Front (from left): Cllr Shane P O’Reilly; Ciara Sweeney, Museum Assistant; Ann Gerety Smith, Museum Curator; Cllr Trevor Smith, outgoing MD Chair; Cllr Philip Brady; Cllr Noel Connell; Cllr Winston Bennett, Cllr TP O’Reilly, incoming MD Chair; middle, John McGahern, Ballyjamesduff MD Manager; Lynda McGavigan, Director of Service; Patsey Stepka and Margaret Smith, Museum team; Catherine McGuinness, Museum Research and Education Officer; Caroline Walsh, Museum Administrator; Pauline McCabe, and Brenda Galligan, Museum team; Rachel Hegarty, Ballyjamesduff MD; back, Leanne Lennon, Ballyjamesduff MD; Breitheann Smith, Museum Education Assistant; Johann Farrelly, Museum Documentation Officer; John Byers, Museum Acting Caretaker. PHOTO: Adrian Donohoe

30th Anniversary with big celebration

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Cavan County Museum will host an exciting and free family fun day this Saturday, June 20, as part of its ongoing 30th anniversary celebrations.

On the day, the museum will host a Viking Village, a ‘Big Dig’, vintage vehicles including a Model T Ford that once transported Michael Collins, and a 1920s steam engine that once belonged to Cavan County Council.

The iconic Virginia Brooch, on a special short-term loan from the National Museum of Ireland, will also be available to view, on top of the Museum’s thrilling range of indoor and outdoor exhibitions, including the recently renovated, award-winning WW1 Trench Experience, and the 1916 Rising Experience.

Ahead of the celebrations, Museum Curator Ann Gerety Smith said: “The community in Ballyjamesduff and the people of Cavan, and indeed across the island, have been so supportive of Cavan County Museum in its thirty years, and this free family fun day is our way of saying ‘thank you’. There will be so much to see and do on the day, so we hope that – whether it’s your first time visiting, or you’re an old friend of the museum, you will join us this Saturday”.

The School of Irish Archaeology will bring their replica ‘Viking House’ and excavation site allows children and young adults to explore the Viking world through a simulated archaeology dig. The workshop gives children and young adults the chance to experience what it is like to be an archaeologist by learning how to excavate the remains of a Viking house.

Lakes Vikings & Boyne Valley Events will have a mini-Viking encampment set up with tents and living history experts dressed in Viking age clothes and providing an enjoyable experience engaging with the public. Traveling further ahead in time, an old Cavan Co Council Steam Engine Demonstration will take place.

Cathaoirleach of Cavan County Council, Cllr Carmel Brady encouraged people to come along: “It really is one of the very best museums in the country, and Ann and the team are building on the excellent work done to date with a fantastic programme of events. I encourage everyone to come along and sample all that Cavan County Museum has to offer”.

TP O'Reilly who took over the role of Cathaoirleach in the Ballyjamesduff MD this week wished the staff well for the celebrations, congratulating them on the most recent exhibit: "The Virginia Brooch is well received."

In addition to the free family fun day on Saturday June 20, the Museum will also host a formal 30th anniversary event with keynote speaker Myles Dungan on Monday, June 22; while on Saturday, July 4, the Museum will host a conference entitled Nugent 100: Cavan and the Great War.

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