Merrion Square & Around - Dublin - page 169

If you can cope with any more history, upstairs are Medieval Ireland 1150-1550 , Viking Age I re-
land - which features exhibits from the excavations at Wood Quay, the area between Christ
Church Cathedral and the river - and our own favourite, the aptly named Clothes from Bogs in
Ireland , a collection of 16th- and 17th-century woollen garments recovered from the bog.
Enthralling stuff!
WHAT'S IN A NAME?
Virtually all of the treasures held here are named after the location in which they were found. It's interesting to
note that most of them were discovered not by archaeologists' trowels but by bemused farmers out ploughing
their fields, cutting peat or, in the case of the Ardagh Chalice, digging for spuds.
The museum was founded by an act of (British) Parliament on 14 August, 1877 as the Museum of Science
and Art, Dublin. Its original purview was to house the expanding collection of the Royal Dublin Society,
which were duly transferred to state ownership along with important collections owned by Trinity College
and the Royal Irish Academy.