The People's Museum of Limerick
On a trip to the People’s Museum at 2 Pery Square, one can expect to discover many treasures. From exquisite period furnishings and portraits to a coat once worn by and taken from Joseph Bonaparte, the brother of Napoleon, a visit to this intriguing Georgian House truly is an adventurous step back through time. Indeed, […]
Unless you are intending to enter the EuroMillions draw, or perhaps have an important appointment, September 24th may not appear to be a particularly noteworthy date. However, at the People’s Museum, hanging on the wall next to the Museum of Childhood Ireland exhibition, there is a portrait which makes September 24th a somewhat more interesting […]
Born in Limerick, Michael James O’Rourke immigrated to Canada prior to World War I and he served in the Royal Munster Fusiliers and the Canadian Militia. During a bitter 10-day struggle, from Aug. 15-25, 1917, the Canadian Corps overran Hill 70, a treeless hillock on the north side of the French mining centre of Lens. […]
Recently some artefacts left our museum and were temporarily displayed at Moyaliffe House & Gardens, most notably was an impressive dress uniform worn by Captain William Armstrong, and a carriage from his home at Moyaliffe. As we prepare for their return, we thought we would share the story of the man behind the artefacts. Capt. […]
Joseph Bonaparte (1768-1844), the eldest brother of Napoleon, was successively King of Naples (1806-1808) and King of Spain (1808-13). At the Battle of Vitoria (21 June 1813) a British, Portuguese and Spanish force led by the Anglo-Irish General Arthur Wellesley, 1st Marquess of Wellington, defeated the French under King Joseph. A victory which would prove […]
Sir Richard Bourke (1777-1855) was a colonel, philanthropist and colonial governor. As a young man, Richard was an accomplished army officer who served across the globe. However, it was the Limerick man’s reformative work on education in Ireland and progressive governorship of the Cape of Good Hope and New South Wales in later life that […]
Born and raised in Indonesia, Maya Sunario’s love for dolls first began when she was given her first fashion doll, Sindy, a British fashion doll created by Pedigree Dolls & Toys in 1963. She then discovered Barbie dolls, made by its rival, Mattel Inc. In the 1970s, playing with these dolls felt like a privilege […]
‘Happy Christmas. This may seem strange to some who think that this is not a time for rejoicing, that things are too serious with us as present, but we must not lose sight of the fact that the event we celebrate is as same as ever’.(1) Referring to challenges brought by the First World War, […]
Oíche Shamhna, Halloween, has its roots in Ireland. Samhain was celebrated on the first of November as the split between Summer and Winter. The division between this world and the ‘other’ was considered at its thinnest. On the night before, food was placed at people’s doors for the spirits of the dead. Fruit and nuts […]
Last month, The People’s Museum of Limerick looked at the Irish Crolly Doll. Garbed in Irish tweed and hand-knit, the Crolly Dolls on display in Limerick form part of a huge collection of Crolly Dolls donated to the Museum of Childhood Ireland / Músaem Óige na hÉireann by Anne O’Leary in 2018. The Crolly Doll […]