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Irish Independent
10 hours ago
- Business
- Irish Independent
The Little Museum of Dublin reopens on St Stephen's Green after €4.3m refit
The museum had closed its temporary address on 33 Pembroke Street in May to move back into its original refurbished location. Today's official re-opening, attended by Lord Mayor of Dublin, Emma Blain, will allow visitors to enjoy an expanded and reimagined exhibition space and a new reception area. The museum will also welcome a new youth education space, an integrated lift to improve accessibility, a sun-trap patio and an enriched collection of artefacts donated by the people of Ireland. Since its first opening in 2011, the museum has welcomed over one million visitors and remains the titular placeholder for the top spot for Things To Do in Dublin, according to TripAdvisor. The reimagining of the Little Museum of Dublin was partly funded by Fáilte Ireland, along with the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts Gaeltacht, Sport & Media. Dublin City Council and private donations got renovations over the line. The museum will open seven days a week from 9.30am to 5pm and will continue to offer guided tours every forty minutes. A new walking tour, The Little Walking Tour of St Stephen's Green, will take place each afternoon at 2.15pm. The walking tours include The Official Walk of Shame, The Football Walking Tour, The Freedom of Dublin and more. Speaking at the launch, Sarah Clancy, CEO of the Little Museum of Dublin, said: 'Thanks to the generosity of the Irish people, the support of the state and the talent of our team, we have managed to reimagine the Little Museum of Dublin for generations to come. 'We are so proud to be reopening our doors and welcoming guests back into our newly renovated and accessible museum at 15 St Stephen's Green.' Lord Mayor Emma Blain added: 'I am delighted to see the Little Museum of Dublin on St Stephen's Green reopen its doors after two years. It is such a great addition to the city centre, bringing Dublin to life in a very real way.' Among the newest artefacts on display are everything from the first ever medal awarded to William Deans under the states Bravery Act 1947, to Mary McAleese's First Holy Communion Rosary beads donated by the [former] President herself. Mary Stack, Head of Product Development – Attractions at Fáilte Ireland said that projected visitor numbers are expected to rise to over 5,000 annually by 2035, with the redevelopment is set to generate an economic impact of €24.7m over the next decade.
BreakingNews.ie
12 hours ago
- Business
- BreakingNews.ie
The Little Museum of Dublin reopens after €4.3m makeover
The Little Museum of Dublin has reopened after undergoing a €4.3 million makeover. The St Stephen's Green attraction will officially open to the public again on Thursday with thousands of artefacts telling the story of the city, from a model of the Dart to old phones and U2 memorabilia. Advertisement Visitors can look forward to enjoying an expanded and reimagined exhibition space, a new reception area, a new youth education space, an integrated lift to improve accessibility, a sun-trap patio and an enriched collection of artefacts donated by the people of Ireland. The museum will open seven days a week from 9.30am-5.00pm offering guided tours every 40 minutes. In addition, a new daily walking tour, The Little Walking Tour of St Stephen's Green, will take place each afternoon at 2.15pm. The reimagining of the museum was part funded by Fáilte Ireland, along with the Department of Tourism and Culture, Dublin City Council, and corporate and individual funders. Mary Stack from Fáilte Ireland said enhancing attractions like the Little Museum of Dublin delivers tangible economic benefits for the city. Advertisement "With projected visitor numbers expected to rise to over 215,000 annually by 2035, this redevelopment is set to generate an economic impact of €24.7 million over the next decade," she said. "Fáilte Ireland is proud to have supported this transformative project, which ensures the museum remains a flagship destination in the capital and one that continues to inspire, educate, and contribute meaningfully to Dublin's tourism economy." Sarah Clancy, chief executive of the Little Museum of Dublin, said her team had managed to reimagine the museum for generations to come. "We are so proud to be reopening our doors and welcoming guests back into our newly renovated and accessible museum at 15 St. Stephen's Green," she said. "There are some incredible artefacts on display from the first ever medal awarded to William Deans under the states Bravery Act 1947, to Mary McAleese's First Holy Communion Rosary beads donated by the President herself." Emma Blain, Lord Mayor of Dublin, said: 'I am delighted to see the Little Museum of Dublin on St Stephens Green reopen its doors after two years. It is such a great addition to the city centre bringing Dublin to life in a very real way."
