Pearse Museum

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The Pearse Museum Re-opens

and the Irish language movement. He soon developed a passionate interest in education. His ideas on teaching were progressive and radical and he had little time for the exam-focussed education system of the time. He felt that schools should nurture the

The Pearse Museum in Rathfarnham was re-opened

talents of all their pupils, even if those talents lay

by Dr. Martin Mansergh T.D. Minister of State with

outside the traditional school subjects.

special responsibility for the office of Public Works and the Arts on November 27, 2008. Over 230 invited

For Pearse the key to real learning was inspiration,

guests attended the opening ceremony, including

and he felt that to be a success his school needed

former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern T.D. and Olivia Mitchell

a suitably inspiring setting. He was anxious to find

T.D. It marked the completion of a €3 million project

a home for his school which would allow his pupils

which saw the construction of a new entrance and

direct access to the natural world. He discovered The

stairwell as well as much improved visitor facilities.

Hermitage in Rathfarnham in 1910 while on a historical

The basement area of the building has also been

pilgrimage to sites associated with the revolutionary

completely refurbished for future use as the location

Robert Emmet. Nestled in the foothills of the Dublin

of an exhibition on the life of Patrick Pearse.

Mountains, it was the ideal location for Pearse’s inspirational school.

Surrounded by fifty acres of landscaped parkland, the museum is located in the former home and school

The house was also Patrick Pearse’s family home. His

of Patrick Pearse, the leader of the 1916 Rising. He

mother, brother and sisters all assisted in the running

founded his school, Scoil Éanna, in 1908 in Cullenswood

of the school. In 1916 he and his brother William left the

House, Ranelagh. His initial interest in education

house to fight in the Easter Rising, never to return.

stemmed from his involvement in the Gaelic League

Pearse was the leader of the uprising and the author

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Images: Pearse Museum interior (above). Pearse Museum exterior and interior (opposite page).

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of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic. He also

ran a Museum within the school, and elected a

oversaw the surrender of the rebel forces once all

curator every year from among the student body.

hope of victory was lost. While revolution was raging

One of the original museum cases has survived

in Dublin, his mother and sisters waited for news in

and it now contains many of the original displays. In

Rathfarnham. It was there that they received the news

addition, using contemporary accounts of what the

that both brothers were to be executed. His mother

museum once held, it was possible to commission

and eldest sister lived on in the house and ran the

reproductions of objects which would have been

school there until 1935. Following the death of Pearse’s

there in Pearse’s time.

last surving sister in 1968, the house and grounds were handed over to the State.

The Pearse Museum is in fact dedicated to both Pearse brothers, in Irish it is known as Músaem

The museum’s current exhibitions seek to recapture

na bPiarsach. Pearse’s brother William is often a

a sense of the spirit of the house during Pearse’s

neglected figure, and his output as a sculptor is

time. His study and the family sitting room allow

largely forgotten. For the first time a gallery in the

very personal glimpses of the lives of the former

museum has been exclusively devoted to his work.

occupants. Side by side with these rooms are the

The works on display in the museum show him to

more public spaces in which Pearse’s pupils lived and

have been a promising and sensitive artist, but

worked. Visitors can now see the school dormitory,

unfortunately his artisitic output was quite small.

study hall and chapel. The aesthetic surroundings of

He initially joined the staff in Scoil Éanna as an art

the school were important for Pearse, in the School

teacher, but ended up assisting in its management and

Prospectus he wrote that ‘beautiful pictures, statuary,

was unable to properly pursue his artistic career.

and plants replace the charts and other paraphernalia of the ordinary schoolroom.’ The school art gallery has

One of the most exciting developments for the future

been recreated in its original location and features

of the Pearse museum is the provision of a temporary

pieces by Beatrice Elvery, Patrick Tuohy, W.B. Yeats and

exhibition space. It will play host to a diverse

Count Casimir de Markievicz. The pupils themselves

programme of exhibitions, both artistic and historical,

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Images: Pearse Museum interior (above). Pearse Museum interior, Patrick and William Pearse (opposite page).

as part of the Museum’s long tradition of nurturing and encouraging creativity. Together with the other changes at the museum, it will ensure that the Pearse Museum and St. Enda’s Park can continue to inspire and delight visitors for many years to come.

The Museum is open seven days a week (Nov-Jan 9.30-16.00, Feb 9.30-17.00, Mar-Oct 10.00-17.30, weekends/bank holidays museum opens at 10am) and admission is free.

Brian Crowley Heritage Services (Images, courtesy of Con Brogan DoEHLG)

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