In some ways, I have my father Samuel to thank for this book. He often brought me and my brothers and sisters to the National Museum in Kildare Street, giving me a great fondness for that wonderful national institution. That esteem has been enormously enhanced in the course of working on this project.
From the beginning, the idea of ‘A History of Ireland in 100 Objects’ was a collaboration between The Irish Times and the National Museum. It would not have even begun without the enthusiastic support and sound advice of the museum’s then director, Dr Pat Wallace. His commitment to the principle that the museum’s treasures are the common possession of the Irish people, and indeed of humanity as a whole, has been a guiding spirit of this whole enterprise. I am deeply grateful for his generosity and for the practical help and courtesy of Aoife McBride, secretary to the museum’s board.
Even that would have been insufficient, however, without the equally open and helpful attitude of the museum’s curators, who gave freely of their time and knowledge. Raghnall Ó Floinn and Lar Joye have had a particularly significant involvement in bringing the project to a conclusion. The luminous photographs by Valerie Dowling, Bryan Rutledge and Peter Moloney, with assistance from Anne Keenan, constitute at least half of the value of this whole project. Directors and curators of other museums and institutions were also immediately willing to help, showing a spirit of public service that should be acknowledged more often than it is.
I should stress, however, that the ultimate selection of the objects for the project is my own, as are any errors of fact or eccentricities of interpretation.
I would like in particular to thank the following people for direct assistance with specific objects or other aspects of the project:
Anita Barrett, Cataloguer, County Museum Dundalk
William Blair, Head of Human History, National Museums Northern Ireland
Mary Broderick, Curator, Ephemera Collection, National Library of Ireland
Mary Cahill, Assistant Keeper, Irish Antiquities Division, National Museum of Ireland
Brendan J. Cannon, Corporate Affairs Manager, Intel Ireland
Adrian Corcoran, Office of Public Works Manager, Derrynane House
Catriona Crowe, Head of Special Projects, National Archives of Ireland
Pauric Dempsey, Head of Communications and Public Affairs, Royal Irish Academy
Valerie Dowling, Senior Photographer, National Museum of Ireland
Clodagh Doyle, Assistant Keeper, Irish Folklife Division, National Museum of Ireland
Franz Fisher, Principal Researcher, St Patrick’s Confessio Hypertext Stack Project, Royal Irish Academy
Jennifer Goff, Assistant Keeper, Art and Industrial Division, National Museum of Ireland
Andy Halpin, Assistant Keeper, Irish Antiquities Division, National Museum of Ireland
Sandra Heise, Assistant Keeper, Art and Industrial Division, National Museum of Ireland
Lar Joye, Assistant Keeper, Art and Industrial Division, National Museum of Ireland
Anne Keenan, Digital Image Technician, National Museum of Ireland
Éamonn Kelly, Keeper of Irish Antiquities, National Museum of Ireland
Andrea Kennedy, Account Manager, JPR Belfast
Christina Kennedy, Senior Curator: Head of Collections, Irish Museum of Modern Art
Michael Kenny, former Keeper of Art and Industry, National Museum of Ireland
Adrian Kerr, Manager, Museum of Free Derry
Brian Lacey, former Chief Executive, Discovery Programme
Séamas Mac Philib, Assistant Keeper, Irish Folklife Division, National Museum of Ireland
Eamonn McEneaney, Director, Waterford Museum of Treasures
Jim McGreevy, Director of Collections and Interpretation, National Museums Northern Ireland
Niall E. McKeith, Curator, National Science Museum at Maynooth
Bernard Meehan, Keeper of Manuscripts, Trinity College Dublin
Rosa Meehan, Assistant Keeper, Irish Folklife Division, National Museum of Ireland
Cameron Moffett, Curator (Collections), West Territory, English Heritage
Peter Moloney, Photographer
Dermot Mulligan, Curator, Carlow County Museum
Conor Newman, Senior Lecturer, Department of Archaeology, National University of Ireland, Galway
Raghnall Ó Floinn, Head of Collections, National Museum of Ireland
Jane Ohlmeyer, Erasmus Smith’s Professor of Modern History, Trinity College Dublin
Michael Ruane, Pre-media Manager, The Irish Times
Bryan Rutledge, Photographer
Petra Schnabel, Assistant Librarian, Royal Irish Academy
Damian Shiels, Director, Rubicon Heritage Archaeological Services
Ronán Swan, Head of Archaeology, National Roads Authority
John Waddell, Emeritus Professor of Archaeology, National University of Ireland, Galway
Patrick F. Wallace, Former Director, National Museum of Ireland
Brian Walsh, Curator, County Museum Dundalk
Alex Ward, Assistant Keeper, Art and Industrial Division, National Museum of Ireland
Matt Wheeler, Curator/Manager, Irish Agricultural Museum
Audrey Whitty, Assistant Keeper, Art and Industrial Division, National Museum of Ireland
Thanks are also due to the anonymous reviewers for the Royal Irish Academy, for their views and suggestions, many of which have been quietly incorporated.
The other institutions centrally involved in this project are The Irish Times and the Royal Irish Academy. At The Irish Times, I would especially like to thank Geraldine Kennedy, Kevin O’Sullivan, Liam Kavanagh, Gerry Smyth, Conor Goodman, Lynda O’Keeffe, Liam Stebbing and Joyce Hickey. With the RIA, I have been fortunate to have fallen among the superb production team of Ruth Hegarty, Helena King and Fidelma Slattery, who have shown patience, ingenuity and professionalism beyond the bounds of normal endurance.