Abstract

This article may be of interest to those faced with presenting historic sites and museum exhibitions on subjects that are the source of social or political conflict within their society.

Many of the leading figures in the Irish struggle for political independence were incarcerated or executed in Dublin's Kilmainham Gaol during the years 1796-1924 when it functioned as a prison. The insights it affords into the Irish tradition of nationalism and republicanism makes it one of Ireland's premier monuments of the modern period.

In this article the Curator describes the historical and interpretative challenges posed in trying to sustain a broad audience for the Gaol and its museum against the backdrop of the conflict in Northern Ireland and the debate about the nature and meaning of nationalism that has emerged over the years of that conflict.

He describes the central role that art and artists have played in sustaining an broad audience for the site, by bringing a spirit of experimentation and exploration to themes and issues that are the subject of deep division in Irish society, north and south of the border.

Date published: August 2000

References

Brett, David, 1996, The Construction of Heritage, Cork University Press, Cork

O'Brien, Conor Cruise, 1972, States or Ireland, Hutchinson, London

Orwell, George, 1984, 'Wells, Hitler and the World State', in The Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell, Volume 2, 1940-1943, Penguin Books, London

O'Toole, Fintan, 1991, In a State: an exhibition in Kilmainham Gaol on national identity, (catalogue), Project Press, Dublin