Natural History Museum (Ireland)
Encyclopedia
Ireland
's Natural History Museum , often called the Dead Zoo a branch of the National Museum of Ireland
, is housed on Merrion Street
in Dublin, Ireland
. The museum was built in 1856 for parts of the collection of the Royal Dublin Society
and building and collection were later passed to the Irish State.
The Museum's collection and building have changed little since Victorian times, and it is sometimes described as a "museum of a museum". A bronze statue of Surgeon-General Thomas Heazle Parke
stands in front of the Victoria
-era building.
did an extensive study of the specimens in the museum.
Stuffed and mounted
mammals, birds, fish — and insects and other animals native to or found in Ireland — comprise the rest of the ground floor. Many of the specimens of currently extant animals, such as badgers, hare
s, and fox
es, are over a century old. A Basking shark
hangs from this ceiling.
On the next floor, the Lower Gallery contains mammals from around the world, including extinct or endangered species
including a thylacine
, a quagga
, and a pygmy hippopotamus
. The four higher galleries above are railed balconies around the walls, displaying more primitive animals, from birds through reptiles and fish to invertebrates and microbes. The second ceiling suspends a Humpback whale
skeleton. The museum also holds a composite Dodo
skeleton, from Mauritius
.
As the collection is unique in range and vintage, so the exhibits are a product of their age, with faded and worn pelts and visible marks from bullets and rough taxidermy. Larger specimens are displayed in large, wood-framed glass cases while smallers ones are kept under glass, protected from sunlight by moveable leather panels. The main room is heated by an underfloor system similar to a Roman hypocaust
.
in 1792).
The building is a ‘cabinet-style’ museum designed to showcase a wide-ranging and comprehensive zoological collection, and has changed little in over a century. Often described as a ‘museum of a museum’, its 10,000 exhibits provide a glimpse of the natural world that has delighted generations of visitors since the doors opened in 1857.
The building and its displays reflect many aspects of the history and development of the collections. It was originally built as an extension to Leinster House, where the Royal Dublin Society was based for much of the 19th Century. The building was designed by architect Frederick Clarendon
in harmony with the National Gallery of Ireland on the other side of Leinster Lawn. The foundation stone was laid on 15 March 1856 and the building was completed in August 1857 by contractors Gilbert Cockburn & Son. It formed an annexe to Leinster House and was connected to it by a curved closed Corinthian colonnade.
In 1877 ownership of the Museum and its collections was transferred to the state. New funding was provided for the building, and new animals were added from an expanding British empire during the great days of exploration.
In 1909 a new entrance was constructed at the east end of the building facing Merrion Street. This reversed the direction from which visitors approached the exhibitions and explains why some of the large exhibits still face what appears today to be the back of the building: it was too difficult to turn the whales and elephants around to face the new entrance.
rear stairway of the building (not accessible by the general public) gave way. Eleven people were injured in this incident, as a teacher training course was on-going in the area.
The stairway was a very ornate structure, arising from Leinster House
's former status as the home of the Royal Dublin Society
. Members of same would have used what is now the back door of the museum building to gain access from Leinster House
to this building, hence the grandeur of the stairway.
The building was subsequently the subject of a Health and Safety review, and following this plans for improvements were made.
This building was closed until Thursday the 29th of April 2010.
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
's Natural History Museum , often called the Dead Zoo a branch of the National Museum of Ireland
National Museum of Ireland
The National Museum of Ireland is the national museum in Ireland. It has three branches in Dublin and one in County Mayo, with a strong emphasis on Irish art, culture and natural history.-Archaeology:...
, is housed on Merrion Street
Merrion Street
Merrion Street is a major Georgian street on the southside of Dublin, Ireland which runs along one side of Merrion Square. The garden entrance of Leinster House is located on the street, as is Irish Government Buildings, formerly the Royal College of Science for Ireland...
in Dublin, Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
. The museum was built in 1856 for parts of the collection of the Royal Dublin Society
Royal Dublin Society
The Royal Dublin Society was founded on 25 June 1731 to "to promote and develop agriculture, arts, industry, and science in Ireland". The RDS is synonymous with its main premises in Ballsbridge in Dublin, Ireland...
and building and collection were later passed to the Irish State.