RTÉ News
3 days ago
- Business
- RTÉ News
Dublin on shortlist for Rotary International Convention
Dublin has been confirmed as a finalist among a pool of four cities to host the Rotary International Convention in 2029 or 2031. If Rotary Ireland's bid is successful, the event could bring up to 20,000 visitors to Dublin. Dublin's rivals for the convention, which attracts visitors from up to 200 countries, include Barcelona, Cairo and New Delhi. The decision to provisionally nominate two cities to host the convention in 2029 and 2031 will be made in January by Rotary International's Board of Directors. Rotary Ireland District Governor Seamus Parle said the economic benefits of the convention would not be confined to Dublin, with thousands of visitors likely to combine their trip to the convention with a holiday and a longer visit to Ireland. "If our bid is successful, it will provide a huge boost to the local economy with an average of 20,000 to 30,000 hotel room nights with knock on support for bars, restaurants, retailers and tourism," Mr Parle said. "After the convention concludes we know most attendees will stay in Ireland for a holiday and visit the many attractions Ireland has to offer. This will generate substantial economic benefits for the country as a whole," he added. Rotary Ireland's bid is being supported by Fáilte Ireland's Dublin Convention Bureau. Seamus Parle said members are working extremely hard with the business community and other state agencies to secure funds through sponsorships to offset the running costs of the event, particularly the venue, which will be the RDS. "We would dearly love to host Rotary International's 119th convention in 2029 or its 121st convention in 2031. While Rotary Ireland has a very proud history of service - Dublin Rotary Club, which dates back to 1911, was the first to be established outside of North America - we have never actually hosted the International Rotary Convention," he said. Conventions run for five days and include workshop, forums, breakout sessions, and entertainment. Speakers at previous conventions have included UN General Secretary General António Guterres, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Rotary Ireland has 67 clubs and 1,500 members all over the island of Ireland. The organisation brings together a global network of volunteer leaders dedicated to tackling the world's most pressing humanitarian challenges and creating lasting change. It connects 1.2 million people of action from more than 45,000 Rotary clubs in almost every country in the world.
Irish Times
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Little Museum of Dublin to reopen after year-long €4.3m makeover
The Little Museum of Dublin is set to reopen this week after a year-long, €4.3 million makeover. The museum's Georgian town house at 15 St Stephen's Green has been made fully accessible on all floors, and the interior has been refurbished and redecorated. But the contents, a gloriously eccentric and eclectic clutter of ephemera, charting the life and times of some of Dublin's great characters and events, remain largely unchanged, though much enhanced. It's a visitor experience that has made the Little Museum one of Europe's most popular destinations. READ MORE 'We are just behind the Acropolis and ahead of the British Museum [on Tripadvisor],' says director Trevor White. 'It's a handmade museum – people want to touch, feel and handle exhibits and that openness really resonates with our guests.' The refurbishment, which was part financed by Dublin City Council , the Department of Culture , Fáilte Ireland and private donations, has allowed for the introduction of new items, as well as reimagining popular displays, including the U2 -dominated Made in Dublin music room, which now has a striking maquette of Vera Klute 's head statue of Luke Kelly, his face looming out of a spotlit dark corner. New items also include Tara's Palace, a 2.5 metre by 4 metre miniature modelled on Leinster House (among others) that was in storage for years following its departure from Powerscourt House in Wicklow. The palace dominates a ground floor-over-basement room devoted to Georgian Dublin. Last weekend, contractors added the finishing touches to the refurbishment as head of museum design Dara Flynn and deputy curator Daryl Hendley Rooney reset the displays, aided by former Little Museum curator Simon O'Connor, until recently director of the Museum of Literature . The entrance to the museum is via the basement, off which a tiny rear garden