Clare Museum launch new website

Clare Museum has launched a new website on International Museum Day.  

First launched in February 2022, Clare Museum’s website was hosted on the Clare library website.

At that time, Clare Museum had become the first museum in Ireland to use the online realm as a means to access museum collections. Over time, however, the museum website had become dated and difficult to access by potential users with smartphones. 

In 2020, Clare Museum received funding from the Heritage Council’s Community Heritage Grant Scheme to purchase equipment that would help to digitise the collection and to make it available on social media.

And in 2022, the museum received funding from the Heritage Council’s Heritage Stewardship Fund which allowed the museum to develop the website for this purpose.

With the website, they aim to allow online access to the museum collection, for items on display in the museum and, in particular, those items in storage. But also to tell stories about the lives of Clare people associated with them, and shine a light on the work that the museum does behind the scenes to care for and to manage the collections.

According to Curator John Rattigan, “The new website is very much an extension of the physical space where we display items in the building.” 

He explained: “Physical exhibitions are very much a method of providing access that dates to the 18th century. However, using the internet we are free of the physical restrictions of the building, and we can provide access to items that are in storage as well as those that are on display from the comfort of one’s home, office, school or university.”

The website will be updated regularly and can be accessed at: www.claremuseum.ie