Need for Mullingar museum highlighted - once again
The need for a museum in Mullingar to showcase the town’s wealth of transport, military and music history and heritage was highlighted at the December meeting of the Municipal District of Mullingar Kinnegad. Cllr Bill Collentine made the call, but was told there are no plans to do it at this stage.
He argued that Mullingar was big enough to have its own museum and that it had been left long enough without one. “Cavan has one in Ballyjamesduff, Athlone has two – the castle and the barracks, even Granard, our neighbour, has one. I can’t see why we haven’t got one,” he said.
Cllr Collentine said Mullingar has “an awful lot of history and heritage” and “we need to showcase” what is on offer. We have the military history, the transport history and the music history with the first ever fleadh having been held here in 1951, and musicians like Niall Horan, Joe Dolan, Mick Foster and many more. He said that the council “should get a move on” and provide a proper museum, properly staffed and funded”.
Cllr Ken Glynn said that a museum had been talked about since the time of the town council. He bemoaned the fact that when Columb Barracks closed, all its memorabilia was boxed up and put in storage at the Athlone Barracks.
He acknowledged the work that was going on behind the scenes through the Mullingar Chamber of Commerce regarding the town’s music heritage and referred to the mural on Dominick Street that depicts some of the famous local people, but suggested that it could be doubled “with the number of successes we have had in the county”. “Then you have sporting achievements. It’s endless,” he submitted.
“We need to grasp the nettle,” said Cllr Glynn, adding that “there is 100pc public support for this and we should push it”.
Cllr Emily Wallace said the time for talking was over. She said there is a policy objective to promote art galleries, museums and exhibitions, but there is nowhere for groups to hang their work and there is no museum in which to show off the whole cohort of memorabilia that is in storage throughout the county and should be accessible. There is no excuse for us not having a home to promote all that is good about our county, she said.
Cllr Wallace acknowledged that the transport museum group is working hard to get it established, but said that the council needs to show its support by providing “bricks and mortar”.
Cllr Andrew Duncan agreed that “a town this size deserves a museum” and that it should not be restricted to a railway museum. “We need to take it seriously and come up with something concrete. We have lots of facilities here and we have experts like Ruth Illingworth, all we need is the money, he stated.
Cllr Denis Leonard pointed out that Bob Morrison had mooted plans for a transport museum 15-16 years ago. He said the museum could tie in transport, the army, art, music, Uisneach and the wealth of mythology and folklore in the area. Visitors to the town would have a place in which they could get a sense of the town and its hinterlands and history.
Cllr Michael Dollard said that when he became a member of Mullingar Town Commissioners in 1984, there was a museum in the Market House, where they held their meetings. He spoke of the military history of his own family, he and his father, Joe, having served in the army in Mullingar and claimed that they left lots of their memorabilia in Sean McKeown’s prison cell in Columb Barracks.
Cllr Dollard worked in St Loman’s Hospital for years, where, he said, Joe Mulleady and other staff members compiled a history going back to 1886 when the hospital was built. He said St Loman’s, the railway and the army were the main employers in the town in the past and their history should be preserved and promoted.
A site and statutory support from the county council is needed, Cllr Dollard continued. He referred to Mullingar Arts Centre, of which he is a board member, saying a lot of the work there is done on a voluntary basis and “if it was left to Westmeath County Council, it would never have been done, quite frankly”.
He said the council has to take the lead on the museum proposal and through the heritage officer, access the many sectors of society that could make a contribution. A museum would act as a magnet in attracting people to the town.
Cllr Dollard remarked that Joe Dolan died on St Stephen’s Day and the following September, nine months after, a statue to him in the Market Square was unveiled by Taoiseach Brian Cowen. “I remember it like yesterday, I was chairman of Westmeath County Council. Why can’t things happen now that were able to happen in the past?,” he asked.
Director of services, Deirdre O’Reilly, pointed out that such a project would involve a lot of expense. She said a site would have to be selected and a committee set up outside of the council in which regard the heritage officer would provide guidance.
She indicated that the council was in support of the LDA proposal for a museum in relation to the barracks and the plans for a railway museum, but no commitment has been forthcoming from funding streams.
She said that Cllr Collentine’s proposal would have to go to the Strategic Policy Committee and be discussed with the heritage officer “to see if it can be realised”.