will be home to an old K1 telephone box. A stairwell devoted to former Dublin lord mayor Alfie Byrne leads to the Little Library, a non-fiction archive and reading area. [ Tourism slump continues - April data shows decline in visitor numbers Opens in new window ] Adjoining the Tara's Palace/Georgian Dublin room on the ground floor is an Animals of Dublin room, aimed at primary schoolchildren. Brendan Bracken and Christy Brown dominate the stairwell returns up through the house. A first floor room overlooking Stephen's Green is dedicated to Dublin – from Victorian times through the city's Little Jerusalem Jewish quarter, Oscar Wilde , Nelson's Pillar and the 1916 revolutionary era. Other new items are more personal in origin. When Frankfurt-based lawyer Claire Lloyd was home in Glasgow last year to visit her father Christopher Thomson, he handed her an envelope, remarking: 'You'll like this.' Inside, there was a copy of a cartoon showing a rather portly fellow riding a bicycle while simultaneously tapping, two-finger style, on a portable typewriter balanced on the handlebars, pipe in mouth and a large-brimmed hat perched on his head. Nearby, the scene also depicted a policeman looking on, slightly aghast at the spectacle. A handwritten note across the top of the cartoon read: 'Irish Tatler sketch. December 1940.' And across the bottom was added: 'Really, it is somewhat libellous!' The writer identified himself merely as 'B'. [ In the editor's chair: RM Smyllie's life and Irish Times Opens in new window ] Another of the envelope's contents was a tiny newspaper cutting, a single column short, as small news items used to be known in newspapers, this one a mere 12 lines long. 'Honour for Irish Journalist,' said the headline. The piece recorded that on February 5th, 1939, the president of the Czecho-Slovak Republic, as it was known then, had conferred the honour of Officer of the Order of the White Lion on none other than 'Mr R M Smyllie, Editor of The Irish Times'. This too had a handwritten note. 'A Timida, a chara!' it said. 'I know this will interest you,' and it was signed 'Bertie'. It was posted to Ms Lloyd's great grandmother's cousin, Alexandra Smyllie, with whom Robert Maire Smyllie, known as Bertie Smyllie , corresponded regularly. Glasgow and Ayrshire-based Alexandra was evidently a little introverted, hence the Latin greeting – a timida – meaning shy one. Glasgow born but Sligo reared, Bertie Smyllie was a huge figure in Dublin. As editor, he shepherded The Irish Times from its soft, middle-of-the-road unionist background outlook, to one of being comfortable with, and accepting of, Irish independence. In the process, he imbued the paper with a distinctive literary bent, giving free rein to characters like Brian O'Nolan, aka Flann O'Brien , who wrote a column as Myles na gCopaleen. Smyllie's place in Irish history was a revelation to Ms Lloyd and her father. 'We had no idea,' she said during a recent visit to Ireland, including to Delgany Golf Club where Smyllie was captain in 1945 and 1946. 'I remember my grandmother telling me about him back in the 1980s when I was a child, ie, 'You know about Bertie, don't you? Bertie went to Ireland. He was a journalist.' Or 'Bertie was an editor. He worked for The Irish Times.' That was all I knew, and I forgot about him over the years ... until recently when we came across a few documents, letters and clippings in my grandmother's old files.' The cartoon and award story are now in the museum's Irish Times room, along with other items from the newspaper's history (including Smyllie's famous V-for-victory front page with which he wrong-footed the paper's wartime censor) and several new items, notably from former foreign correspondent Conor O'Clery 's distinguished career. A Chesterfield couch will encourage visitors to delve into books by Irish Times writers or just lounge a while, viewing Martyn Turner cartoons or photographs selected by retired picture editor Brenda Fitzsimons , and other newspaper ephemera. Beside the Irish Times room is at the top of the house will be rotating exhibition space – a selection of Mick Brown's photographs of Dublin from the 1960s through to the early 2000s and, later, an exhibition marking 200 years of the Coombe Hospital. The museum has one tiny room, space for a single chair and just one person. The occupant will be able to watch, on screen, as Mary Merritt, a survivor of a Magdalene Laundry, talks on camera about her life, much of it memorialised in the groundbreaking play, You Can Leave at Any Time. All part of the mosaic of Dublin. The Little Museum reopens to the public on Thursday
