#MuseumsNow

And my finally contribution to #MuseumWeekend #MuseumsNOW

There are so many museums and heritage sites that I love. Inspired by #MuseumWeekend I’ve decided to do a short series (this is the second of three) highlighting some of the places I found fascinating while researching The Darkness Echoing  and while working on museum exhibitions. You can find out more about them by clicking on the links (or even better by buying a copy of The Darkness Echoing and using it to guide you on your way around Ireland’s history and heritage!)

Not all sites are open (and those that are have certain restrictions) so make sure to check websites or call in advance to make sure you’re not off on a wild goose chase (it has happened to me many, many times!)

Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin is my old favourite . I've been going there for years and I never tire of it. But it was my first visit as an 8 or 9 year old that was most memorable. I remember the excitement of seeing a place that I thought was forbidden. I recall remember being told the story of Anne Devlin, Robert Emmet's housekeeper. She was arrested, imprisoned and tortured following the 1803 Rebellion, but she refused to tell anyone where Emmet was. I think it was the first time I heard a story about a woman in Irish history and I was completely captivated by it.

Wicklow Jail - The jail building dates from the mid-nineteenth century and there's lots of information about the 1798 Rebellion and the history of prisons in Ireland. I particularly like the rather ghostly prison warden (and dislike the panel about Irish slavery which is inaccurate).

St Oliver Plunkett's head, St Peter’s Catholic Church, Drogheda - I, and many others, was brought there on a school tour. It might not be the best visitor attraction in the country but there's no doubt it's memorable! And take a walk to St Peter’s Church of Ireland which is nearby to see the tomb of Edmund Golding and Elizabeth Fleming that is in the churchyard. You can’t miss it - it forms part of the back wall of the graveyard. A visit to these churches isn’t for the faint-hearted.

Carlow County Museum - Housed in the former Presentation Convent this is a a great County museum - it was the prospect of seeing Kevin Barry's cigarette butt that lured me there.

Cork Public Museum - Possibly the dullest name for a museum in Ireland, but there are all sorts of gems hiding behind the uninspired name. And on All-Ireland final day it’s worth mentioning that they have a figurine of Wolfe Tone who looks remarkably like Marty Morrissey.

National Museum, Kildare Street, Dublin. Full of treasures (literal and otherwise). And the bog bodies which are amazing. I return time and time again to see them.

EPIC, The Irish Emigration Museum in Dublin is more an experience than a museum. Don't visit expecting to see artefacts aplenty, but there's some great interactives and visuals and a broadly positive spin on the Irish emigration experiences which is refreshing.

Newgrange, Co. Meath - I really like the new visitor centre. It lacks the detail of the previous version but it’s very evocative and the soundscape is great and you can walk through a reproduction of the passsge tomb if the real thing isn’t yet open to visitors.

National Gallery, Dublin - Always a gem, and in its new(ish) revamped version it's even better.