James Mitchell Geology Museum facts for kids
| Músaem Geolaíocht Shéamuis Uí Mhistéala | |
Staircase ascending towards the James Mitchell Geology Museum
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| Established | 1852 |
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| Location | Galway, Ireland |
| Type | Geology |
| Collection size | 15,000 specimens |
The James Mitchell Geology Museum (which is Músaem Geolaíocht Shéamuis Uí Mhistéala in Irish) is a cool museum all about geology. It's located at the University of Galway in the West of Ireland. This museum is often called "Galway's Hidden Museum." You can find it inside the university's main building, called the Main Quad. Just look for a staircase in the south-east corner! It's the only part left of the university's old Natural History Museum.
Contents
Discovering the Museum's Past
The museum first opened its doors in 1852. It started with amazing collections put together by a geologist named William King. His collection included many rocks, minerals, and fossils. Over time, more items were added through trades, gifts, and purchases. The original lists of items made by King are still around today!
In 1883, Richard J. Anderson became a professor. He brought together the geology and animal collections to create a bigger Natural History Museum. At that time, the museum took up five rooms. Three rooms were for animals, and two rooms held the geology and fossil collections.
How the Museum Changed
After Professor Anderson passed away, his job was split into two different roles. Later, during Professor Henry Cronshaw's time, the big museum was broken up. Only the geology collections stayed in their current spot.
In 1921, Professor James Mitchell took over the geology department. He stayed in this role until 1966. Thanks to him, the museum and its collections stayed safe and together. In 1977, the museum was named in honor of Professor Mitchell. This was to celebrate all his hard work at the college.
Over the years, the collections sometimes faced neglect. But they also had periods of restoration! The first big cleanup happened in 1975. The space was cleaned, redecorated, and the specimens were carefully preserved. It's interesting to know that no new specimens were added between 1879 and 1975! The museum items were preserved again in the 1990s. This time, they were also added to a computer database.
What You Can See Inside
Today, the museum is in one room. This room used to be the Geographical Museum. The museum is full of cool rocks, minerals, and fossils. These items are mainly used to help students and staff at the University of Galway learn. But they are also a great resource for primary and secondary school children!
There are about 5,000 fossils and 3,000 rocks and minerals in the collections. These collections are super important for studying Irish geology. The museum looks a lot like the Natural History Museum in Dublin. It has a "Victorian cabinet style," which means it looks like a museum from a long time ago. It's like a "museum of a museum"!
Amazing Specimens to Explore
The collections were meant to show geology from all over the world. You can see examples from many different countries. The fossil collections include a plesiosaur from Lyme Regis in England. There's also a German ichthyosaur, which was a type of ancient marine reptile. You can also see ancient plants from the Kiltorcan Devonian flora found in County Kilkenny.
More recently, the museum has added new items, like the Dave McDougall collection. This shows that the museum is now focusing on collecting local specimens from Ireland.