The Museum's collection and building have changed little since Victorian times, and it is sometimes described as a "museum of a museum". A bronze statue of Surgeon-General Thomas Heazle Parke
Thomas Heazle Parke
Surgeon-General Thomas Heazle Parke was an Irish doctor, explorer, soldier and naturalist.Parke was born in 1857 at Clogher House in Kilmore, County Roscommon, Ireland, and was brought up in Carrick-on-Shannon, County Leitrim...
stands in front of the Victoria
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
-era building.
Collection
The Irish Room, the ground floor of the museum, displays Irish animals, notably several mounted skeletons of Giant Irish deer. Numerous skulls of those and other deer line the walls, and many other specimens are not on display. Stephen Jay GouldStephen Jay Gould
Stephen Jay Gould was an American paleontologist, evolutionary biologist, and historian of science. He was also one of the most influential and widely read writers of popular science of his generation....
did an extensive study of the specimens in the museum.
Stuffed and mounted
Taxidermy
Taxidermy is the act of mounting or reproducing dead animals for display or for other sources of study. Taxidermy can be done on all vertebrate species of animals, including mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians...
mammals, birds, fish — and insects and other animals native to or found in Ireland — comprise the rest of the ground floor. Many of the specimens of currently extant animals, such as badgers, hare
European Hare
The European hare , also known as the brown hare, Eastern Jackrabbit and Eastern prairie hare, is a species of hare native to northern, central, and western Europe and western Asia. It is a mammal adapted to temperate open country. It is related to the similarly appearing rabbit, which is in the...
s, and fox
Red Fox
The red fox is the largest of the true foxes, as well as being the most geographically spread member of the Carnivora, being distributed across the entire northern hemisphere from the Arctic Circle to North Africa, Central America, and the steppes of Asia...
es, are over a century old. A Basking shark
Basking shark
The basking shark is the second largest living fish, after the whale shark. It is a cosmopolitan migratory species, found in all the world's temperate oceans. It is a slow moving and generally harmless filter feeder and has anatomical adaptations to filter feeding, such as a greatly enlarged...
hangs from this ceiling.
On the next floor, the Lower Gallery contains mammals from around the world, including extinct or endangered species
Endangered species
An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...
including a thylacine
Thylacine
The thylacine or ,also ;binomial name: Thylacinus cynocephalus, Greek for "dog-headed pouched one") was the largest known carnivorous marsupial of modern times. It is commonly known as the Tasmanian tiger or the Tasmanian wolf...
, a quagga
Quagga
The quagga is an extinct subspecies of the plains zebra, which was once found in great numbers in South Africa's Cape Province and the southern part of the Orange Free State. It was distinguished from other zebras by having the usual vivid marks on the front part of the body only...
, and a pygmy hippopotamus
Pygmy Hippopotamus
The pygmy hippopotamus is a large mammal native to the forests and swamps of western Africa . The pygmy hippo is reclusive and nocturnal...
. The four higher galleries above are railed balconies around the walls, displaying more primitive animals, from birds through reptiles and fish to invertebrates and microbes. The second ceiling suspends a Humpback whale
Humpback Whale
The humpback whale is a species of baleen whale. One of the larger rorqual species, adults range in length from and weigh approximately . The humpback has a distinctive body shape, with unusually long pectoral fins and a knobbly head. It is an acrobatic animal, often breaching and slapping the...
skeleton. The museum also holds a composite Dodo
Dodo
The dodo was a flightless bird endemic to the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius. Related to pigeons and doves, it stood about a meter tall, weighing about , living on fruit, and nesting on the ground....
skeleton, from Mauritius
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
.
As the collection is unique in range and vintage, so the exhibits are a product of their age, with faded and worn pelts and visible marks from bullets and rough taxidermy. Larger specimens are displayed in large, wood-framed glass cases while smallers ones are kept under glass, protected from sunlight by moveable leather panels. The main room is heated by an underfloor system similar to a Roman hypocaust
Hypocaust
A hypocaust was an ancient Roman system of underfloor heating, used to heat houses with hot air. The word derives from the Ancient Greek hypo meaning "under" and caust-, meaning "burnt"...
