Culture Night 20th September 2024: 4pm – 8pm (Culture Night event taking place on the ground floor)
An evening of workshops and demos at the National Print Museum (Beggars Bush). Hour-long workshops for the event are first-come, first-served and run at 16:00, 17:30 and 19:00.
Early cultures such as the Chinese experimented with forms of block printing but it really takes off in the Western world about five hundred years ago and Johann Gutenberg and the first printed book (The Gutenberg Bible circle 1440). The creation of individual characters and the development of the printing press (recreated at the museum) revolutionised the world and by 1500 more than a thousand print shops existed in Europe. The new technology doesn’t really reach Ireland until around 1551 and the command of King Edward VI (the son of Henry VIII) for the printing and distribution of ‘The Book Of Common Prayer’.
At the museum you will find all the printing technologies as they developed over time. This is a hands-on display allowing visitors to physically touch (in some cases use) the equipment on show. The museum allows a step back in time before the computer age to see how printed works were developed and produced. It is a fascinating history and the exhibits can be enjoyed by young and old alike.
The museum includes a collection of over 10,000 objects that represent Ireland’s centuries-old printing heritage and craft. The layout of the floor mirrors that of a print workshop, separated into composing, printing and finishing areas. One highlight includes an original first run print of the 1916 Proclamation, and the Wharfedale Stop Cylinder Press (the type of machine on which the 1916 Proclamation was printed).
The museum celebrates the story of printing in Ireland. Officially opened in 1996 by President Mary Robinson the museum was founded by members of the printing industry who rescued original printing equipment and technologies from being scrapped. The museum aims to promote a greater understanding of the historical significance and the relevance of printing in Ireland by exploring its heritage, craft and technology. The museum is housed in the old Garrison Chapel (built in 1857) of the Beggars Bush Barracks built in 1827.
Voted Industrial Heritage Museum of the year in 2018, in 2019 the museum was successful in having Letterpress Printing listed on the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage (under the 2003 Unesco Convention for the safeguarding of the intangible Cultural Heritage). PrintLab, a project launched by the Museum in the same year facilitates discovery of the traditional craft of letterpress printing through new technologies.
On the ground floor, visitors will find the Reception, Museum Shop, permanent exhibition, toilets, and Café. The ground floor is fully accessible to wheelchair users via the café entrance and a gift shop is available at the front of the building as well as some bicycle sheds.
On the mezzanine level, visitors will find temporary exhibitions and Creative Corner. Unfortunately the mezzanine level is only accessible by stairs with no access to wheelchair users or some people with mobility issues. The mezzanine will not be accessible for Culture Night. The museum welcomes guide and service dogs. Large Text Booklets can be found on the righthand side as you enter the Museum.
Be aware that there is no car parking within the Barracks.
For more information on the museum and upcoming events and tours please visit nationalprintmuseum.ie
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