The Hunt Museum

The Hunt Museum The Hunt Museum houses one of Ireland's greatest private collections of art and antiquities.
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Monday Musings... 🤔This week we’re exploring the fascinating Tooradoo Hoard (800–700 BCE), discovered in a bog in County...
25/05/2026

Monday Musings... 🤔

This week we’re exploring the fascinating Tooradoo Hoard (800–700 BCE), discovered in a bog in County Limerick and now cared for by the National Museum of Ireland. These objects are now on display as part of the Hunt Museum’s current exhibition, Our, Óir, Ore: Four Millennia of Silver and Gold.

Unearthed during turf cutting in 1926, the hoard contained an extraordinary collection of objects, including:

🔸 A graduated amber necklace made from 105 beads
🔸 Bronze and gold-plated rings
🔸 A rare jet (“black amber”) bead

The amber beads are particularly remarkable. Amber travelled to Ireland from the Baltic region through ancient trade routes, demonstrating that Bronze Age Ireland was connected to wider European networks thousands of years ago. Because of its rarity and beauty, amber was associated with wealth, status, spirituality, and protection.
The hoard may even have been placed in a lake as a votive offering, a ceremonial deposit intended for deities or spirits. Archaeologists believe changing environmental conditions eventually transformed the landscape into the bog where the objects were later discovered.

The collection offers a fascinating glimpse into Bronze Age craftsmanship, trade, belief systems, and daily life in prehistoric Ireland.

Curious to learn more? Then head to our weekly blog. Even better, call in to see this must-see exhibition, running until 20 September!

Our, Ă“ir, Ore: Four Millennia of Silver and Gold
Now Showing!

CulturalHeritage PrehistoricIreland MuseumCollection Amber TheHuntMuseum

As part of National Volunteering Week 2026, we would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to all of the incredible volun...
22/05/2026

As part of National Volunteering Week 2026, we would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to all of the incredible volunteers at the Hunt Museum.
From welcoming visitors and supporting events to sharing knowledge and helping behind the scenes, your dedication, enthusiasm and generosity make a lasting difference every day.
Your time and commitment help us continue to connect people with art, history and culture, and we are truly grateful for everything you do.
Thank you for being such an important part of the Hunt Museum community.

19/05/2026

BBC Antiques Roadshow expert Steven Moore is coming to Limerick!

Join us for the Annual Friends of the Hunt Museum Luncheon Fundraiser on Saturday, 6 June at the Dunraven Arms Hotel, Adare, for a fascinating afternoon celebrating antiques, ceramics, decorative arts, and the extraordinary stories objects can tell.

Known to audiences from BBC’s Antiques Roadshow, Steven Moore has spent decades uncovering remarkable histories hidden within everyday and extraordinary objects.

Guests will enjoy:
🔹A drinks reception
🔹Three-course lunch
🔹A lively discussion between Steven Moore and Lorcan Murray
🔹The chance to take part in “Basic, Better, Best”
🔹Complimentary admission to Our, Óir, Ore: Four Millennia of
Silver and Gold
🔹An opportunity to connect with fellow art and history enthusiasts

Date: Saturday, 6 June
Location: Dunraven Arms Hotel, Adare
Time: 12.30pm

We look forward to welcoming friends, supporters, and lovers of history, art, and storytelling for what promises to be a very special event.

A huge thank you to Sarah Bolger and her TY students at Ardscoil Mhuire, Limerick for the incredible dedication, researc...
19/05/2026

A huge thank you to Sarah Bolger and her TY students at Ardscoil Mhuire, Limerick for the incredible dedication, research, and creativity they have brought to this project over the past year, shining a light on the women represented within the Hunt Collection.

As part of the Hunt Museum’s participation in the global ART+FEMINISM Project, the students explored overlooked stories of women connected to the Collection while also developing critical digital research and storytelling skills. Working alongside Wikimedia Community Ireland, the project encouraged students to become digital activists by helping address gender gaps in online representation and cultural history.

The artworks created in response to their research are truly outstanding, and we are immensely proud to showcase the talent, insight, and imagination of these young artists and researchers.

Be sure to visit their exhibition in our Garden Gallery from 14–21 May, open Tuesday–Saturday, 10am-5pm, and Sunday 11am-5pm.

You can also explore the students’ virtual exhibition and written articles online here: https://www.huntmuseum.com/explore/virtual-exhibitions/art-feminism/

Learn more about the Hunt Museum’s Art + Feminism project here: https://www.huntmuseum.com/about/our-projects/art-feminism/

Happy International Museum Day & Monday Musings… 🤔This finely painted porcelain tea bowl from the Hunt Museum Collection...
18/05/2026

Happy International Museum Day & Monday Musings… 🤔

This finely painted porcelain tea bowl from the Hunt Museum Collection was made in China for the export market during the mid to late 18th century, under the Qianlong Emperor. It reflects the refinement of the Rose Mandarin style, characterised by figural garden scenes, floral motifs, and detailed enamel decoration.

