An exhibition of fossils, said to be the biggest of its kind in the country, has been opened at University College Cork by the Taoiseach Micheál Martin.
The centerpieces of the exhibition are skeleton casts of Megalosaurus and Scelidosaurus, the only known dinosaurs from the island of Ireland.
Fossils are the remains or impressions of prehistoric plants or animals embedded in rock and preserved in petrified form.
The exhibition, entitled Domain of the Dinosaurs, will run until April of next year at the Glucksman gallery at University College Cork.
Bones from Megalosaurus and Scelidosaurus were discovered in the 1980s by a schoolteacher and fossil collector, Roger Byrne, on a beach in Co Antrim.
'Domain of the Dinosaurs' features almost 300 real fossil specimens and incorporates five newly commissioned artworks from contemporary Irish artists that provide a creative response to key Irish fossils and current research on dinosaurs by palaeontologists at UCC.
Mr Martin said: "The Domain of the Dinosaurs is a fantastic collaboration of science and the arts that truly captures the imagination. It is wonderful to have this engaging exhibition open during Science Week.
"I encourage everyone to visit the Glucksman Gallery and see it."
The exhibition features a number of zones. 'Feoil' is the carnivore zone. It will show a full-sized three-dimensional skeletal cast of the theropod dinosaur Megalosaurus, a large, eight-metre long, powerful apex predator with adaptations for ambush-style attack.
'Coillte' is the herbivore zone. It will show full-sized three-dimensional skeletal casts of two herbivorous dinosaurs: the armored dinosaur Scelidosaurus, plus the large, bulky Iguanodon.
These dinosaurs are surrounded by 45 fossil specimens of other ancient herbivores, their food plants, and more.
'Farraige' is the marine zone. It will centre around two life-size, three-dimensional skeletal casts of the predatory marine reptiles Ichythyosaurus and Plesiosaurus.
Each one is approximately three metres long and is suspended dramatically in mid-air in a life-like swimming posture.
"This exciting exhibition brings together cutting-edge science, research and creative arts, breaking new ground in the intersection between science and the creative arts and reshaping the communication of the past through engagement and creative arts," said UCC President Professor John Halloran.
"Fossils are a hugely important link to our ancient past. They provide direct evidence for how life on planet Earth has adapted to shifts in climate and environmental conditions over geological time," Professor Maria McNamara said.
Director of the Glucksman, Professor Fiona Kearney said: "It is thrilling to see these ancient creatures in the gallery, presented alongside the creative perspectives provided by contemporary artists. We can't wait to welcome visitors to explore art and science in the Glucksman."
Entry is free tomorrow, as part of Science Week.
Two different dinosaur species lived in Ireland, each represented by a single fossil bone.
Both bones were found by Roger Byrne, a schoolteacher and fossil collector, while walking along the beach near The Gobbins, on the east coast of Islandmagee in Co Antrim.
The bones were found loose among the shingle and boulders on the beach. Mr Byrne found the Scelidosaurus bone in January 1980 and the theropod bone in February 1981.
He donated both bones to the National Museum of Northern Ireland.
The Irish dinosaur bones were found in marine rocks, but this doesn’t mean that the dinosaurs lived in the sea.
Instead, palaeontologists think that these dinosaurs lived close to the coast, and that their bones were washed out to sea after the animals died.
In Ireland, rocks from the age of the dinosaurs - the Mesozoic - are extremely rare.
Almost all of the Irish Mesozoic rocks occur in Northern Ireland and are covered by basalt, the rock that forms the Giants Causeway.
Ireland has lots of fossils that are important globally.
One of Ireland’s most famous fossil sites is the Valentia Tetrapod Trackway, on Valentia Island in County Kerry, where you can see the oldest trackway in the world made by an extinct land animal - a huge salamander-like amphibian over one metre long.