RTÉ News
28-05-2025
- RTÉ News
Bread making, Druid knowledge and more in Ireland's Ancient East
Under the din of ringing church bells, in a graveyard dotted with purple herb robert flowers, Cynthia Simonet was telling us that yew trees never die. She had just walked us through half of Trim in Co Meath, painting a picture of medieval life in the town, peppered with her own memories of growing up exploring its streets. In one breath, she'd point out the ancient well where locals would draw their water and gossip; in another, she'd point out Church Street, which led to St. Patrick's Cathedral and was, ironically, the place to go for a smooch as teenagers in her day. Coming to stop at the cathedral, Simonet - a tour guide with Trim Tourism - explained why yew trees are often planted in graveyards. "The Druids always made their laws within a grove of yew trees", she said. "The Druids believed in reincarnation, and then the Christian church believed in resurrection. It's said that a yew tree can't die, its roots grow out. The roots will incorporate the corpse as it decomposes, it will feed on that, and it's a way of coming back." Regeneration would turn out to be a theme of this trip to Ireland's Ancient East, which I'd been invited on as part of Fáilte Ireland's Keep Discovering campaign. Over the course of the two days, my boyfriend and I explored Meath and Louth, where numerous producers, makers and destinations are celebrating a return to their roots. We had luck on our side with the weather, but even nicer was the relative peace and quiet before the summer season kicks off in earnest. We began our trip by meeting Simonet at the cannon outside Trim Castle, which she wasted no time in telling us the history of. Dating back to the Crimean War, the 2,200kg cannon was gifted to the town in thanks for its support during the war. From there, we visited the Sheep Gate, one of the five gates in the wall into medieval Trim that kept the Irish out and the French-speaking townspeople in. Simonet brought us on a brusque walking tour of the town, doling out facts about Boann, the goddess of the Boyne, alongside modern-day updates to the town like the new protective enclosures for the sand martins that fly across the river. Filled up with mythology and local gossip, we set off for our next destination in Carlingford, Co. Louth, where we met Garrett Mallon, a goldsmith with over 30 years of experience who has created a country-spanning network of makers and producers in his studio. Located up one of the town's winding streets, Mallon's shop is a treasure trove of artisanal designs. The Tyrone native opened the space in 2014 with 40 makers represented on the shelves. Ten years later and that number has soared to 105, with creators from all across the island. Every nook and cranny is filled with handmade pieces, from knitwear by Edmund McNulty based in Termonfeckin and Donal Sweeney in Kilcar, Donegal, to pottery by Alison Hanvey in Co Down. Each display features a label noting the name and location of the creator, hammering home the sense of the studio being a pan-Ireland celebration of craft. "It's all about the maker", Mallon said. "Me being a maker myself, it's all about your hands and what you make." Tucked into the heart of the shop is Mallon's own workshop: long benches filled with glittering pendants, rings and more, lined up with their order papers. The team used to host hen parties and workshops in this space, but these have been paused while they gear up for a renovation. Mallon's commissions, meanwhile, haven't slowed. He said his favourite part of the job is being trusted to create something timeless and sentimental, especially when there's a special meaning attached to a piece. He told us about a recent wedding band commission for a man whose father had passed away. Inspired by the power of jewellery to connect people, Mallon offered to create the band from the man's father's own wedding band, and even made his mother a pendant from the leftover gold. With a few additions to my Christmas wishlist made, we set off for our next stop: picking up bikes and hitting the Carlingford to Omeath greenway. Carlingford Greenway Bikes supplied us with not only sleek and comfortable peddle assist bikes, but excellent sandwiches from their onsite food truck, Wildwood - a crispy chicken sambo with cheese, pickles and a cup of ranch for dunking. A section of "The Great Eastern Greenway" currently