The bowl is arranged in alternating panels of figural scenes and floral cartouches on a purple diaper-patterned ground. Painted in soft famille rose tones, the imagery depicts idealised garden life, leisure, family harmony, and scholarly refinement, key themes in Chinese decorative art of the period.

Chinese export porcelain was highly sought after in 18th-century Europe, produced to appeal to Western taste while retaining traditional Chinese forms and aesthetics. Tea bowls and saucers were central to this exchange. Styles such as Rose Mandarin became especially popular during the later Qianlong reign, reflecting an expanding global network of trade, taste, and cultural exchange.

Across cultures, bowls have held enduring ritual significance. Used for serving, offering, and ceremony, they embody nourishment, hospitality, remembrance, and connection. Their open form symbolises the relationship between giving and receiving, ideas that continue to resonate today.

These themes are explored in 'OUR: Conversations with the Collection' at the Hunt Museum, where historical objects are placed in dialogue with contemporary art.

A key example is Bowl of Pearls (2006) by Ai Weiwei, an internationally renowned artist known for his conceptual practice, activism, and critique of political and social systems. Working across sculpture, installation, and photography, Ai Weiwei often reinterprets traditional Chinese materials to address themes such as power, surveillance, displacement, and global inequality.

On International Museum Day, we are reminded that museums act as vessels, preserving, connecting, and reactivating cultural memory across time.

Currently on display as part of 'OUR: Conversations with the Collection' at the Hunt Museum.

15/05/2026

Travel through 4,000 years of history and craftsmanship in Our, Óir, Ore: Four Millennia Limerick of Silver and Gold now open at the Hunt Museum ✨

From extraordinary Bronze Age gold treasures to intricate Georgian silver, the exhibition explores Limerick’s rich legacy of silver and gold craftsmanship across four millennia.

Featuring objects from the Hunt Museum Collection alongside important loans from Limerick Museum and the National Museum of Ireland, the exhibition brings together remarkable artefacts that reveal stories of artistry, trade, culture, and connection through time.

Set within the newly transformed Top Floor of the Hunt Museum. Step into the story and visit today.

Our, Ă“ir, Ore: Four Millennia Limerick of Silver and Gold

Now Showing!

Please visit the link in our bio or huntmuseum.com to learn more and book your ticket.

15/05/2026

Travel through 4,000 years of history and craftsmanship in Our, Óir, Ore: Four Millennia Limerick of Silver and Gold now open at the Hunt Museum ✨

From extraordinary Bronze Age gold treasures to intricate Georgian silver, the exhibition explores Limerick’s rich legacy of silver and gold craftsmanship across four millennia.

Featuring objects from the Hunt Museum Collection alongside important loans from Limerick Museum and the National Museum of Ireland, the exhibition brings together remarkable artefacts that reveal stories of artistry, trade, culture, and connection through time.

Set within the newly transformed Top Floor of the Hunt Museum. Step into the story and visit today.

Our, Ă“ir, Ore: Four Millennia Limerick of Silver and Gold

Now Showing!

To learn more and book your ticket, please visit: https://www.huntmuseum.com/whats-on/our-oir-ore/

Calling all book lovers đź“šJoin us at the Hunt Museum for a cosy afternoon of reading, conversation, and book swapping at ...
14/05/2026

Calling all book lovers đź“š

Join us at the Hunt Museum for a cosy afternoon of reading, conversation, and book swapping at our upcoming Reading Party & Book Swap.

Bring along a favourite book to swap, discover new reads, and enjoy a relaxed literary atmosphere surrounded by art and history.

Whether you’re an avid reader, casual book collector, or simply looking for a quiet and welcoming space to unwind, everyone is welcome.

Hunt Museum Garden
Thursday, 14 May
4 - 6pm
Free Event

Come along, meet fellow readers, and leave with a new story to enjoy.

For more information visit huntmuseum.com

I'm a little teapot... and also a clue... 🕵️‍♀️Listen to Lorcan Murray's Classic Drive on RTÉ lyric fm today at 5pm and ...
13/05/2026

I'm a little teapot... and also a clue... 🕵️‍♀️

Listen to Lorcan Murray's Classic Drive on RTÉ lyric fm today at 5pm and win tickets for two!

Stay tuned, all will be revealed!

Listen Now: https://l.instagram.com/?u=https%3A%2F%2Firishradiolive.com%2Frte-lyric-fm%3Ffbclid%3DPAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQMMjU2MjgxMDQwNTU4AAGntK7-mngcaxNNJmfvl_nldojKUbZB-h9_rdoGsjwGR2i7yujWCdA4o-1zYQc_aem_YWdncwAkdyAGOzQoAYwzzrWtri7i%26brid%3DYWdncwGXtdHDPY698DbqIXm5o4mz&e=AUA2fPGiuRRGoKM8rAEAxm51FbA_8hKp5WEeBwm9RuBPeZyNJkYMnsZh-rAfkjnEglc1g6N415dEU5PgnRj2WfCdMY79ZwfI_FQ3yiRcNg

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