Armagh County Museum facts for kids
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Neoclassical façade of Armagh Museum
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| Established | 1937 |
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| Location | Armagh |
| Type | Historical museum |
| Collections | Archaeology, Art, Costume, Taxidermy, Library |
| Collection size | 360,000 |
| Founder | Armagh County Council |
| Owner | Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council |
| Nearest parking | Street |
The Armagh County Museum is a cool place to visit in Armagh, Northern Ireland. It's located right next to the pretty, tree-lined Mall in the middle of Armagh city. This museum is actually the oldest County Museum in all of Ireland! It first opened its doors in 1937.
A Look Back: The Museum's History
Early Days: A School Building
The building where the museum is now started out as a school called Charlemont Place National School. This was way back in 1835. An architect named William Murray might have designed it.
A Society's Home: 1856 to 1930
The school didn't last long. In 1856, a group called the Armagh Natural History and Philosophical Society took over the building. They used it as a place to read, study, listen to talks, and show off their own collection of interesting items. This collection was the very beginning of what would become the Armagh County Museum's treasures!
The society grew bigger over the years. By 1888, they had 275 members. They had a great collection of items to help explain talks about nature and history. They also had a library full of books on many different topics, like history, science, and art. For a while, there was even an Art School in a building right behind the museum.
The Museum Is Born: 1930 to 1937
In 1930, the local government, Armagh County Council, took charge of the building. They mainly wanted to use it for the County Library. But a smart person named T.E. Reid convinced them to also bring the old society's museum back to life.
In 1933, they asked an expert, J.A. Sidney Stendall, to check out the museum's collection. He suggested getting rid of some old "curiosities" that weren't very useful for a modern museum. This included a very old, worn-out mummy!
By 1934, they had spent money to fix up the building. They made it suitable for both a library and a museum. They also hired a local historian, George Paterson, to be the museum's first full-time curator. He was paid £3 a week!
George Paterson spent several years getting the collection ready and setting up new displays. The museum was finally finished in 1937. On April 28 of that year, a special opening ceremony was held. The Carnegie U.K. Trust also helped by giving money to finish the museum's makeover.
Meet the First Curator: T.G.F. Paterson
Thomas George Farquhar Paterson, often known as T.G.F. Paterson, was born in Canada in 1888. He moved to Ireland as a child and grew up on a farm in County Armagh. Even though he came from a farming family, he worked in grocery stores before becoming the museum's curator.
Paterson didn't have a special degree in museum work, but he was very curious about everything around him. This helped him a lot in his new job. He quickly started adding many new items to the museum's collection. He was interested in all sorts of things, from ancient archaeological finds to clothes from the 1700s.
He even asked a famous artist named John Luke to paint a local scene for the museum. Luke had moved to County Armagh during the Second World War. His painting, The Old Callan Bridge (1945), is now one of the museum's most prized possessions.
Growing the Collections
Paterson was also keen on collecting works by local artists. He especially liked "Æ" (George Russell), who was born in Lurgan. Over the years, Paterson convinced Russell's friends and family to donate paintings and personal items. Because of this, the museum now has 26 of Æ's paintings, hundreds of his letters, and personal items like his glasses and painting palette.
Paterson wanted the museum to have a wide range of items that showed the history of the area. He collected old uniforms from the 1780s and everyday items like special knots used during harvest time. By the late 1950s, the museum was full! So, the Armagh County Council decided to spend money to make it bigger.
Big Changes: 1959 to 1962
In 1955, D.R.M. (Roger) Weatherup joined the museum as Paterson's assistant. In 1959, Paterson and Weatherup spent months carefully packing up all the museum's items. The museum building was going to get a huge makeover. For a few years, their temporary office was in the nearby Armagh jail! Paterson even had a cell as his office where he continued his research.
During this time, all the old buildings behind the museum's main front were taken down. A new red-brick building was put up. This new part had the museum on the first floor and the library's storage downstairs. When the work was almost done, it was decided that Paterson could live in a special apartment built at the back of the museum. He moved in after the official reopening in September 1962. He retired the next year but continued to live in the museum he had helped create for the rest of his life.
In March 1963, Roger Weatherup became the new curator.
Changes in the 1970s and Beyond
In the early 1970s, the local government in Northern Ireland changed. The Armagh County Council, which had funded the museum, was no longer in charge. The new local council, Armagh District Council, couldn't afford to run the museum. So, in 1973, an agreement was made to transfer the museum to the Ulster Museum in Belfast. This started a 40-year partnership with Northern Ireland's main museum.
Being connected to the Ulster Museum was a big help. It meant the Armagh County Museum could use the skills and resources of a larger institution. In the early 1980s, the library moved to a new building. This meant the ground floor of the museum became empty. The museum then used these extra rooms for storage and offices.
In 1995, a report suggested combining several museums. This led to the creation of National Museums Northern Ireland (NMNI) in 1997. Armagh County Museum became one of the four museums that make up NMNI. It has been part of this group ever since, getting funding from the Department of Culture Arts and Leisure.
In April 2015, the museum was transferred again. It is now managed by the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council.
What You Can See: The Collections
The Armagh County Museum has many different types of collections. Here are some of the main ones:
Ancient Finds: Archaeology
The museum has many items found during digs at ancient sites in South Armagh, like Clontygora and Annaghmare. These include objects from very old burial places. The museum also has items from the private collections of the old Philosophical Society.
Getting Around: Transport
This section shows items related to how people used to travel. It includes old tickets, posters, and things from the railways. These were collected in the 1960s when local train lines were closing down.
Fashion Through Time: Costume
The museum has a great collection of old clothes. Many of these were donated by wealthy families in Armagh. The museum's first curator, T.G.F. Paterson, knew many of these families from his earlier job as a grocer. When many of the "big houses" were closing, people often donated their ancestors' wardrobes to the museum.
Creative Works: Art
The art collection at the museum is very interesting. It includes:
- Paintings by artists from the local area.
- Portraits of local people.
- Artworks showing buildings and landscapes of County Armagh.
You can also see paintings by famous Northern Irish artists like T.P. Flanagan, Maurice MacGonigal, Beatrice Glenavy, James Humbert Craig, Maurice Wilks, John Luke, Cecil Maguire, James Sinton Sleator, William Conor, and Charles Lamb. Some older family portraits are by artists whose names we don't know. But there are some exceptions, like Stephen Slaughter's painting of Primate Hoadly and Martin Cregan's paintings of Leonard Dobbin and Sir William Verner.
The English artist Cornelius Varley visited Ireland in 1808. His pencil drawings of Armagh city and Markethill are also part of the museum's collection.