.
History
The Natural History building was built in 1856 to house the Royal Dublin Society’s growing collections, which had expanded continually since the late 18th century (the Society purchased one of Europes largest natural history collections, that of Nathaniel Gottfried LeskeNathaniel Gottfried Leske
Nathanael Gottfried Leske was a German natural scientist and geologist.After his studies at Bergakademie of Freiberg in Saxony and the Franckeschen Stiftungen in Halle, Leske became a special professor of natural history at the University of Leipzig in 1775.From 1777-1786 he taught economics at...
in 1792).
The building is a ‘cabinet-style’ museum designed to showcase a wide-ranging and comprehensive zoological collection, and has changed little in over a century. Often described as a ‘museum of a museum’, its 10,000 exhibits provide a glimpse of the natural world that has delighted generations of visitors since the doors opened in 1857.
The building and its displays reflect many aspects of the history and development of the collections. It was originally built as an extension to Leinster House, where the Royal Dublin Society was based for much of the 19th Century. The building was designed by architect Frederick Clarendon
Frederick Clarendon
Frederick Villiers Clarendon was an Irish Architect noted for his design work on a number of large public buildings in Dublin, including the Natural History Museum and Arbour Hill Prison.- Life :...
in harmony with the National Gallery of Ireland on the other side of Leinster Lawn. The foundation stone was laid on 15 March 1856 and the building was completed in August 1857 by contractors Gilbert Cockburn & Son. It formed an annexe to Leinster House and was connected to it by a curved closed Corinthian colonnade.
In 1877 ownership of the Museum and its collections was transferred to the state. New funding was provided for the building, and new animals were added from an expanding British empire during the great days of exploration.
In 1909 a new entrance was constructed at the east end of the building facing Merrion Street. This reversed the direction from which visitors approached the exhibitions and explains why some of the large exhibits still face what appears today to be the back of the building: it was too difficult to turn the whales and elephants around to face the new entrance.
Stairway collapse
On the morning of 5th July, 2007, the 150 year old Portland stonePortland stone
Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries consist of beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building stone throughout the British Isles, notably in major...
rear stairway of the building (not accessible by the general public) gave way. Eleven people were injured in this incident, as a teacher training course was on-going in the area.
The stairway was a very ornate structure, arising from Leinster House
Leinster House
Leinster House is the name of the building housing the Oireachtas, the national parliament of Ireland.Leinster House was originally the ducal palace of the Dukes of Leinster. Since 1922, it is a complex of buildings, of which the former ducal palace is the core, which house Oireachtas Éireann, its...
's former status as the home of the Royal Dublin Society
Royal Dublin Society
The Royal Dublin Society was founded on 25 June 1731 to "to promote and develop agriculture, arts, industry, and science in Ireland". The RDS is synonymous with its main premises in Ballsbridge in Dublin, Ireland...
. Members of same would have used what is now the back door of the museum building to gain access from Leinster House
Leinster House
Leinster House is the name of the building housing the Oireachtas, the national parliament of Ireland.Leinster House was originally the ducal palace of the Dukes of Leinster. Since 1922, it is a complex of buildings, of which the former ducal palace is the core, which house Oireachtas Éireann, its...
to this building, hence the grandeur of the stairway.
The building was subsequently the subject of a Health and Safety review, and following this plans for improvements were made.
This building was closed until Thursday the 29th of April 2010.
External links
- Official website
- Collections Research
- RTE radio 1: Chopped, Pickled and Stuffed RTERTERTÉ is the abbreviation for Raidió Teilifís Éireann, the public broadcasting service of the Republic of Ireland.RTE may also refer to:* Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, 25th Prime Minister of Turkey...
produced and broadcast a 12 programme series for radio, entitled "Chopped, Pickled and Stuffed", exploring different aspects of the museum's collection. - Flickr Photos of the Museum
- A radio report about the Dodo specimen is available