Funds will help upgrade exhibits at Allihies museum

THE Allihies Copper Mine Museum has been awarded €11,400 to upgrade its audio-visual system and website.

It’s one of  32 regional museums around the country set to share in €310,225 of funding made available under the Regional Museum Exhibitions Scheme 2021. 

The Allihies Copper Mine Museum is located in a former Methodist chapel which was built in 1845 for the Cornish miners working in the area. 

The museum tells the story of Allihies’ rich heritage of copper mining which dates from the Bronze Age through to the mid 1960s when mining activities ceased in the area.   

Tadhg O’Sullivan, chairperson of Allihies Copper Mine Museum said the funding was a huge boost. ‘It will enable us to upgrade our current system which been in place since 2006 and contains some valuable interviews and exhibits,’ he said.

‘Upgrading the system will allow us to safeguard them for the future,’ he added. 

There are also plans to undertake work on their current website and make more audio visual exhibits available online. Passage West Maritime Museum also received funding of €775 to digitise tapes of Passage West citizens and provide a listening station. 

The funding was announced by the Minister for Tourism Catherine Martin TD who said: ‘Our local and regional museums are an extremely important resource for culture and heritage. They are vital within the community and it is imperative that we support their role in our cultural heritage.’