublin.

Among the many highlights of the upcoming prehistoric display will be Neolithic (4000-2000BC) polished stone axe heads, Bronze Age Spearheads dating to 1300-1000BC, found in the River Corrib during the 1980s and Bronze Age pottery dating back to approximately 2000 - 1800 BC. The array of stone tools of flint and chert, such as scrapers and blades give a fascinating insight into prehistoric humans and their existence in Galway - many of the tools would have been used to hunt and skin animals, cut meat and even to do some woodworking. One of the earliest objects on display will be a magnificent Mesolithic stone spearhead, which may have been used to catch fish, and dates back to approximately 6000BC!

Galway's glorious medieval past will also be represented with samples of ceramics from Ireland, England and all over Europe, as well as coinage and of course wine bottles and drinking glasses galore! The medieval collection will draw attention to Galway's trading past and an age when the so-called 'Tribes of Galway' ruled the waters off the west coast of Ireland.

People's History Talk in Museum This Saturday

A scene from the Galway Races in the 1940s... part of an presentation from students of the NUIG History Department, which will be on show in the Museum for Saturday's talk as a part of the People's History of Galway project.

As part of the 'People's History of Galway' weekend celebrations, this coming Saturday, 4^th June, Galway City Museum will host a lunchtime 'show and talk' session to discuss some of the Museum's upcoming exhibitions - focusing mainly on the history of film in Galway and Dancing in Seapoint!

The event will be will also include an exhibition of history panels that take a look at the first 100 years of the Galway Races – an exhibition which was put together by students of NUIG history department especially for the People's History of Galway Project.

The talk forms part of a month-long celebration of local history events from the Museum, Galway Arts Centre and the Town Hall Theatre. The Museum lunchtime talk will start at 1pm and is free of charge.

A Penchant for Olives and Dishes From Devon - Pottery Expert Casts Further Light...

Helen Bermingham (left) from Galway City Museum, holding a 1600/1700s serving dish which was imported from England,with Pottery expert, Roseanne Meenan.

We were delighted to have Pottery Expert, Roseanne Meenan, with us this week - to cast further light on some of the remarkable artefacts which have been loaned to us by the National Museum and which will form a key part of our groundfloor medieval exhibition when we reopen in mid June.  From Roseanne's observations we learned that some of the shards of pottery related to olive dishes from Spain (yes medieval Galwegians ate Olives!), chaffing dishes that were used to keep food warm while on the table, and a whole host of other great information.  The example shown in the pic above is part of a 'serving dish' of Devonware, imported into Galway from England in the 1600/1700s... 

Gifting Panels to Claddagh School...

Children to the fore - adults, Mayors and Kings to the back!  The children of the Claddagh celebrate the donation of Historical Panels from the Museum to the school, along with the Mayor of Galway, the King of the Claddagh and the teachers and Principal of St. Nicholas' National School...

The Mayor of Galway City, Cllr. Michael Crowe, and the King of the Claddagh, Michael Lynskey, were both present at the handover of a donation of Museum panels to  Claddagh National School this week, in the first outreach gift of its kind from our Museum to a city school, earlier this week...

The panels, which cover themes such as the traditional thatched houses, the custom of having it's own village King and the demise of the Irish language in the Claddagh, were welcomed by the Principal of St. Nicholas' National School, who described the donation as a 'very significant gift' that they were 'very proud to receive'. 

The panels were originally part of an exhibition in Galway City Museum which looked at the origins and traditions of the Claddagh.  The exhibition itself proved extremely popular and is a topic the Museum intends to cover in other ways in the years ahead.  This donation was possible due to the redevelopment work currently taking place in Galway City Museum – where each floor will be transformed with new exhibitions that will be ready this summer.

Here's what the Mayor had to say about the donation:

“These are extremely valuable educational tools,' said Mayor Crowe, 'and will no doubt enhance the learning experience for all of the children attending the school.  In these difficult times it is essential that we provide our children with the best available learning tools, and historical panels such as these, which cost thousands of euros to design, research and produce, would normally be beyond the reach of primary schools budgets – for this the Museum must be heartily commended.”

City Manager Welcomes New Showcases!

Our own James Reynolds, placing a medieval pot - most like a storage vessel, possibly for grain, into one of our brand new showcases!

Galway City Manager, Mr. Joe O'Neill, has today welcomed the delivery of 13 new high quality showcases from specialist UK company Click Netherfield to Galway City Museum, on foot of a grant received from the Department of Arts, Sports and Tourism, marking this as yet another major step in the Museum's redevelopment programme.

