National Museum of Ireland — Country Life

Ancestry is something I never pondered much before visiting Ireland’s country life exhibits at the National Museum of Ireland. Located in County Mayo, country life in the 19th and 20th centuries are identified through artifacts, displays, and interactive screens. The exhibits helped me to identify with my ancestors through agriculture, fishing, textile, religion, and other crafts akin to rural Ireland. As I looked through the exhibits, my friend T. Jones approached me in hopes of helping with my psychogeography experiment. She described the unique methods used by the artists to showcase the descriptions and other necessary details that are often overlooked by a typical audience. T. Jones has a crazy personality combined with a sincere and empathetic attitude. She made sure to emphasize the fact that the museum disapproved of touching the exhibits.

Art is incorporated into the entire museum.

Water color paintings, wire sculptures to hold the animal gear;

even the descriptions of the tailor and the shoemaker are pieces of art rather than just pictures.

As a visual learner, it holds your attention and makes you think a little.

I’m hearing country sounds from the radio,

lots of people mumbling about the exhibits.

I’m smelling that old museum smell that you can’t quite capture with words.

I’m not allowed to touch things…

The cattle are made out of wire and I’m sad they aren’t real.

-Taylor Jones