Northern Ireland

New exhibits to go on show for Irish Wars 1919-1923 exhibition at National Museum of Ireland

Dr Audrey Whitty, Head of Collections and Learning, National Museum of Ireland and Lynn Scarff, Director, National Museum of Ireland; in front of Michael Collins pistol and the pen he used to sign the Anglo-Irish Treaty. Picture by Julien Behal Photography
Dr Audrey Whitty, Head of Collections and Learning, National Museum of Ireland and Lynn Scarff, Director, National Museum of Ireland; in front of Michael Collins pistol and the pen he used to sign the Anglo-Irish Treaty. Picture by Julien Behal Photograph Dr Audrey Whitty, Head of Collections and Learning, National Museum of Ireland and Lynn Scarff, Director, National Museum of Ireland; in front of Michael Collins pistol and the pen he used to sign the Anglo-Irish Treaty. Picture by Julien Behal Photography

THE death masks of Arthur Griffith, Michael Collins, Cathal Brugha and Terence MacSwiney are among items returning to public display at the National Museum of Ireland.

The masks - which have not been seen for 15 years - have been in museum's reserve collection and join a host of fascinating artefacts, including 50 never seen before.

They will form part of a display for the refurbished and reimagined 'Irish Wars 1919 – 1923' which forms part of the permanent exhibition ‘Soldiers and Chiefs’.

The exhibition will also feature two key artefacts on loan from private family collections - an IRA intelligence file which has been digitised and shown publicly for the first time, and hair shorn from a woman in a `bobbing' or `punishment shearing', found in the possession of Michael Barry when he was arrested in 1920.

New theme interpretations will include civil disobedience, imprisonment, hunger strike, propaganda, women in warfare and the effects of the conflict on civilian populations - all of which aims to increase public understanding of the complex period in Ireland's history.

It was opened on Tuesday by chair of the Expert Advisory Group on Centenary Commemorations Maurice Manning and forms part of the permanent exhibition `Soldiers and Chiefs', "substantially reimagined" as part of the museum's `decade of centenaries commemorations'.

Other objects new to the exhibition include the note written by Arthur Griffin on the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty declaring: `The end of the conflict of centuries is at hand'.

There are also the RIC handcuffs worn by Seán Hogan when he was rescued by the Tipperary Brigade, IRA, at Knocklong, 1919 and experimental weapons made by the IRA.

Items used in escapes from Lincoln, Mountjoy and Kilmainham prisons; the propeller of the British aeroplane destroyed at Kilfinane, Co Tipperary in 1921 as well as items used by the 3rd West Cork Flying Column during the Civil War, will also form part of the display,

Visitors will be able to view contemporary newsreel film provided by the Irish Film Institute of stop and searches, funerals, and IRA captures and destruction from the period 1919-1923.

Dr Manning said there were "many different perspectives and views as to how these very complex events, and all whose lives were affected during this period, should be remembered".

"Throughout the Decade of Centenaries, as a people, we have shown great maturity and understanding in exploring our past, embracing its complexities and nuances in an inclusive and respectful manner.

"Our national cultural institutions have a very important role in this process as custodians of our history and culture - in creating opportunities for people of all ages and traditions to explore and reflect upon this divisive period in our history."

Lynn Scarff, director of the National Museum of Ireland, said it "explores a very sensitive time in our history, one that we are all still learning about as a country, and coming to terms with".

More than two million visitors have seen the `Soldiers and Chiefs' exhibition since it opened in 2006.