being developed along the east of Ireland coastline, the Carlingford to Omeath greenway is built on the old Dundalk Newry and Greenore Railway, and is a handy 7km long. The trail is entered down by the marina and hugs the coastline beautifully for the rest of the way, offering breathtaking views of the Mourne Mountains and Carlingford Lough. Sunkissed, windswept and happily tired, we dropped off our bikes and made the short trek to our accommodation for the night. Located down a turn-off from the main road into Carlingford, down a hedge-hemmed drive and in view of the sea, Ghan House is a distinctly different kind of hotel. Built in 1727, this Georgian manor was converted into a guesthouse 31 years ago and is now run by Paul Carroll, who took over the business from his mother Joyce (who still handmakes many of the delicious treats you'll find served at breakfast). This isn't your usual reimagined manor house hotel, however. With just 11 bedrooms, a surprisingly understated breakfast room, lived-in but ornate furniture and a stately restaurant complete with a piano, spending the night there felt like stepping back in time to visit a wealthy friend. Our room had an enormous bed, a crystal chandelier, long windows, opulent wallpaper and a view of the mountains and a graveyard, which some might find morbid, but I found extremely cinematic. One of the many joys of being in Carlingford is how walkable it is, so our dinner at The Bay Tree restaurant was only a short walk away. We both opted for the natural Carlingford oysters, which were sweet and briny and came with a classic mignonette sauce, Tabasco and an excellent soy and ponzu sauce. For mains, we had the pan-fried salmon and steak, and for dessert, we went with the white chocolate and raspberry tiramisu and the lemon pot with summer berries. The next morning, we visited Skypark, an impressive series of aerial obstacle courses located outside of the town (€30 per person, for children aged 9+). We were swiftly trained on how to safely navigate the courses and got stuck into tackling the yellow course, the easiest of the three. With zip lines, balancing challenges and plenty of opportunities to tease your boyfriend, a thrilling day out for kids and big kids alike. An appetite firmly worked up, we headed back toward Navan for a bread-making workshop - with a difference. Founded by Chris Brownlow, Bread with Benefits is a new venture striving to teach people about the connection between food and wellbeing, using sourdough as a way in. Originally a potato farmer, Brownlow was bitten by the sourdough bug like many of us and became fascinated by the power of fermented foods. He and his wife, Sarah, a local GP, decided to create a space in their home for immersive, hands-on workshops, celebrating the "soil to slice" journey of sourdough bread. A full-day bread-making course starts at €154. Leavened bread, he explained, likely existed in ancient Ireland, and noted that there was even an ancient Irish word for sourdough: descaid, mentioned in A Social History of Ancient Ireland by P W Joyce, a book published in 1907 and proudly displayed in Brownlow's workshop. Rather than a faddish pastime, a hangover from pandemic times, Brownlow's classes show how ancient ways of baking are coming back into fashion thanks to our renewed appreciation for food and wellness. With Groove Armada playing in the background and some fruity kombucha to sip on, we got stuck into making our own loaves while Brownlow finished off some bread he'd made earlier. The result of our work, a crisp and golden loaf topped with seeds and an incredibly bouncy structure, was one of the best loaves of bread I've ever tasted, especially when slathered with the cultured butter Brownlow showed us how to make in less than five minutes. As with any memorable trip, it's the unexpected conversations, tidbits and stories that stay with you, and this part of the country is overflowing with places to find them. Whether that's stopping into the Moorland Cafe in Drogheda for pastries after a walking tour of the historic town, or taking part in an art class, such as the one by Lucia Errity, who holds needle felt painting courses at her countryside gallery that are inspired by the ancient beauty of the Boyne Valley landscape. Details We were invited by Fáilte Ireland to visit Meath and Louth for the purpose of review. Prices for one night accommodation at Ghan House start at €210 for B&B for two people sharing from June. Dinner and breakfast was provided by Fáilte Ireland.
