Collections, Research and Interpretation Registrar’s Unit

The governance of heritage assets in the custodial control of the OPW is central to the work undertaken by the collections care team. OPW heritage properties contain a wide range of chattels including historic textiles, paintings, sculptures, manuscripts, printed books and furniture, to name just a few. The works have been accessioned into the historic collection by way of inheritance, bequest, acquisition or loan. A key element of our work is accounting for these items on our national inventory. The collections in total amount to hundreds of thousands of individual objects. Conservation, photographic records, research and publishing on the buildings and their collections, and our digital strategy for these historic properties, are other key parts of our work. All of this is crucial to displaying well-cared-for items. Through research, new information on the property, family and collections comes to light, to be brought into the public domain. The bedrock of our work is that we share with our visitors authentic facts about what they are experiencing.

The OPW is the custodian of significant and valuable collections, which allow us to interpret the rich and varied histories our sites. We are committed to conserving and protecting these valuable assets to the highest standards for future generations. We care for our collections and sites in line with professional museum standards. Currently, eight OPW properties are participants in the Heritage Council’s Museum Standards Programme for Ireland (MSPI), which promotes professional standards in the care of collections. To date, several have achieved and retained full accreditation. Good collections management, which involves the documentation, preservation and conservation of collections, is fundamental to the achievement and retention of this status. The work of the collections care team is informed by research on the significance of the objects within their historical context. The achievement of MSPI has enabled us to develop an active loans programme with national and international museums, which greatly enriches the interpretation of our own properties and collections.

In addition, the OPW is also the custodian of several archives and libraries that are unique to each of the properties that house them. These collections are also catalogued, monitored, protected and managed in accordance with best practice, by professional staff. A paper collections policy is being developed to facilitate access to these libraries and archives by external researchers and academics. We wish to encourage historical research into themes surrounding the architecture and origins of the properties, their position in the locality and the families who lived there. Ultimately, staff work with these collections to better inform the visitor experience. Included in the archival collections the images that appear on the following pages, many of which have been commissioned especially for this project. Together with others that have been taken over the years, they form a valuable and ever-growing archival record of the buildings, collections, works and changes that have taken place on the sites in our care. Collected together, they also provide a valuable new resource for the OPW in the areas of publicity, merchandising and visitor engagement.

Central to the work we do is the guiding philosophy that our buildings, landscapes and collections can only be cared for to the highest standards, now and in the future, if we fully understand their past. For our visitors, as well as for our colleagues in architectural services, it is essential that we provide accurate and meaningful information. In order to achieve this, we develop, lead and apply programmes of original, professional research, which encompass everything from social, to political, to cultural history. The rich archival material yielded from this work supports the development of conservation management plans, the creation of comprehensive collections inventories and feeds into decisions taken as part of day-to-day programmes of building maintenance and site presentation. For visitors, this research is enjoyed in the form of the vibrant and authentic stories told on guided tours, as well as through exhibitions, leaflets, website content and cultural programming. Publications are also an important element of our work. These range from introductory guidebooks to rigorously researched volumes produced in partnership with leading academic publishers. The design of many of these outputs is crafted in-house and is driven by the same desire for excellence, clarity and visitor engagement.

In an age where the professionalization of heritage interpretation has shaped ever-more curious and engaged visitors, we aim to meet the highest international standards, as we tell them the stories of these places and why they matter. We are passionate in our belief that the authentic, human stories of the people who shaped the properties in our care, can tell our visitors so much about our nation’s development and its place in the world today, and that research is the key to unlocking these stories.

Whether through professional collections management, scholarly research, world-class publications or housekeeping standards, the OPW Collections, Research and Interpretation team helps to safeguard Ireland’s cultural, artistic, scientific and historic inheritance and make it accessible to all.