Museum of Country Life
Museum 29 Oct - 17 Nov 2013
By Bernie Byron
30, Oct 2013 - 08:07

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF IRELAND - COUNTRY LIFE
TURLOUGH PARK, CASTLEBAR, CO. MAYO
PUBLIC PROGRAMME 29 OCTOBER - 17 NOVEMBER 2013

Contents:

* Hallowe'en at the Museum * Christmas Memorabilia * Xmas programme

* Programme of events * School programme * Temporary Exhibitions

* Museum Shop & Café * On-line Resources * Other Details

01. HALLOWE'EN AT THE MUSEUM

Come along to the National Museum of Ireland - Country Life this Hallowe'en

Tuesday 29 October: Kidz Museum: Trick or Treat , Make a Beat!
11am-12pm. Junior Activity. Children under 6yrs accompanied by an adult.

12.30-1.30pm. Workshop. Adults & children 7yrs +
An exciting interactive music workshop creating haunting words and raucous rhythms with French Hornist Mary Curran including percussion and chime bar playing for the very young. Booking required.

Wednesday 30 October: 2.00-4pm. Drop-in Workshop. Kidz Museum: Family Hallowe'en Activities Family.
Make your house 'spooktacular' with your own homemade ghoolish decorations with Aoife Ooooow' Tooooole. No booking required, first come, first served.

02. CHRISTMAS MEMORABILIA - HAVE YOU A SPECIAL CHRISTMAS MEMORY/OBJECT YOU WOULD LIKE TO TELL US ABOUT?
Your Christmas Story...Invitation to the public to participate in a display of Christmas memorabilia
DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF ENTRIES: FRIDAY 15 NOVEMBER:
Do you have an item at home that has a special place in your heart and reminds you of Christmases past? We invite you to email your story (350 words max) and a photo of the item to ouririshheritage@gmail.com by Friday 15 November. These stories will be assessed and those selected will have their objects included in a unique public display in the Museum during December and online. For more information incl. Terms & Conditions visit www.ouririshheritage.org.

03. XMAS PROGRAMME - WHILE SANTA & HIS ELVES MAKE A WELCOME RETURN TO THE MUSEUM ON SATURDAY 07 DECEMBER, THE MONTH OF DECEMBER WILL BE FULL OF FESTIVE ACTIVITIES IN THE MUSEUM.
The Christmas charm of yesteryear at the National Museum of Ireland - Country Life
As the countdown to Christmas begins, it gives us all permission to indulge in a little nostalgia. Memories of our own childhood Christmases mingle seamlessly with much-loved traditions from films, books and history. Where better than the National Museum of Ireland - Country Life to draw all these elements together in a festive feast of attractions and activities with a firm focus on families? Saturday 7th December is Christmas Family Day (Santa and his elves return to the Museum) but the entire month is a whirl of festive action for all the family to enjoy. See attached poster for further details. More details next month.........

04. PROGRAMME OF EVENTS
Visit www.ouririshheritage.org to find out about local Irish history & heritage and to contribute photos and stories about your locality.

Tuesday 29 October: Kidz Museum: Trick or Treat , Make a Beat!
See details above.

Wednesday 30 October: 2.00-4pm. Drop-in Workshop. Kidz Museum: Family Hallowe'en Activities Family.
See details above.

Friday 01 November: 11am-1pm. Drop-in Workshop. Knitting Circle: Christmas Socks and Stockings. Adults and children 7yrs+ .
Why not take up the challenge of knitting a pair of woolly socks or a Christmas stocking for the hearth? Join the museum knitters to make your winter woollies. Bring along your knitting or crochet. Beginners welcome.

Thursday 07 November: 2.30-3.30pm. Talk & Demonstration. A Long Thatching Tradition. Family.
Join father and son John and Paul Brereton Co. Kildare, as they demonstrate their thatching skills and talk about how their craft has been passed down through the generations. No booking required.

Saturday 09 November: 11.30am-1pm. Drop-in Activity. Mayo Genealogy Group. If you have an interest in finding out about your family history come along for free practical tips with the Mayo Genealogy Group. New researchers welcome. No booking required.

Wednesday 13 November: 2.30-3.30pm. Demonstration. Science Week: Buttermaking. Family.
Join Olga Clancy and Violet Hunter as they demonstrate the traditional way of making butter and hear about some of the customs associated with traditional household skill. Booking required.

Friday 15 November: 11am-1pm. Drop-in Activity. Knitting Circle: Christmas Socks and Stockings. Adults and children 7yrs+.
Why not take up the challenge of knitting a pair of woolly socks or a Christmas stocking for the hearth? Join the museum knitters to make your winter woollies. Bring along your knitting or crochet. Beginners welcome.

Saturday 16 November: 3pm. Tour. Hair Hurling Balls: Untangling the Mysteries. Adults and children 14yrs+.
Tour this exhibition to find out how this rare collection came about, discover its providence and the science that sheds light on these historic bog finds with folklife curator Clodagh Doyle. Booking required.

