Michael Collins Again...

  The man never goes away, he is literally all over Dublin (in the metaphorical sense). Being that I had so much success with the National Museum of Archaeology on Saturday, today I decided to try its sister museum, the National Museum of Decorative Arts and History. To be honest I had no idea what to expect, but surely any museum with 'history' in the name could not be awful. The reason that I mentioned that Michael Collins never goes away is because the museum is housed in Collins Barracks. The barracks and central square are named after Michael Collins, the first Commander-in-Chief of the Irish Free State Army, who was killed at Béal na Bláth, County Cork four months before the barracks was surrendered to the Free State Army. The barracks remained a part of the military until 1988 when they were closed and turned into the museum that now exists there.
      The Museum is relatively easy to find as it was right off the Luas line at a stop entitled "Museum", and I arrived right at 10am when it opened. The barracks are right across the river from the Guinness Storehouse on the north side of the Liffey. Being that I did not know what to expect I was impressed by the structure itself which was beautiful. The main building was a large square with a large courtyard in the middle where soldiers once drilled. It was built by Colonel Thomas Burgh in the 17th century who also built the Trinity College library. The museum had a wide range of exhibits and like with the National Museum of Archaeology I cannot go into detail about all of them. Some of them I enjoyed more than others: particularly the Four Centuries of Furnishings, The Way we Wore, along with Soldiers and Chiefs. Other exhibitions housed in the four story building were about Irish Silver and coins, Asian art, and other random artefacts. It was complex getting around as some exhibits were two stories, so you had to go upstairs and finish it before coming back down again and finishing the other exhibitions on the floor. I will display some pictures and talk about some of my favourite exhibitions.

This is a picture from the exhibition about the 1916 Rebellion. In the back of the building is Arbor Hill Cemetery where the executed leaders of the Rebellion are buried. It went into the complex relationship between Great Britain and Ireland at the time and the reason why the Easter Rising happened. 

This is a part of the Soldiers and Chiefs exhibition about Ireland's military throughout the centuries, showing artefacts brought back by Irish fighting in Africa. Being that there was such a strange layout to the building I accidentally went through exhibit backward, but it was all fine. In the beginning Ireland was a part of the British Empire (as we all know) so starting with 1550 it traces how the Irish fought in various wars side by side with Britain until they split in the 20th century. From the French and Indian War to the Crimean War, Irish went where the British did. Initially numbers were high, but they dropped off as Celtic Renaissance (the revival of everything Gaelic and Irish) happened in the 19th century and reared its head with rebellion in the 20th.

A section of the same exhibition talked about "Wild Geese" or Irish who fought against the British while Ireland was still a part of the Empire. They fought in the American War for Independence, the American Civil War, the French Revolution, and more. These men were hoping to either hurt England or for a cause such as freedom. They also hoped that once the country they were fighting for won (ideally) the would help 'liberate' Ireland from British control.

This is from the Curator's Choice gallery which is 25 items chosen by the museum's curator for display. It is a crucifixion stone found in a walled up room in the 1950s but from 1740 and they believe is connected to the restrictive Penal Laws put on Catholics int he 17th and 18th Centuries.

This photo and the one right below it are from the Four Centuries of Furniture exhibition which was more interesting than I thought it would be. There were five or six rooms, each decorated for a certain time period. These are the 17th century (top) and 18th century (bottom) rooms, and they went right up until the 1950s, allowing you to see how furniture and style changed over the centuries.

This is from the Way We Wore galley which showed fashion from the past 250 years. Like the furniture exhibit, it was interesting being able to compare how things changed over the years. They had examples of corsets which gave women the 'ideal figure' and both men and women's clothing. This is a dress that would have been worn in the late 18th century. Near the end they had stuff about the early 20th century and it was funny because it reminded me of the clothes worn on Downton Abbey, which really shows how England and Ireland were culturally connected around this time. In fact between the Act of Union in 1800 and 1900 (before the Irish Renaissance) Ireland's culture was more or less completely assimilated into English society.

This is obviously not from an exhibit inside the museum but after I was done I had wondered the grounds and found it and thought it was interesting. Known as the Rutland Fountain, it was erected in 1791. This stone structure, commemorates Charles Manners, 4th Duke of Rutland. He was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1784 but died three years later while still in office. The monument was more than just an elegant testimonial. It also performed an extremely useful service to the neighbouring streets; it was a fountain that provided fresh drinking water to houses where, despite their grandeur, running water would not be installed for around another fifty years or so.