2024 Irish Museums Association Annual Conference

Thursday 23 May 2024

10:00 – 11:00:   Walking tour departing from Carlow County Museum. 

11:15 – 11:45:   Registration, Carlow College, St. Patrick's.

11:45 – 13:15:   Welcome and Session I.

13:15 – 14:15:   Lunch.

14:15 - 17:30:   Session II and III.

18:30 – 20:00:   Reception and Open Tour, Carlow County Museum.

Friday 24 May 2024

08.30 – 09:00:   Registration.

09:00 – 11:15:   Welcome and Session IV.

11:00 – 11:30:   Break.

11:30 – 12:30:   Session V.

12:30 – 13:30:   Lunch.

13:45 – 15:45:   Session VI and Closing comments. 

 10:00 – 11:00:   Walking tour departing from Carlow County Museum. Led by Padraig Dooley, former President, Carlow Historical & Archaeological Society.

11:15 – 11:45:   Registration, Carlow College, St. Patrick's.

11:45 – 12:10:   Welcome, Lar Joye, Chair, Irish Museums Association (IMA); Fr Conn O’Maoldomhnaigh, President, Carlow College, St. Patrick's; and Malcolm Noonan, T.D., Minister of State for Heritage and Electoral Reform (recorded welcome address).

12:10 – 12:45:   The UK Museums Boom. Fiona Candlin, Professor of Museology, School of Historical Studies, Birbeck University of London.

12:45 – 13:15:   A Museum for the County: the County Council leading the Way. John Shortall, County Librarian, Carlow County Council Library Services.

13:15 – 14:15:   Lunch.

14:15 - 14:30:   ‘A splendid Barracks’. Dr. John Reynolds, Founder and former Curator, Garda College Museum.

14:30 – 15:00:   Regenerating through Culture and Heritage. Rosemary Ryan, Acting Curator/Manager, Waterford Treasures. 

15:00 – 15:30:   Innovative Approaches: Testing Participatory Cultural Business Models for Sustainable Funding in Cultural Heritage Institutions. Úna Hussey, RECHARGE Project Manager, The Hunt Museum.

15:30 - 15:45:   Comfort Break

15:45 - 16:00:   Mobilising Rural Women’s History: The Pop-up Leitrim Women’s Museum. Donna Gilligan, Principal, Scéal Heritage Consultancy.

16:00 - 17:30:   Future proofing our local Government museums. Panel discussion chaired by Eamonn McEneaney, former Director, Waterford Treasures with panellists Dan Breen, Curator, Cork County Museum; Judith McCarthy, Curator, Donegal County Museum; Marie McMahon, Curator, Tipperary Museum of Hidden Treasures; and Helen O’Carroll, Curator, Kerry County Museum.

18:30 – 20:00:   Reception and Open Tour, Carlow County Museum. Welcome by Cllr Fintan Phelan, Leas-Ceatharlach, and Coilín O’Reilly, County Executive, Carlow County Council, and Dr Seamus O Murchú, Chairperson, Carlow County Museum.

21:00:                Informal social gathering (suggested). Teach Dolmain.

Speakers' Bios and Session abstracts

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08.30 – 09:00:   Registration/Info Desk

09:00 – 09:30:   Welcome and presentation: Breaking Borders: Saints Alive as Carlow Hops to Luxembourg! Dermot Mulligan, Curator, Carlow County Museum. 

09:30 – 10:00:   Bordering Realities – Monaghan People and Stories. Liam Bradley, Curator/Manager, Monaghan County Museum. 

10:00 – 11:15:   Shaping National Identity. Panel discussion chaired by Elizabeth Crooke, Professor of Heritage and Museum Studies, Ulster University, with panellists Dr Siobhan Doyle, Curator, National Museum of Ireland Decorative Arts & History; Dr Anthony Haughey, Artist; and Agrippa Njanina, Assistant Curator of Inclusive Global Histories, National Museums NI.

11:15 – 11:45:   Break.

11:45 – 12:45:   Striking the Balance: At the intersection of regional and national. Panel discussion chaired by Dr Danielle O’Donovan, Museum and Heritage Consultant with panellists Clodagh Doyle, Keeper, National Museum of Ireland Folklife Division; Grace Mulqueen, Knock Museum; and Emma Lucy O’Brien, CEO & Artistic Director, VISUAL Centre of Contemporary Art & The George Bernard Shaw Theatre.

12:45 – 13:45:   Lunch.

13:45 – 14:15:   Powerful Questions for a Regenerative Tourism Future. Tina O’Dwyer, Managing Director, The Tourism Space.

14:15 – 15:30:   Building a Cohesive Museum Landscape. Panel discussion chaired by Dr Gillian O’Brien, Professor of Public History, Liverpool John Moores University with panellists Stella Byrne, Head of Investment Northern Ireland, The National Lottery Heritage Fund; Lar Joye, Chair, IMA; and Lisa Shortall, Head of Research, Learning and Cultural Heritage, The Heritage Council.

15:30 – 15:45:   Closing comments.

Speakers' Bios and Session abstracts

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