Fragment of Nelson’s Pillar, 1966
This piece of granite is from Nelson’s Pillar on O’Connell Street, which was blown up by the IRA at 2am on 8 March 1966. Bombs destroyed the upper half of the pillar and threw the statue of Nelson into the street. Several days later, the Irish army demolished the remains of the pillar, causing more damage to O’Connell Street than the original blast. Nelson’s head was stored in a shed on Clanbrassil Street, before being stolen by students from the National College of Art and Design as a fund-raising prank. It was leased to a London antique store owner, and later appeared on the stage of the Olympia when the Dubliners performed. The head of Nelson’s Pillar is now on display in the excellent Dublin City Library and Archive on Pearse Street.
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Groceries from Alex Findlater and Co., 1960s
Alex Findlater and Co. started life in 1823, trading whiskey, wine and beer. The company expanded rapidly, adding general groceries to its alcohol trade, and became a major institution, with branches all over the city. Ultimately, pressure from supermarkets became too much for Findlaters’ more traditional service – as William Findlater had predicted at a 1902 staff meeting: “This brings up the question of packet goods, which is one of the curses of the trade, unless they bear our own brand. If this is encouraged much further it will mean the passing out of the grocer, and he will be replaced by a mere hander-out of packet goods, or, we will have nothing but girls behind our counters, which may be unpleasant to many of the young men present!”
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Accreditation of Dáil Plenipotentiaries, 1921
This is the most important historical document in the museum. Appointing Dáil Éireann’s delegation for the Anglo-Irish Treaty negotiations, it includes signed instructions from Éamon de Valera, who had recently been chosen as Dáil President by his colleagues. This is one of five original copies, and for 40 years the document languished at the back of a filing cabinet in a law firm on Ormond Quay. The exact role and powers of the plenipotentiaries would de disputed in the bitter debate that surrounded the Dáil’s ratification of the Treaty.
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The Little Museum Collection 