Projects
‘Displaying the Nation: Furniture, Ideology, and Irish Cultural Identity in the Free State’ (2025-26)
The research-led written examination of Irish furniture display in Collins’ Barracks dissects the elements of curatorial hierarchy regarding the legacies and notoriety of the artists and craftsmen whose work is displayed, and the reflection on Irish culture that can be determined. The fulcrum of this project focuses on the craftsmen and vernacular furniture of ‘Irish Country Life’; the work of James Hicks’ in ‘Reconstructed Rooms’, and the artistry of Eileen Gray in the retrospective exhibtion centred on Gray’s life and work.
The work examines how Irish national identity is constructed, stabilised, and communicated through museum objects, using three artefacts from the National Museum of Ireland at Collins Barracks as focused case studies. It asks how material culture functions as evidence within national narratives, and how objects come to embody ideological, political, and cultural meaning through processes of collection, classification, and display.
Rather than treating Irish identity as fixed or singular, the research interrogates how museums actively produce meaning through interpretive frameworks, questioning whose histories are made visible, whose are marginalised, and how authority is embedded within institutional narratives.
Rather than treating Irish identity as fixed or singular, the research interrogates how museums actively produce meaning through interpretive frameworks, questioning whose histories are made visible, whose are marginalised, and how authority is embedded within institutional narratives.
The thesis is situated directly within the context of the National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks, engaging with the site as both a repository of objects and a national institution shaped by state priorities, historiography, and public pedagogy.
By focusing on artefacts held within a state-owned collection, the research considers the museum as a mediating structure between the past and the present, where decisions around display, categorisation, and interpretation actively shape public understandings of Irish history. Collins Barracks is approached not only as a case study, but as a representative example of how national museums negotiate identity, authority, and cultural memory.
By focusing on artefacts held within a state-owned collection, the research considers the museum as a mediating structure between the past and the present, where decisions around display, categorisation, and interpretation actively shape public understandings of Irish history. Collins Barracks is approached not only as a case study, but as a representative example of how national museums negotiate identity, authority, and cultural memory.
The thesis employs an object-based, museological research methodology, combining: Close material analysis of selected artefacts from the Collins Barracks collection; Study of curatorial texts, exhibition design, and interpretive materials; Engagement with Irish historiography, nationalism studies, and museological theory; Archival and secondary research relating to the provenance and historical context of each object; Critical reflection on museum practices, including classification systems and narrative framing.
By anchoring broader theoretical questions in specific objects, the research foregrounds the materiality of history and demonstrates how abstract concepts of nationhood are enacted through tangible forms.
By anchoring broader theoretical questions in specific objects, the research foregrounds the materiality of history and demonstrates how abstract concepts of nationhood are enacted through tangible forms.
The primary outcome of the project is a substantial written thesis that functions as a curatorial research document, articulating object-led interpretations of Irish identity within a national collection. While textual in form, the project operates conceptually as a museological case study, with each chapter structured around an artefact and its interpretive context.
The thesis is intended to complement curatorial practice, offering a model for how critical, research-led writing can inform exhibition development, collections interpretation, and public engagement. As a project, it positions writing as a form of curatorial labour, foregrounding analysis, context, and institutional responsibility.
The thesis is intended to complement curatorial practice, offering a model for how critical, research-led writing can inform exhibition development, collections interpretation, and public engagement. As a project, it positions writing as a form of curatorial labour, foregrounding analysis, context, and institutional responsibility.
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