DUBLIN.- On Sunday 29th August 2015, the National Museum of Ireland on Kildare Street will be celebrating its 125th anniversary. A day of free hands-on activities, talks & demonstrations marking the public opening of the Kildare Street Museum buildings in 1890 have been arranged to celebrate the collections of the Museum of Archaeology.

The National Museum of Ireland was founded under the Dublin Science and Art Museum Act of 1877. Previously, the Museum’s collections had been divided between Leinster House, originally the headquarters of the Royal Dublin Society, and the Natural History Museum in Merrion Street, built as an extension to Leinster House in 1856 - 1857. Under the Act, the government purchased the museum buildings and collections. To provide storage and display space for the Leinster House collections, the government quickly implemented plans to construct a new, custom-built museum on Kildare Street and on 29 August 1890, the new museum opened its doors to the public. Originally housing the Museum’s collections of antiquities, ethnography, folklife, decorative arts and history, it is now dedicated to the display of archaeological material from Ireland and abroad.

At the inaugural event on 29th August 1890, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (1889 – 1892), Lawrence Dundas said that it was his: “fervent hope that this National Museum may in the fullest measure fulfil the purpose for which it (has) been raised: that (it) may not only prove a source of recreation and instruction to the general public but may afford such real assistance to Irish students and workers that their inauguration today may hereafter be regarded as making a new growth of the arts and industries of the Country.”

Commenting on the anniversary of the Museum, Raghnall Ó Floinn – Director of the National Museum stated; “The collections housed in the Museum’s magnificent Kildare Street building have fascinated and enthralled millions of visitors from home and abroad since opening in 1890. Join us in celebrating our 125th birthday as we take a closer look at the building and its collections and learn how we have cared for our archaeological heritage over the generations”

Siobhan Pierce Education and Outreach Officer for the NMI Archaeology & Natural History - said: “Those visionary Victorians who opened the Museum 125 years ago always intended the galleries would amaze and inspire, so for this milestone anniversary we are planning a full day of events for people of all ages. We have workshops and trails, as well as talks and curator tours, replica artefact handling sessions and a special pop-up display. It will be a good day to get those questions people have, answered about the Museum’s artefacts, from the ancient Egyptian amulets to glistening Irish chalices!”