The cases will occupy the ground floor of the Museum and are specially built to hold valuable artefacts of a delicate nature; such as those that relate to prehistoric and medieval Galway, which are coming on loan from the National Museum of Ireland.

According to Mr. O’Neill:

“These showcases will help to transform the Museum, and bring Galway's prehistoric and medieval past alive.  We are very grateful to the Department of Arts, Sports and Tourism for a significant grant which allowed us to purchase these cases.  The redevelopment of the Museum will be a major boost to Galway – something which is extremely welcome at this time.”

Showcases such as these are very much specialist items and conform to stringent standards for the storage and presentation of priceless artefacts. They are securely alarmed and the climate within the case can be controlled to suit the object being stored within. 

Amongst the objects earmarked for these showcases are:  flint, axeheads and swords excavated from the River Corrib in the early 1980s which date back to prehistoric times, as wine bottles, glass and other objects relating to Galway's medieval past, which were excavated in the City Centre in the 1980s and 1990s.  Many of these finds serve to highlight Galway's trading history during a time when the 'Tribes of Galway' were very much in the ascendancy.

New Showcases Arrive to Transform Groundfloor!

Some of the new showcases being put on to the groundfloor by the lads from Click Netherfield.  These cases will hold material from the National Museum, relating to Prehistoric Galway.

Yesterday marked the arrival of some new showcases for the groundfloor, from Click Netherfield.  These cases will hold the artefacts that are coming on loan from the National Museum - with objects relating to prehistoric and medieval Galway, so they are to the highest standard both from a security and aesthetic point of view.  While we already had some showcases on site, we needed to order more because of the amount of new objects coming on loan. 

These cases will transform the Museum's groundfloor.  This time around we've opted for a good few smaller cases, in order to position them mid-floor and give the visitor a good look at some fine samples (just as some Museums around the world highlight some prehistoric axe heads, or medieval pottery, or maybe in our case some medieval wine bottles which serve to highlight Galway's  trading links with France and Spain in the Middle Ages).

Ríona Egan, from Galway City Museum, with an example of a medieval wine bottle, which will form part of our 'wine collection' on the ground floor.  Galway traded extensively with France and Spain in the middle ages and consequently grew to be one of the wealthiest places in Ireland - some of Galway's merchants (Tribes) owned storehouses elsewhere in the country, from which they sold wine, imported from the continent, to towns around Ireland.

Why are showcases important?
They protect precious objects (these showcases can be separately alarmed).
The climate within these cases can be measured (very important when dealing with precious artefacts that can be affected by the surrounding climate).
They allow us to highlight objects (objects are mounted in cases that suit display).

Dancehall Days Exhibition Gets Great Media Interest...



The Irish Independent featured a pic from our upcoming Dancehall Days exhibition:  Eddie King, Willie Douglas, Chris Egan and Tommy Wade, who were known as The 'Chucker Outs' (they were the men on the doors at Seapoint Ballroom).  This photo is taken from 1966. (Courtesy of Tommy Wade).



The media spotlight this week was firmly on our Dancehall Days exhibition, with great coverage in the Irish Independent today, adding to all the positive pieces from the local papers; Galway Independent, Galway Advertiser, Sentinel and City Tribune. Earlier this week showband star, Jimmy Higgins announced that he was gifting us with the loan of his trumpet for the exhibition, and we've also put the word out that we are looking for that 'special dress' or shoes that may have been worn to the dances in Galway.  As well as including the pic above, the Irish Independent gave a great flavour of the upcoming exhibition by also including a picture of the Quicksilver Dance Band from 1957 and another picture of couples John & Bridie Keeler and Tom & Eileen O'Donnell (nee Welby), from around 1958.

John & Bridie Keeler and Tom & Eileen O'Donnell (nee Welby), circa 1958.  Courtesy of Thomas Keeler Jr.

Quicksilver Dance Band, Hangar Ballroom, circa 1957.

Spotlight on Seapoint - an exhibition that will feature in our redevelopment.

Jimmy Higgins (left), one of Galway's best loved musicians from the Showband era, with Brendan McGowan from Galway City Museum who is working on our upcoming 'Dancehall Days' exhibition.  Jimmy played a wonderful tune to mark the loan of his trumpet to the Museum, Brendan, on the other hand...

