why is there no real museum in Galway?

Fuinseog

I was in Tralee museum recently, where I paid 5 euro in but it was money well spent. The place was full of artefacts, both original and reproduced. it was full of dioramas which recreated medieval Tralee life.
I wonder why it is not possible to the same in Galway? The present structure that calls itself a museum seems to be a bit of this and a bit of that, a museum come art gallery come place of gathering. as a museum it is little improved on the days that it occupied the fisheries tower.

granted there is a claddagh ring museum, which is great
but for a city supposedly steeped in history and culture it is sad that Galway 'Museum' cannot offer more

ben.schlomo

Fuinseog wrote: »

I was in Tralee museum recently, where I paid 5 euro in but it was money well spent. The place was full of artefacts, both original and reproduced. it was full of dioramas which recreated medieval Tralee life.
I wonder why it is not possible to the same in Galway? The present structure that calls itself a museum seems to be a bit of this and a bit of that, a museum come art gallery come place of gathering. as a museum it is little improved on the days that it occupied the fisheries tower.

granted there is a claddagh ring museum, which is great
but for a city supposedly steeped in history and culture it is sad that Galway 'Museum' cannot offer more

I find the museum to be very good, ground floor has loads of artefacts on medieval Galway and the touch screen map of old Galway is excellent. Then upstairs runs themed exhibits and its all free, nothing not to like. Saw a great exhibition of old cinema and movie stuff there and a brilliant one on Galways involvement in the World Wars.

Wompa1

I actually really like the revamped museum but got ridiculed for it. A lot of people think there's too much space being taken up by things from the 60's and 70's and not enough from centuries ago or even war time. Still I think it's cool

ben.schlomo

Wompa1 wrote: »

I actually really like the revamped museum but got ridiculed for it. A lot of people think there's too much space being taken up by things from the 60's and 70's and not enough from centuries ago or even war time. Still I think it's cool

Ya i think they get the blend right, a mix of the old with different exhibitions now and then, works for me.

Fuinseog

ben.schlomo wrote: »

I find the museum to be very good, ground floor has loads of artefacts on medieval Galway and the touch screen map of old Galway is excellent. Then upstairs runs themed exhibits and its all free, nothing not to like. Saw a great exhibition of old cinema and movie stuff there and a brilliant one on Galways involvement in the World Wars.

do you really think there are enough artefacts?

they had an interesting exhibition on the claddagh, complete with model of the village but that was only for a limited time only.

items from the old museum were not all put on display.

the works of art should be put in a gallery. either we have a museum or art gallery. a combination of the two does not work.


if they put their minds to it they might get real artefacts from the national museum , instead of the odd bit of stone masonry.

Fuinseog

Wompa1 wrote: »

I actually really like the revamped museum but got ridiculed for it. A lot of people think there's too much space being taken up by things from the 60's and 70's and not enough from centuries ago or even war time. Still I think it's cool

to my mind there is nothing from the war of independence or easter rising. in terms of what should be in a museum the place is barren.

Little My

They actually have a number of artefacts on loan from the National Museum at the moment.

The problem is that there is a very limited number of staff and those that are there don't really have the level of training that you find in county museums elsewhere. They don't have a huge collection and not many spectacular pieces.

So there isn't much scope for regular new exhibitions designed by in-house museum staff, rather they rely on touring exhibitions, which explains much of the artwork and photography temporary exhibitions.

Galway Museum in its current form has only been going for a few short years and has never had a curator. To begin with they had a director, which is not the same thing, but she quit and the position has been vacant since. It is currently being advertised.

A good museum needs an established collection, an experienced curator to provide interpretation of artefacts and a director to direct the interpretation in terms of the aims and objectives of the museum.

Fuinseog

do you know who finances the museum-Galway City Council, OPW?

if there was something worth seeing there it would be worth paying. I think there was talk of charging an entry fee, but as things stand it would be outrageous to charge anything.
I feel the old museum, though tiny have more artefacts.

Dublin and Kerry Museum both have recreated medieval streets that you can walk through and feel the atmosphere of the time. You can pick up the reproduced items and really feel you have learnt something.

does Galway not have a cultural budget?

you hear of the millions of euro all the festivals are worth to the city so surely an investment in Galways heritage would not be amiss?

