Collins Barracks. That’s how many — most– Irish people think of the buildings in Benburb Street in Dublin, not far from Temple Bar. Makes sense: these buildings housed soldiers for three centuries.
For some years now though, Collins Barracks have been home to more peaceful pursuits. These days they are home to the collections of the National Museum of Ireland: Decorative Arts and History.
The Collins Barracks buildings themselves are impressive (and won Ireland’s top award for architectural conservation as they were repurposed for the museum), and it is clear they were once a barracks.
Within, you will find more than two dozen areas and galleries, many for permanent exhibitions and others for changing items and objects.
The permanent collections of the Museum of Decorative Arts and History at Collins Barracks fall into two main groups: military history and decorative arts. There are, as you might imagine, many areas to explore within each.
Note here: The museum is beginning to re-open to visitors, although a few galleries will remain closed for safety reasons. There are also substantial ways to explore the museum online, which I will tell you about shortly.
The military history areas include Soldiers and Chiefs, an area which comprises exhibits on Ireland’s military history from the sixteenth century through to the twenty-first. There are guns and uniforms and swords to be sure, but also items of day to day use, letters home, and areas which re-create barracks life in different eras. There is also the area called Recovered Voices, in which the lives of 21 Irish men and women during the early years of the First World War are followed in detail.
The decorative arts collections include areas on Irish silver and gold, dresses and furniture both high end and in common use, Irish glass, and many other subjects. There’s a gallery called Curator’s Choice, for which curators selected objects and wrote explanations of why they were chosen. There’s another called Out of Storage, in which viewers get a behind the scenes look at some of the museum archives.
There are areas which feature contemporary Irish craft. There’s one featuring work in silver in Ireland through the centuries.
Dress design comes in for display.
The work of influential architect and designer Eileen Gray is featured not only through her designs but through her tools and drawings. There is an area devoted to the history of the sailing vessel Asgard, which is well worth a story in its own.
There are changing exhibits at Collins Barracks as well. Often these feature the work of Irish artists, and/or have to do with the history of Ireland.
I took you to the fine exhibit on the Easter Rising in another story.
At one time when I visited there was the work of glass artist Alison Lowry responding to the experiences of women in the Magdalene Laundries. At another time there was an exhibit of photographs by anthropologist Robert Cresswell, who explored Galway in the 1950s, where among other folk he met these two girls from Kinvara.
There are ways to explore the collections of the National Museum of Ireland: Decorative Arts and History online as well. At the museum’s website you may explore that exhibit on the Easter Rising virtually; there’s also an online exhibit on Irish Wars 1914 to 1923. There are introductions to areas of the collections (there are more subjects than I’ve mentioned here). There is information for teachers and students and on ways to engage and learn as the Collins Barracks begins to open up again to in person visits.
Pro tip: If you visit in person, pick up a floor plan. These are available at no cost and in many languages at the museum’s reception area. It’s also wise to plan more than one visit; this is massive place with a lot to take in and explore. If you have time for just a few highlights, though, that floor plan has suggestions on that, too.
You will find the Collins Barracks about a twenty minute walk west of Temple Bar. It is also well served by public transport. If you would be coming from outwith Ireland, here is a link to regularly updated travel guidance from the government of Ireland.
You may also enjoy this story about a visit I took you on to another another part of Dublin and to another part of the National Museum of Ireland, where the collections focus is on archaeology.
Photographs by Kerry Dexter. Thank you for respecting copyright.
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