Of all the 250 or so objects in the new Changing Ireland exhibition, Rory Gallagher’s 1961 Fender Stratocaster is probably the least aesthetically pleasing.
When he bought it in Crowley’s Music Shop in Cork, it was an attractive sunburst colour. Now, decades of use has worn the paint away from the alder body, the Fender name is worn away from the headstock and the pick-guard screws are rusted.
The dishevelled appearance only adds to the incredible lustre of this object. Into it Gallagher poured every emotion and every ounce of energy. In his three-decade career before his death at the age of 47 in 1995, he had his pick of guitars but kept coming back to the original.
It was quite the coup for the National Museum of Ireland (NMI) to acquire this instrument at no cost to the State. It was purchased by Denis Desmond’s Live Nation Gaiety Ltd for £889,4000 (about €1 million) at Bonhams auction house a year ago.
RM Block
While Mr Desmond, a Cork man like Gallagher, will be able to avail of tax breaks worth 80 per cent of the purchase price, he still had to pay a hefty premium to give it away to the State.
There was a considerable frisson of excitement when the guitar was taken from its case and placed into the display cabinet on Tuesday in advance of the opening at Collins Barracks in Dublin on Wednesday.
Donal Gallagher said his brother’s guitar has served its time as a working instrument. “It’s not a parting; it’s a sharing,” he said. “I’m very grateful for how things worked out and it is there for the nation.”
It will sit alongside an eclectic mixture of old and new objects from the 20th and 21st century in what is the biggest expansion of the public galleries at the NMI in more than two decades.
Michael Collins’s slippers, the most homely of objects, sit underneath a Red Cross banner in which his body was wrapped after he was killed at Béal na Bláth, Co Cork, in 1922.
There are objects associated with all the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising, including James Connolly’s hat. A decommissioned RPG-7 rocket launcher used by the IRA during the Troubles is in one room, while the answering machine message announcing the first IRA ceasefire is in another room. The 1994 ceasefire message was donated by the late RTÉ journalist Charlie Bird.
Two symbols of liberal Ireland share a display case. There is Mary Robinson’s purple suit by the designer Louise Kennedy that she wore at her inauguration. Next to it is a Repeal jumper that became synonymous with campaigning during the 2018 referendum to repeal the Eighth Amendment.
A steam press from the Donnybrook Magdalene Laundry sits near a 1970s-style Hoover, the leading domestic appliance from that period.
The voice of the Ireland soccer team’s fabled kitman, Charlie O’Leary – still going strong at 101 – is one of the many audiovisual displays in the collection.
The gallery has been designed to allow for the regular rotation of objects, according to Changing Ireland Galleries lead curator Brenda Malone.
“It helps us to preserve these important artefacts for future generations while ensuring the galleries remain dynamic and continually offer fresh perspectives on modern Ireland’s history,” she said.
“The galleries also embrace sensory experiences, using music, visuals, and immersive audiovisual installations to add context, mood and texture to the display.”
Among those in attendance at the launch were Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Harris, Minister for Culture Patrick O’Donovan and junior minister Kevin “Boxer” Moran.
Mr Harris said: “These new galleries provide an important opportunity to reflect on and connect with Ireland’s story in fresh and deeply meaningful ways.”
“It reminds us that our shared history is not static but continues to evolve with every generation, shaped by the people who call this island home,” he said.
