Carlow County Museum celebrates 50 years since they first opened their doors

This month Carlow County Museum celebrates fifty years since they first opened their doors to the public on Sunday 2nd December 1973.

To help celebrate the 50th anniversary, the Museum has partnered with the Irish Museums Association (IMA) to hold their 2024 Annual Conference in Carlow Town in May 2024. This will see one-hundred and fifty plus people attend the two-day conference celebrating the importance of the Irish museum sector.

Gina O’Kelly, Director of the IMA, said; "IMA are delighted to work with Carlow County Museum in bringing delegates from across the island and further afield to Carlow next May. Our county museums nurture profound connections to our roots, our stories, and our regional identities and Carlow stands as a model for how investment in local cultural infrastructure can enrich the lives of its residents and visitors alike. It is our privilege to host the conference here, for the first time, in a year of such special significance for the museum and join them in celebrating their 50 th  anniversary - which will no doubt add an extra layer of richness and history to our gathering over the two days."

Carlow County Museum was founded and operated by the Carlow Historical and Archaeological Society (CHAS) until 2002 when the operations were taken over by Carlow County Council to create our county’s official county museum.

The Museum’s first premises was in part of the old Christian Brothers school building  on College Street. In 1979 the Museum relocated to the Theatre Room of the Town Hall where it remained until 2002. In 2012 the Museum moved back to College
Street, this time to the refurbished Presentation Convent as part of Carlow Town’s Cultural Quarter which houses the Carlow Library, the Tourist Office, the County Museum, Carlow Cathedral, Carlow College and Visual.

This year the Museum achieved Full Accreditation under the Heritage Council’s Museum Standards Programme for Ireland (MSPI), the first museum in Carlow to achieve this award.

Cllr Andrea Dalton, Cathaoirleach of Carlow County Council and Chairperson of the Board of Carlow County Museum said that “I am incredibly proud to be Chairperson of Carlow County Museum as it celebrates its 50th Anniversary. Over the past fifty
years, the Museum has stood as a testament to the rich tapestry of history and heritage woven into the fabric of County Carlow. It is a guardian of our past, a repository of stories, artefacts and memories that collectively tell the tale of Carlow. A special word of gratitude to the staff and volunteers, the Museum Board, Carlow County Council and to CHAS for their tireless dedication and commitment to our County Museum and for ensuring our Museum has met the highest of national and international standards for museums”.

A delighted Kevin Kennedy, last of the founder members of Carlow County Museum in 1973, in July 2023 with the Museum’s MSPI Full Accreditation Award outside the Museum with Cllr Tom O’Neill, Mayor of the Municipal District of Carlow, Cllr Andrea Dalton, Cathaoirleach of Carlow County Council and Chairperson of the Board of Carlow County Museum, Richard Codd, President of the Carlow Historical & Archaeological Society with staff and Board Members of Carlow County Museum and staff of the Carlow Tourist Office.

The award was presented earlier that day at the Heritage Council award ceremony in Kilkenny Castle.

Photograph: Thomas Sunderland Photography