Limerick academic leads campaign to halt sale of New York museum

A Limerick academic is leading a campaign to stop the sale of an Irish-American museum in the heart of New York.

Dr Ruan O’Donnell, a senior lecturer in the history department at the University of Limerick, is concerned at the news that the board of the American-Irish History Society are proposing to sell the building in the city’s Fifth Avenue for $50m.

He said the museum holds “arguably the most important collection of Irish-American material in private hands.”

“It has things like the death mask of Robert Emmett. There is a 1916 proclamation. There are original letters from Thomas Francis Maher. They also have numerous artifacts from Thomas Addis Emmett, the brother of Robert Emmett. He became the Attorney General in New York state in 1812, a very famous law man there. He is much memoralised,” Dr O’Donnell explained.

Malachy McCourt, the brother of literary legend Frank McCourt was also involved in the running of the centre.