Saturday 16 November: 4pm. Talk. An Illustrated History of Hurling. Adults and children 14yrs+.
Hurling is an ancient game of myth and legend which today is a 21st century commercialised sport. UCD Lecturer Dr. Paul Rouse will trace hurling history and examine why it is played uniquely by the Irish. Booking required.

Sunday 17 November: 3-4pm. Talk. The Last Irish Wolf. Adults and children 7yrs+.
As an iconic symbol of the wild, the wolf invokes fear, excitement and wonder. Join Dr. Kieran Hickey author of Wolves in Ireland to find out about Ireland's last great predator. Booking required.

05. SCHOOLS PROGRAMME

POST-PRIMARY SPECIAL EVENTS

Friday 15 November: 1.30 - 2.30pm. Workshop. The Nano Show.
Ireland has lead the way in many technologies from new inventions in farming and developed many devices to measure the weather. Now we are pioneering Nanotechnology, which allows us to engineer things atom by atom and it will have a major impact on everyone from better drugs to faster computers. Students will be taken on a journey to experience what it is like if we were the size of atoms. Booking required. Relevant to Junior Cycle; Senior Cycle Physics, Chemistry and Biology.

06. TEMPORARY EXHIBITIONS
HAIR HURLING BALLS: Earliest Artefacts of Our National Game
This exciting new exhibition firmly establishes the antiquity of our national game of Hurling with radio-carbon dated hurling balls from 800 years ago! The hair hurling ball collection of the National Museum of Ireland is displayed with an ancient hurling stick. These hurling balls are of matted cow-hair with a plaited horse-hair covering. This exhibition looks at these bog finds in relation to where in the country they were discovered, how they were made and the scientific analysis undertaken by the Museum. This revealed so much more than the naked eye could see... The exhibition runs until May 2014.

Other exhibitions include:
· 100 OBJECTS MUSEUM TRAIL

In a partnership between the National Museum of Ireland (NMI), the Irish Times and the Royal Irish Academy, 100 objects have been chosen by journalist Fintan O'Toole to take us through the history of people in Ireland over 7,000 years. 4 of these objects can be seen in the NMI-Country Life, Turlough Park.

· No. 81 EMPTY COOKING POT, 1845-9

· No. 82 EMIGRANT'S TEAPOT, 1850-1950.

· No. 93 BOYNE CORACLE, 1928

· No. 95 EMIGRANT'S SUITCASE, 1950s.

No. 66 CRUCIFIXION STONE, 1740 & No. 77 WICKER CRADLE, 19th & 20th Centuries are also from the NMI-Country Life's Folklife collection and are based in NMI-Decorative Arts & History, Collins Barracks, Dublin.

Further details can be found on:
http://www.museum.ie/en/list/history-of-ireland-in-100-objects.aspx and on http://www.100objects.ie/

Visit http://www.museum.ie/en/exhibition-list/country-life-temporary-exhibitions.aspx for details about temporary exhibitions which are ongoing in the Museum Galleries

07. MUSEUM SHOP & CAFÉ
Museum Shop: the Museum Shop offers a broad range of affordable quality gifts for any occasion. Unique products to suit all budgets and requirements.
Museum Café: Visit the Museum Café for a wide variety of tasty and seasonal meals and snacks. Enjoy our freshly baked produce and speciality teas and coffees. The perfect complement to your museum visit. For queries and bookings contact the Museum Café: 094 928 9972; E-mail: maeve@brambles.ie
08. GENERAL INFORMATION
Visit http://www.museum.ie/en/list/calendar-of-events.aspx for details of the current programme of events.
Contact tpark@museum.ie if you would like to join the Museum's e-mail distribution list.

Follow us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/National-Museum-of-Ireland/94907090068?ref=hl
and Twitter: https://twitter.com/NMIreland.

09. MEMORY BOOK PROJECT
Your Stories - Our Histories: Memory Book Project
During your Museum visit, please take a seat at our Memory Book to record personal memories and stories related to the objects and exhibitions you have encountered in the Museum. The Memory Book form can be downloaded and returned to the Museum. This form can be completed even if you haven't been to the Museum yet as we would still like to hear your memories relating to Irish country life.

10. ON-LINE RESOURCES
Blog by the Museum's Documentation Department
The Documentation Department in the National Museum of Ireland - Country Life have launched a blog as a spin off from the Museum's Inventory Project - http://turloughparkhouse.wordpress.com/. Visit this blog to get some information on objects in the Museum's collection.
Website for local heritage
www.ouririshheritage.org features articles on local history and heritage from around the country. Anyone with an interest in their local area can contribute to this website which, it is hoped, will eventually reflect the local history of the island of Ireland. Groups and organisations are welcome to promote their cultural and heritage events via the online events form.

11. MUSEUM OPENING TIMES
Museum: Tuesday-Saturday: 10am - 5pm Sunday: 2-5pm. Closed Mondays (incl. Bank Holiday).
Museum Shop & Café: open during Museum hours with extended opening from 12pm each Sunday.

12. CONTACT DETAILS
GENERAL INFORMATION: Museum Reception: 094 903 1755
MUSEUM CAFÉ: 094 928 9972; e-mail: maeve@brambles.ie