Rory Gallagher's favourite guitar, his iconic Fender Stratocaster, is to go on display at the National Museum at Collins Barracks.
The celebrated blues musician famously bought his guitar for £100 at Crowley’s music store in Cork, in 1963.
Over 60 years later, it was purchased for over €1 million at a Bonhams auction in London in October 2024, by Live Nation Gaiety Ltd who donated the guitar to the National Museum of Ireland.
The guitar is just one of over 250 objects which will go on display to the public from tomorrow as part of the biggest expansion of the public galleries in over two decades at the National Museum at Collins Barracks.
'The Changing Ireland Galleries' are opening following a full refurbishment of a part of Collins Barracks that had been untouched since the departure of the Defence Forces almost 30 years ago.
The galleries will feature hundreds of political, social and cultural objects from the museum’s 20th and 21st century collections with extraordinary and everyday objects that have been witness to the last 150 years of Irish life.
On entering the galleries, visitors are invited to reflect on the objects and consider the question, 'Cad Is Ann Éire Dar Leat?', 'What Is Ireland to You?'
The new galleries have been designed to accommodate regular changes in the display, which will give the public unprecedented access to the museum's vast collection, and support the long-term conservation of the objects.
The majority of the hundreds of objects featured will be on display for the first time and include Rory Gallagher’s guitar and a number of personal objects that give insights into key figures of Ireland’s recent political past such as the personal belongings of key figures of the 1916 Rising that were executed.
Also on display is a decommissioned RPG7 rocket launcher used by the IRA during The Troubles in the 1970s.
A pair of slippers of Berlin wool worn by Michael Collins - which he wore while hiding in Batt and Brigid O'Connor’s Donnybrook home during the War of Independence - is on display after Ms O’Connor donated them to the museum in 1953.
Visitors will be invited to see the purple suit worn by Mary Robinson for her inauguration as President of Ireland, designed by Louise Kennedy, for the first time.
Also on show is The Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union badge reportedly worn by Countess Markievicz during the Labour Troubles.
The badge features at the museum alongside a steam press from the Donnybrook Magdalene Laundry in Dublin.
Run by the Religious Sisters of Charity this steam press, manufactured in 1951 was a common feature of the Magdalene laundries.
Tánaiste Simon Harris said the new galleries "remind us that our shared history is not static but continues to evolve with every generation, shaped by the people who call this island home".
Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport, Patrick O’Donovan said: "The Changing Ireland Galleries are a legacy project of the Decade of Centenaries Programme and a testament to the power of cultural reflection.
Director of the National Museum of Ireland Lynn Scarff said that the opening of the Changing Ireland Galleries marks a "transformational moment for the National Museum".
The galleries "invite visitors to connect with history on their own terms and to question what Ireland means to them today", Ms Scaff added.
Lead Curator of the Changing Ireland Galleries Brenda Malone explained that the galleries have been designed to allow for "the regular rotation of objects, which helps us to preserve these important artefacts for future generations while ensuring the galleries remain dynamic and continually offer fresh perspectives on modern Ireland’s history".