Picture the scene: It's 1964 in Galway and there are so many people in the Seapoint ballroom in Salthill that they are climbing through the windows trying to get in! The act on stage that night was The Clancy Brothers, fresh from their hugely successful US tour, but this story, as recalled by Seapoint stallwart Ann Fahy, could have related to any night during the heyday of the 1960s, when some of the country's leading showbands visited Galway.

Ann is one of the many contributors to 'Dancehall Days', an exhibition that will celebrate the great showband era in Galway when people filed into the Seapoint or Hangar Ballrooms, or Marquees up and down the country,  on any given Sunday night (Saturday night dances were not permitted as people were expected to be fresh for mass on Sunday morning).

Another very significant contributor to this exhibition is Jimmy Higgins, the Galway musician who was central to some of the leading showbands of the time, such as The Raindrops and The Millionaires.  Jimmy is loaning his famous trumpet for our upcoming exhibition. Along with his two brothers, Paddy (who played drums), and Francie (who played the saxophone and is now sadly deceased), Jimmy is fondly remembered by all those who attended the many dances at venues throughout Galway.

In a time before mass media and MTV, showbands represented major stars and we had our own 'Elvis' and 'Cliff Richards' in the guise of Brendan Bowyer and Dickie Rock.

Our 'Dancehall Days' exhibition will be unveiled during the second phase of our redevelopment, due to open for the Arts Festival in July.  The initial phase, opening in June, will consist of the groundfloor exhibitions about prehistoric and medieval Galway, as well as our new exhibition  about the Pádraic Ó Conaire statue.

To add to our collection, we are now looking for a loan of that 'special dress' and a pair of shoes that would have been worn out to a dance at Salthill.  According to contributors to the exhibition a common custom would be for sisters to share the same pair of dancing shoes, with one sister leaving them in a hole in the wall for the other to collect on her way to the dance!  Contact us if you have these items for loan:  museum@galwaycity.ie, 091 532460.

Gutting the Ground Floor.

We're officially closed from this week and the heavy work of gutting the groundfloor has well and truly begun.  Carpenters have been busy knocking and sawing so dust is everywhere.  We wrapped the statue of Sean Phádraic in plastic to protect him from all these goings-on and we've taken away all delicate pieces for storage in our collections room while the work continues.  Already we can see the difference in the ground floor - knocking the curved wall partition has opened the place up hugely.  Plinths have been set down into the middle of the ground floor which will hold smaller showcases - ideal to highlight some of the gems that are coming down from the National Museum.  With these showcases we can focus attention on artefacts that relate to various aspects of life in medieval Galway. 

PS:  DON'T FORGET THAT OUR WONDERFUL CAFÉ, THE KITCHEN, WILL BE OPEN AS NORMAL EVERYDAY, SO YOU CAN STILL GET THE BEST COFFEE AND FOOD IN TOWN AND EVEN TRY TO SNEAK A PEAK AT WORK THROUGH THE CAFÉ WINDOW!

It's Public - Big Things Ahead for the Museum!

Fair plé do TG4!  The crew of Nuacht TG4 were in yesterday to film some footage of John Ford's Director's Chair, used on the set of the Quiet Man.  The chair has been kindly loaned to us by John Morris, son of Lord Killanin who was a friend of Ford's and worked on the film as locations manager.

After months of preparation we've finally made public our intention to revamp the Museum from ground floor up, with exhibitions that include:  a brand new look at the Pádraic Ó Conaire statue, Dance Hall Days in Salthill, Cinema in Galway, Maritime Galway, a major exhibition of paintings by Charles Lamb and of course one of the largest loans from the National Museum of Ireland to a regional museum (a loan that includes prehistoric and medieval artefacts, all relating to Galway).  All this means that we are going to have to close the doors of the Museum for a period of six weeks or so while the redevelopment is underway, but we are confident that the public will love the result. For the staff the work from now until June will be hyper intensive, but hugely enjoyable (we hope!) and will definitely result in some wonderful new exhibitions.   The public announcement started with quite a bit of national publicity, thanks to John Morris' generous loan of a true Hollywood coup for the Museum - a Director's Chair from the set of the John Wayne movie, The Quiet Man.  This chair belonged to a real directorial legend, the Steven Spielberg of his generation, John Ford.  The chair was gifted to John Morris's father, Lord Killanin, who worked as Location's Manager for The Quiet Man and was a good friend of Ford's.