The National Museum's folk-life collection is to be housed west of the Shannon as part of a £9 million EU and State-funded project involving Mayo County Council.
After years of controversy about its future, the collection, hitherto stored in Daingean, Co Offaly, is to be exhibited in Turlough Park House, about three miles outside Castlebar.
A 35,000 square-foot exhibition and storage centre is to be constructed at the rear of the 19th century house, owned formerly by the Fitzgerald family of Waterford.
Dating from 1865, Turlough Park was designed by the celebrated Irish architects Woodward and Deane, who are best known for their buildings at Trinity College, Dublin, and Oxford.
Coincidentally, they were also involved in design work for the National Museum's original home in Kildare Street, Dublin. The house on 30 acres is now owned by Mayo County Council.
Announcing details of the plan yesterday, the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, Ms de Valera, said the location would represent an emotional and spiritual return of a "vital element of our heritage".
The Galway company, James Rhatigan and Co, has been awarded the construction contract, in consultation with the Office of Public Works. The Minister said she was "gratified" that the new exhibition spaces for the project would be built in an "environmentally sensitive manner". Visitor information and administrative facilities will be provided in the house, and the courtyard area is to be used for a shop and coffee room.
The Minister explained that the choice of Turlough Park House was due to several factors, including the "wholehearted commitment" of Mayo County Council to the project and the availability of EU structural funds.
Originally, some £5 million had been earmarked in EU and Exchequer funding, she said. When it became apparent that there would be additional costs, Mayo council offered to get involved.
The Minister said she then decided to transfer an EU allocation for another project in her portfolio - a second recital hall at the National Concert Hall in Dublin - to allow the Mayo initiative to proceed. The second recital hall would now be paid for directly from the Exchequer, she emphasised.
The location is still expected to be the subject of some debate, given that the current European trend is to link museums to research centres at third-level institutions. The Minister gave little indication of the philosophy behind the new centre yesterday, beyond stating that it reminded her of the television series on Irish traditional music and its Atlantic crossing made by Philip King, Bringing It All Back Home. "As a nation", we cannot, and should not, forget the past, the Minister said. "Some might say, on seeing the artefacts in the folk-life collection, that they bring back unpleasant memories of hard times past and economic deprivation - times we might prefer to forget when today we are on the crest of an unprecedented wave of economic prosperity, facing into an exciting new millennium", Ms de Valera said.
"We need to explore our collective past experiences, to discover our past strengths and weaknesses and so equip ourselves to face the future," the Minister continued. "What we have to remember is that many of the trades and practices which will be represented in exhibitions here still thrive to a large degree within living memory. For the next generation, they will be consigned to history. It is therefore essential that we secure this vital element of our heritage for future generations."
The Minister paid tribute to the chairwoman of the National Museum's caretaker board, Ms Barbara Nugent, and to the museum's director, Dr Pat Wallace, for their "enthusiastic dedication and commitment" to delivering on the objective. She also acknowledged the dedicated support of Mayo County Council, represented by its chairman, Mr Al McDonnell.
"I am confident, owing to the strategic position of Turlough Park House, that very significant economic and regional development benefits, principally through tourism, will accrue from the presence of this prestigious museum facility," the Minister added.
