Tipperary museum maintains top award from Heritage Council

Thirteenmuseums were celebrated at a ceremony in Kilkenny Castle yesterday having achieved

official accreditation under the Heritage Council’s Museum Standards Programme for Ireland

(MSPI).

Established to promote professional standards in museums, selection under the

MSPI is a major accolade with accredited museums considered to have attained excellence

across a range of areas.

Among the museums maintaining full accreditation was the Tipperary Museum of Hidden

History. The assessors noted in particular the great work done on the redevelopment of the

main museum gallery. Much care and attention has been given to how the visitor can see,

interact with and learn from the collection and the local history.

In a relatively small space, assessors were impressed by the amount of interpretation and artefacts out on display.

Despite the challenges of the redevelopment and subsequent closure due to Covid, the

curator Marie McMahon and museum staff have worked hard to engage their Council

colleagues and local community in a creative and innovative way.

Commenting at the ceremony, Chief Executive of the Heritage Council Virginia Teehan said:

“As Ireland’s only accreditation programme for museums, MSPI has become an integral part

of the sector. Seeing the variety of museums represented at the ceremony, along with the

increase in participants year on year, further underline its importance. I am happy to say that

the Heritage Council has committed in its new five-year strategy to making further

improvements to the MSPI through increased funding, and through new training and

professional development opportunities for the volunteers and the professionals who run our

museums.”

Commenting at the ceremony, Chair Local Authority Museums Network and Managing

Curator of Tipperary Museum Marie McMahon said:

“The Heritage Council’s Museum Standards Programme for Ireland (MSPI) has been

transformative for the museum sector. It has raised our standards, introduced best practice

and given museums a voice within the wider cultural sector. All Local Authority Museums

have achieved either Interim, Full Accreditation and Maintenance of Accreditation and now

have a framework of standards and policies that are embedded in their operations. I would

like to congratulate the museum teams from the following Local Authority Museums: Carlow

County Museum, Tipperary Museum of Hidden History, Donegal County Museum  and Cork

Public Museum. Their continuous hard work and commitment to the MSPI, ensures our

museums are operating at the highest standards in Ireland and across Europe. Our network

(L.A.M.N.) is a key advocacy for the museum sector and with our many partnerships, both

nationally and locally, the stewardship of our national heritage and artefacts ensures we are

safeguarding our cultural heritage for future generations.

I would like to commend the Tipperary Museum team past and present, Julia Walsh, Jayne

Sutcliffe, Michael Fanning, Siobhan Wynne and David Nolan for their commitment to the

programme. Also to the management of Tipperary County Council for their unrivalled support

of Tipperary Museum.

Special thanks to Chief Executive of the Heritage Council, Virginia Teehan and Lesley Ann

Hayden, Programme Manager for Museum Standards Programme for Ireland for their

tremendous support of the Local Authority Museum Network."