Military Museums

Almost every town in Ireland has a memorial to local people’s service in conflict, whether in the War of Independence, Civil War, First and Second World Wars, or other conflicts. Memorials are also dedicated to Defence Forces personnel who died on Peace Support Operations. These memorials are simply too numerous to list in this Research Guide. Nevertheless, they bear testimony to the impact of war, conflict, peacekeeping, and the Irish soldier had on Irish society and will be of interest to researchers.

There are a number of dedicated military museums throughout Ireland. Most of these are of a general nature, covering Irish military history over the ages. Some are more specialised, such as the regimental museums in Northern Ireland which concentrate on the story of a particular Irish regiment in the British Army. Others tell the story of a particular event, like the Somme Heritage Centre in Newtownards. However, what they all have in common is that they are telling the story of Irish men and women who served in military forces on land sea and in the air, whenever and wherever in the world, and for whatever cause.

Military museums provide for the safe custody, preservation, recording and display of items of military interest. These military museums fulfil these roles, in that they are preserving stories and artefacts for future generations, providing facilities for research, and, most importantly, raising awareness of Ireland’s unique military heritage, not only in this country, but throughout the world.

Some military museums have relevant security requirements. For the information of researchers, a directory of museums, heritage centres and battle sites is provided on the web site under Directory Listings.

The Trust encourages those in charge of military museums to provide information on their facility for posting in this web site. Likewise, any necessary changes to the information concerning museums posted on this web site would be welcomed.

Links

For the information of researchers, a directory of Military Museums is provided on this web site under Directory Listings.

The Trust encourages those in charge of web sites to provide information on their facility for posting in this web site. Likewise, any necessary changes to the information concerning these web sites posted on the Trust’s web site would be welcomed.