Advertisement

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

graphy: Sasko Lazarov/Photocall Ireland

Dublin's Dead Zoo to close again with plans for a satellite exhibit in Collins Barracks

The Dead Zoo will live on during the coming closure through a “satellite exhibit” at Collins Barracks.

COLLECTIONS AT THE Natural History Museum in Dublin are expected to be moved back into storage, with the process beginning later this year, with the so-called Dead Zoo shuttering its doors again following its reopening last August after two years of closure. 

The looming closure will be taking place to allow for further refurbishment works, as National Museum of Ireland (NMI) is collaborating with the Office of Public Works (OPW) to redevelop the building. The main task at hand is to fix the roof as temporary scaffolding is currently in place to stop falling objects. 

The building is 166 years old, and the planned redevelopment is being undertaken to address a number of key issues, in particular to enable accessibility and to provide the right environmental conditions for the collections, according to NMI.  

Nicknamed the ‘Dead Zoo’ on account of its collections, the Natural History Museum has been hugely popular since the ground floor reopened in August. Since then, nearly 200,000 members of the public have visited its exhibitions. 

The reopening of the ground floor of the museum last year was met with intense interest from the public, as it was booked up for weeks in advance soon after visitors were invited back in. 

The Journal understands that some customers have recently been told while visiting the museum that it is due to close again to allow for redevelopment to continue, and that the next closure could be as long as five years. 

The Department of Tourism, when asked about when the next closure will commence and how long it is expected to go on for, said that the museum has not issued advice to customers on specific dates of closure. 

It said that the redevelopment of the museum has moved to the planning and detailed design phase of the project. 

A spokesperson for the department said that NMI has carefully planned a full transfer of the museum’s remaining collections into storage to allow for preparatory works to start on the roof, which it envisages will start later this year. 

The subsequent closure of the museum will take place in order to “protect these precious artefacts during construction work”, the spokesperson added. 

The department stated that the restoration project – the funding for which has been greenlit by Minister Catherine Martin – is still subject to a number of “gateway”decisions, and therefore it cannot give a definitive start date for the next closure period. 

However it added: “Any closure will be signalled well in advance to the public”. 

There are plans to ensure that the Dead Zoo will live on throughout the next closure with a satellite exhibition at Collins Barracks. 

“This satellite ‘Dead Zoo’ will ensure the continuity of programming and engagement with these unique artefacts for families, school children and other priority audiences,” a department spokesperson said.  

RTÉ News / YouTube

“In the interim, and in recognition of the Natural History Museum’s important educational work with families and children, the NMI will keep open the ground floor galleries of the museum for as long as it remains safe to do so,” they added. 

A spokesperson for NMI has told The Journal that there is no definitive date for the closure of the museum, and that when the date is known, it will be “communicated to the public well in advance”. 

 ”The National Museum of Ireland is committed to preserving the collections, future proofing the unique building, and, over the period of the redevelopment project, to maintaining as much as possible of its popular exhibits through programming at the National Museum of Ireland -Decorative Arts & History, at Collins Barracks,” they added. 

 The efforts of staff at the museum to maneuver exhibits to allow for previous refurbishment works were captured in an RTÉ documentary called ‘The Dead Zoo’, including the skeleton of an Indian elephant, and skeletons of a fin whale and a humpback that were suspended from the ceiling. 

The enthusiasm of Natural History Museum curator Paolo Viscardi was evident in the documentary. 

Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.

Close
14 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic. Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy here before taking part.
Leave a Comment
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Mogh Roith
    Favourite Mogh Roith
    Report
    Mar 15th 2023, 7:27 AM

    Why is it that everything done by a council or a government in Ireland takes forever to get done? Five years to fix a roof.

    289
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute sean o'dhubhghaill
    Favourite sean o'dhubhghaill
    Report
    Mar 15th 2023, 9:08 AM

    @Mogh Roith: Like saying Notre Dame just had a bit of fire damage. Have you been inside the building?

    41
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute JustBEERbarry
    Favourite JustBEERbarry
    Report
    Mar 15th 2023, 10:08 AM

    @Mogh Roith: watch the documentary, you *might* understand then.

    18
    See 2 more replies ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Fiona Fitzgerald
    Favourite Fiona Fitzgerald
    Report
    Mar 15th 2023, 2:02 PM

    @JustBEERbarry: The documentary was great. It’s always worth a visit but obviously the building does need strengthening after so many years, given the priceless collection there. I remember when the stairs broke, so better safe than squashed!

    3
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute JustBEERbarry
    Favourite JustBEERbarry
    Report
    Mar 15th 2023, 2:56 PM

    @Fiona Fitzgerald: I enjoyed the documentary and only wish there was more than 1 episode, maybe this new construction work will give us the episodes that would definitely be watched.

    2
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Conor Ryan
    Favourite Conor Ryan
    Report
    Mar 15th 2023, 1:11 AM

    Enough of the ‘dead zoo’ title, over and over again….

    175
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Naomi Daly
    Favourite Naomi Daly
    Report
    Mar 15th 2023, 1:27 AM

    @Conor Ryan: why? It’s accurate and a fond colloquiasm.

    242
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute sean o'dhubhghaill
    Favourite sean o'dhubhghaill
    Report
    Mar 15th 2023, 6:57 AM

    @Conor Ryan: That’s what it has been called for generations! My father calked it that and my grandfather too!

    106
    See 1 more reply ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Fiona Fitzgerald
    Favourite Fiona Fitzgerald
    Report
    Mar 15th 2023, 2:05 PM

    @Conor Ryan: My grandparents were new to Dublin and that’s what they learnt to call it. Always worth a look, great place.

    4
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute fergusob
    Favourite fergusob
    Report
    Mar 15th 2023, 8:12 AM

    Buffons running the show. Closed for at least five years, was that estimated time given by the same crowd building the children’s hospital.

    110
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute JustBEERbarry
    Favourite JustBEERbarry
    Report
    Mar 15th 2023, 10:08 AM

    @fergusob: watch the documentary, you might understand then.

    18
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ian Pettigrew
    Favourite Ian Pettigrew
    Report
    Mar 15th 2023, 9:01 AM

    Best day’s entertainment I’ve ever had. Great place to take visitors. Like PT Barnum meets Dr Doolittle. Sad-looking moth-eaten creatures held together with hessian and creosote. Will miss it. Please don’t make any major changes?

    32
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Will Roche
    Favourite Will Roche
    Report
    Mar 15th 2023, 7:15 AM

    Shuttering or shutting?

    21
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Gary Mullen
    Favourite Gary Mullen
    Report
    Mar 15th 2023, 11:54 PM

    They must be using the same builders as those working on the childrens hospital it’s taking that long to sort the place

    3
Submit a report
Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
Thank you for the feedback
Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.

Leave a commentcancel

 
JournalTv
News in 60 seconds