EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum

EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum is located in Dublin's Docklands which covers the history of the Irish diaspora and emigration to other countries. It was designed by the London-based design firm Event Communications and was voted as "Europe's Leading Tourist Attraction" at the 2019 World Travel Awards.[1]

EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum
Entrance to EPIC
Location within Central Dublin
Former nameEPIC Ireland
EstablishedMay 2016
LocationCHQ Custom House Quay
Dublin, Ireland
Coordinates53.348°N 6.248°W / 53.348; -6.248
TypeCultural History
FounderNeville Isdell
ArchitectEvent Communications
OwnerNeville Isdell
Public transit accessLuas (Red Line), George's Dock stop, DART (Pearse Station, Tara Street Station), Irish Rail (Connolly Station)
Nearest car parkParkRite IFSC
Websiteepicchq.com

Creation

EPIC is a privately owned museum, founded by Neville Isdell, former chairman and Chief Executive of The Coca-Cola Company, who was born in County Down.[2][3] During 2015, an advisory group was assembled to consult on the development of EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum.[4] In May 2016, EPIC was officially opened by former President of Ireland Mary Robinson.[5]

EPIC is located in the vaults of CHQ Building, a listed building originally known as Stack A and built in 1820 by John Rennie and completed by Thomas Telford; it was used as a bonded customs warehouse for tobacco and wine.[6] CHQ was conserved and restored by the DDDA in the early 2000s.[7]

The exhibition was designed and developed by a London-based specialist museum design consultancy called Event Communications that had also designed the award-winning Titanic Belfast attraction.[8] At its opening in 2016, the Irish Independent reported that Isdell has invested Euro 15 million in the project, and that "my experience was of a bold series of 20 galleries slickly fitted with at times breathtakingly immersive technology-driven displays".[9] The Irish Times described EPIC as "the world’s first fully digital museum and had 120,000 visitors in its first year", when it was nominated for the European Museum of the Year Award in 2018.[10] EPIC went on to win the World Travel Awards for Europe's Leading Tourist Attraction in 2019.[1]

Exhibits

The exhibition is made up of twenty galleries which are each individually themed, and fall under the headings of Migration (Galleries 1 to 2), Motivation (Galleries 4 to 7), Influence (Galleries 8 to 18) and Diaspora Today (Galleries 19 to 20).[11]

  • The "Migration" galleries deal with migration patterns from Ireland since 500AD. The "Motivation" galleries cover religious missionary work, the Irish famine, religious and social persecution, criminal transportation, and the effects of Irish involvement in foreign conflicts. Displays include a series of video testimonies from six Irish emigrants, including Thomas Quinn, who emigrated from County Roscommon, in 1847 at age six to begin a new life in Canada.[12]
  • The "Influence" section covers notable Irish immigrants in the world of business, sports, science and inventors, political leaders and thinkers, music, dance and entertainment, art and fashion, writing and storytelling, and eating and drinking. Other cultural influences featured include an interactive 'rogues gallery' of troublemakers with Irish heritage, and worldwide festivals and celebrations of Irish culture.
  • The "Irish Family History Centre" is also located in the CHQ, and offers visitors the option to consult with genealogists and to access digitised records at workstations.
  • Discovering and Inventing
  • Playing the World
  • Entrance
  • Tunnell

See also

References
  1. Pól Ó Conghaile (9 June 2019). "Epic Success: Irish museum voted Europe's leading tourist attraction". Irish Independent.
  2. "'We're not a competitor to other Dublin attractions - we're adding to the attractiveness of Dublin'". The Irish Independent. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  3. "Businessman Neville Isdell: Money is not a motivator, but it is how you keep score in life". The Irish Independent. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  4. "Isdell assembles advisory group for CHQ tourism project". The Irish Times. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  5. "'Story of 70 million Irish' told at new Dublin visitor centre". The Irish Times. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  6. "History". chq.ie. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  7. "Irish visionary who redesigned architecture". The Irish Times. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  8. Claire O'Sullivan (24 March 2016). "New Irish museum to tell the story of the diaspora". Irish Examiner. The exhibition has been developed by Event Communications, who designed the multi-award-winning Titanic Belfast.
  9. Pól Ó Conghaile (30 April 2016). "First Look: Inside Dublin's epic new €15 million tourist attraction". Irish Independent. Retrieved 8 October 2019. It is entirely privately funded, developed at a cost of €15 million by Neville Isdell, former Chairman and CEO of Coca Cola and member of the Irish diaspora. On a preview tour, my experience was of a bold series of 20 galleries slickly fitted with at times breathtakingly immersive technology-driven displays. Designed by Event Communications, the award-winning designers of Titanic Belfast, EPIC Ireland aspires to tell the story of "10 million journeys", with galleries organised into themes of migration, motivation, influence and connection.
  10. Joan Scales (17 December 2017). "Two Irish museums shortlisted for prestigious international award". Irish Times. Retrieved 8 October 2019. National Gallery of Ireland and EPIC Irish Emigration Museum in final nominees for European Museum of the Year
  11. "Experience EPIC Museum | Irish Culture Museum in Dublin". EPIC. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  12. King, Jason. "Quinn and Tighe Siblings | Irish Famine Orphan Profiles and Stories". Irish Famine Archive. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
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