1.0 INTRODUCTION Kildare County Council in association - Kildare.ie

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AUDIT OF MUSEUMS AND PUBLIC COLLECTIONS IN COUNTY KILDARE 2006 5.0 AUDIT OF MUSEUMS AND PUBLIC COLLECTIONS IN COUNTY KILDARE This chapter aims to provide a pen-picture of the focus of each museum organization in the country. What emerges from the Audit is the range of organizations that exist, whose collective aim is to promote and disseminate selected aspects of the heritage of the county through the interpretation of historical data and local folklore. CHARLES DUGGAN ARHITECTURAL HERITAGE ADVISOR 6
AUDIT OF MUSEUMS AND PUBLIC COLLECTIONS IN COUNTY KILDARE 2006 5.1 ATHY HERITAGE CENTRE ADDRESS: Town Hall Athy Co. Kildare CONTACT: Margaret Walsh EMAIL: athyheritage@eircom.net PHONE: 059-8633075 SUMMARY OF ORGANIZATION AND COLLECTION: Athy Heritage Centre was established by local business people under the guidance of Mr. Frank Taaffe and in association with the Athy Museum Society. The centre is located in the important early 18 th century town hall in the centre of this historic charter town on Emily Square. The heritage centre occupies the ground floor of the structure while the Local Authority Athy Library occupies the first floor. The structure is in the ownership of the Local Authority. The heritage centre exhibition has been designed as a self-guide exhibition. It includes a number of objects on display which are outlined below. However the principal narrative of the exhibition centre is a series of interpretive graphic displays covering the following subject matter: • The early history of Athy and the Ford of Ae. • The medieval Town • Military Outposts • Henry VIII and the Monasteries • The House of Kildare (the Fitzgeralds) • The Gordon Bennett Rally • The Civil development of Athy • The Grand Canal • World War I • John Vincent Holland • 1798 and the Confederate Wars • Famine in County Kildare • Ernest Shackleton • Religious Diversity in Athy Objects on display comprise a wide variety of material of local, regional and national interest. Many smaller items are in secure glass topped timber-framed display cabinets, while other objects, such as carved stonework are simply mounted on plinths and not secured. Objects are either displayed thematically, or are sporadically displayed with little articulation and reference to the exhibition themes. For instance the Shackleton Room contains objects relating to the Shackleton family and the expeditions of Ernest Shackleton. The religious room contains a number of objects relating to Quaker history and Roman Catholic heritage. The World War room and Gordon Bennett display also contain objects relating specifically to these subjects. However throughout the exhibition there are a number of important objects such as carved stone, furniture, and a donation of vintage bicycles which do not form an integral part of the exhibition narrative. Objects on display include (inter alia) the following: A model of Shackleton’s ship Endurance made by albatross Models, England, and an original sledge used during one of Shackleton’s expeditions. Family effects of the Shackleton’s including a Tabard cigarette box containing a biscuit from the 1914-1916 expedition. Fourteen Shackleton family portrait photographs, framed and mounted are fixed to the wall. The religious diversity room contains display cabinets, one containing silver items of religious significance. A book owned and signed by Abraham Shackleton (who established the Quaker School in Ballitore) with a date of 1761 entitled: The Works of the Long-Mournful and Sorely- Distressed ISAAC PENNINGTON. A volume entitled the Leadbeater Papers, The Annals of Ballitore, Letters from Edmund Burke, London, Bell and Daldy, 186 Fleet Street, published in 1862 in also included. Another book entitled: Tales for Cottagers, Accommodated to the Present CHARLES DUGGAN ARHITECTURAL HERITAGE ADVISOR 7
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1.0 INTRODUCTION Kildare County Council in association - Kildare.ie

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