Unlocking the Secrets of Limerick Museum

  • Unlocking the Secrets of Limerick Museum exhibition at St. Mary's Cathedral (Pic Keith Wiseman)
Mayor of Limerick City and County, Frances Foley, William O'Neill and Dr Matthew Potter, Limerick Museum. (Picture: Keith Wiseman)

An exciting new exhibition of historic artefacts from Limerick Museum has opened in St. Mary’s Cathedral in Limerick.

Unlocking the Secrets of Limerick Museum showcases some of the hidden treasures in the Limerick Museum collection, many of which are not on permanent display due to space constraints.

This exhibition has been curated by Dr Matthew Potter, Curator of Limerick Museum and William O’Neill.

Limerick Museum has one of the largest collections of any museum in Ireland and the largest collection of Limerick-related objects in existence (63,000 items).

Its mission is to collect, preserve and display objects relating to Limerick's history. The Museum tells the story of Limerick through its material culture and is one of the principal tourist attractions in Limerick.

Speaking at the official opening, Mayor of the City and County of Limerick Cllr Francis Foley said: “Limerick Museum’s collection is so large that only some of it can be displayed at any given time. This is a problem in museums all over the world. In 2022, Matthew decided to reveal Limerick Museum’s hidden treasures to everyone, by holding an exhibition of some of its most iconic items in St. Mary’s Cathedral. This exhibition highlights those many objects that have never been on display before and introduces the public to a wealth of ‘hidden’ objects in the Museum collection.”

Curator of Limerick Museum Dr Matthew Potter said: “I would like to thank the Cathedral, itself one of Limerick’s greatest treasures, for hosting this exhibition. It is a fine example of the collaboration between different cultural stakeholders in Limerick. I want to pay particular tribute to Dean Niall Sloane, Noreen Ellerker and the staff of St. Mary’s Cathedral, without whose enthusiasm this exhibition could not have been held. We are also grateful to the Heritage Council, for funding this exhibition very generously.”

In addition to the exhibition itself, there is the online publication of projects previously stored on obsolete ASKSAM software. This involved updating a large amount of invaluable material, storing it on modern technology and uploading it to the Limerick Museum website limerick.ie/limerick-museum.

Unlocking the Secrets of Limerick Museum continues in St. Mary’s Cathedral until 31 August, however many of the most renowned items will remain on display in the Cathedral on a long-term basis.

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