I really like the Spanish Arch Museum; the ground floor is fascinating and I love the way that they change exhibits upstairs a lot -it means every time I go there, there's something new to see. It also offers one of the best views of Galway/the Claddagh from the top floor.

ben.schlomo

It is city council funded Fuinseog, the annual reports are available on the city council website.

Fuinseog

Deleted User wrote: »

I really like the Spanish Arch Museum; the ground floor is fascinating and I love the way that they change exhibits upstairs a lot -it means every time I go there, there's something new to see. It also offers one of the best views of Galway/the Claddagh from the top floor.

you call it the Spannish arch museum which makes it sound like its a museum about the Spannish arch. its supposed to be the main museum for Galway city and county. given the empty spaces about the place they could easily have more on show.
it is a pity that it is not professionally run.
on the subject of museums has anyone been to the one in the barracks?

swiftman

Fuinseog wrote: »

on the subject of museums has anyone been to the one in the barracks?

i have many years with my school.at the time i was very interested in there guns etc and found the story telling very good and really enjoyed it.

as an adult now i would like to go back there before judging it again from a different point of view

Little My

Fuinseog wrote: »

on the subject of museums has anyone been to the one in the barracks?

There is a tour of the barracks museum for heritage week.

Visit Remore Barracks Military Museum
Location: Renmore Barracks Military Museum, Dun Uí Mhaoiliosa Barracks, Renmore, Galway, Galway
Date: 21,22 August

Check out www.heritageweek.ie

There are lots of free tours and activities from 18th - 26th August.

topcat77

Was told by a friend that the Museum has issues regarding Damp, air conditioning and temp control quality. This means they can't display the very delicate, old artifacts. Don't know if it's true but it could explain why it's a bit of a dead fish regarding travelling exhibitions. It's wouldn't surprise me one bit if it's true.

Little My

topcat77 wrote: »

Was told by a friend that the Museum has issues regarding Damp, air conditioning and temp control quality. This means they can't display the very delicate, old artifacts. Don't know if it's true but it could explain why it's a bit of a dead fish regarding travelling exhibitions. It's wouldn't surprise me one bit if it's true.

Can't see it to be honest.

Travelling exhibitions are designed to travel. Artifacts have to be packed and redisplayed every time it moves so curators rarely choose very delicate objects for these things. If they do, they will need correct cases (climate controlled) for display which would travel with the objects. Travelling exhibitions are often staged in libraries and other buildings which noone would expect to have museum conditions anyway.

As for in-house exhibits, fragile artefacts should be in cases anyway for environmental control.

I had heard there was an issue over the light levels (floor to ceiling windows not helping!) but I think this was rectified with film on the class.

Gambas

Fuinseog wrote: »

I was in Tralee museum recently, where I paid 5 euro in but it was money well spent. The place was full of artefacts, both original and reproduced. it was full of dioramas which recreated medieval Tralee life.
I wonder why it is not possible to the same in Galway? The present structure that calls itself a museum seems to be a bit of this and a bit of that, a museum come art gallery come place of gathering. as a museum it is little improved on the days that it occupied the fisheries tower.

granted there is a claddagh ring museum, which is great
but for a city supposedly steeped in history and culture it is sad that Galway 'Museum' cannot offer more

I think you have a particular view of what a museum should be. I've been to Tralee's museum - it is interesting and worth a visit, but I don't think that 3 floors of dioramas is what Galway's museum should aim for. The priority should be maintaining the free entry in Galway museum and doing what they can to get travelling exhibitions on their very tight budget.

LadyMayBelle

When I read Spanish Arch museum a few posts back I thought someone was referring to the little musuem actually on top of the Spanish Arch; I think it closed around 2003? It was a class little place which interesting artefatcs and antiques; a shame the building isnt used anymore.
I like the Musuem but always felt more could be done with it.
Plus there are plenty of people coming out of heritage studies and lother similar courses that could seek employment in the musuem; if only they were to be funded.

inisboffin

LadyMayBelle wrote: »

It was a class little place which interesting artefatcs and antiques; a shame the building isnt used anymore.

I loved it too. Last I heard the City Council were going to use it for 'overflow offices' :rolleyes: (as opposed to an Arts office or a tourist building). Don't know if anything has been done with it in any respect though. Horrible when it was vandalised a few years ago.

Although very different, I like the new museum for different reasons, and take visitors in there fairly frequently.

dinneenp

Also why no proper art gallery in Galway....