The Jackie Clarke Collection
About
The single most important private collection of Irish historical material in public hands, and it is free. Jackie Clarke, a Ballina fishmonger and salmon smoker, quietly amassed more than 100,000 items over a lifetime: proclamations, posters, political cartoons, rare books, handbills and letters spanning four hundred years, with material connected to Wolfe Tone and letters from Michael Collins, Michael Davitt, Douglas Hyde and O'Donovan Rossa among it. After his death the collection passed into public ownership and is now displayed in a beautifully converted red-brick Victorian bank on Pearse Street, with the original strongroom still in place. Allow an hour; it is one of the best small museums in the west of Ireland.
Photos
Highlights
- ✓Over 100,000 items spanning 400 years of Irish history, free to view
- ✓Letters from Michael Collins, Davitt, Hyde and O'Donovan Rossa, and Wolfe Tone material
- ✓Housed in a restored red-brick Victorian bank with the original strongroom
- ✓Assembled privately by one Ballina man, Jackie Clarke
Tips
- →Admission is free; open Tuesday to Saturday, 10:00 to 17:00.
- →The entrance is at the side of the building on Walsh Street.
- →A perfect rainy-day hour; allow more time if you love history.
Best Season
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