1.0 INTRODUCTION Kildare County Council in association - Kildare.ie

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AUDIT OF MUSEUMS AND PUBLIC COLLECTIONS IN COUNTY KILDARE 2006 5.8 NATIONAL SCIENCE MUSEUM, SAINT PATRICK’S COLLEGE ADDRESS: Saint Patrick’s College National University of Ireland Maynooth Co. Kildare CONTACT: Dr. Niall McKeith (curator) EMAIL: niall.mckeith@nuim.ie PHONE: 01-7083780 SUMMARY OF ORGANIZATION AND COLLECTION: Owned and managed by Saint Patrick’s College Maynooth, the ecclesiological collection of the College was established as a museum in 1934 by the Trustees of the College and Dr. William Moran, Professor of Dogmatic Theology was appointed its first curator. From the 1950s the museum was developed to include the collection of scientific apparatus of Rev. Nicholas Callan (1799-1864) and other instruments from the Physics Department of the college which are of historic scientific interest. The instruments of Monsignor Gerald Molloy (1834-1906) also form part of the collection. The museum building comprises a free-standing single-storey single-roomed space, originally top lit through a continuous ridge roof light, and in more recent times lit artificially with no natural light entering the museum. All objects on display have been housed in purpose-designed secure display cabinets which form part of a re-design of the museum in recent years. Extensive published documentation exists on both aspects of the collection. Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth, Museum of Ecclesiology was published in 1995, forming a re-edited and revised catalogue by Dr. McKeith, based on the earlier Tóstal Catalogue. The Scientific Apparatus of Nicholas Callan and other Historic Instruments, is an illustrated catalogue by Charles Mollan and John Upton, published 1994. The Ecclesiological museum has been catalogued under 25 categories and includes objects from the 15 th century onwards. The collection covers the following categories: • Irish Illuminated Manuscripts • Altar Plate • Ecclesiastical Bells • Boxes for Altar Breads • Reliquaries • Monstrances • Pectoral crosses, • Representations of the Crucifixion • Penal Crosses • Rosaries • Oil Stocks • Croziers • Relics • Statuary. • Vestments • Eastern Church and Foreign • Danial O’Connell • Letters and Documents • Maynooth College • Medals and Medallions • Mass Rocks • Altar Stones • Altar Bread Tongs • Miscellanea • Models The highlights include The Marie Antoinette Vestments made by her Ladies-in-waiting and presented by the Queen to Rev. Dr. Patrick O’Byrne, chaplain to the Duc a’Angouleme, and The Maria Barbara of Braganze Vestements, which were presented to the Irish College in Salamanca. Also in this collection is a section dedicated to Danial O’Connell, which includes a wax death mask, religious books and correspondence owned by O’Connell. CHARLES DUGGAN ARHITECTURAL HERITAGE ADVISOR 18
AUDIT OF MUSEUMS AND PUBLIC COLLECTIONS IN COUNTY KILDARE 2006 The Scientific Apparatus are arranged under the following categories, which then form subcategories. The principal categories are: • Chemistry and Analysis • Electricity and Magnetism • Heat • Hydrostatics • Light • Mechanics • Meterology • Pneumatics • Sound • Surveying and Navigation • Other Instruments The highlights of this collection include instruments made or used by Callan including: electromagnetic coils, induction coils (which Callan invented) and the Wimshurst Electrostatic generator, of lat 19 th century origins. Many instruments made by the Dublin based firms of John Spencer & Son, Samuel & Son, Yeates & Son add to the interest and relevance of many on display. CHARLES DUGGAN ARHITECTURAL HERITAGE ADVISOR 19
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1.0 INTRODUCTION Kildare County Council in association - Kildare.ie

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