The Evening Press was a widely-read Dublin newspaper
The Evening Press was the most popular evening newspaper in Ireland from 1954 to the mid-1990s, with sales at one point of 175,000 copies a day. It published nearly 10,000 cartoons by ‘Till’ (George O’Callaghan), the most prolific cartoonist in the world, and the early work of journalists Con Houlihan and Vincent Browne.
Ten of Ireland’s most accomplished artists have each produced a piece that reflects on some aspect of life in Dublin during the 20th Century
The final decade, the 1990s, was the beginning of the Celtic Tiger, and a decade also fuelled by the feel-good factors of Italia 90, the Presidency of Mary Robinson and the ceasefire in the North. An exciting contemporary artist working in a wide range of media, Caroline McCarthy’s practice often incorporates found and banal objects given an ironic, witty or hilarious twist with a quick change of context.
Caroline McCarthy is riffing on the bling, consumerism and disposability of the 90s by incorporating a packet of Monster Munch into her piece, which is called Think Big. Designed specifically as a museum exhibit, but sending up the very nature of significance and historical value, Think Big is an inventive commentary on that overblown decade.
With thanks to Caroline McCarthy
Watch a documentary about the collapse of the Celtic Tiger:
Lock-hards were a fixture of Dublin life for decades. They would shout unsolicited parking advice, hoping for a fee. Peaked caps lent them a spurious air of authority
Sinéad O’Connor is an Irish singer who won fame with her cover of Prince’s ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’. She has often been a figure of controversy, expressing strong views on organised religion and women’s rights, most famously tearing up a picture of Pope John Paul II on US television. A Dubliner is someone who loves to remind you that Sinead O’Connor once worked as a waitress in the Bad Ass Café.
With thanks to Leslie Doyle for Bill Doyle and Lilliput Press.
Watch an RTÉ profile on Sinead O’Connor:
Perry Ogden is an acclaimed English photographer with a studio on Capel Street. His Pony Kids show was an artistic event of note in the mid-1990s
There is a subculture of young working class horse owners in Dublin’s inner city and some of the city’s most deprived suburbs. Horses and ponies are ridden bareback, bought and sold in Smithfield Square on the first Sunday of every month.
Permanent Collection
Watch a video of Perry Ogden:
Thom McGinty, better known as the Diceman, was a street performer in the 1980s and early 1990s
McGinty came to Ireland in 1976 to work as a model. The name Diceman came from a shop that sold role-playing games.
In the 1980s and early 1990s, McGinty became well-known for performances on Grafton Street where he would sometimes work as a mime artist or would otherwise perform in costume, advertising the shop. He is pictured here as the Not So Laughing Cavalier. McGinty was diagnosed with HIV in 1990 and died in 1995.
With thanks to Christopher Robson.
Watch a photo-reel video of the ‘Diceman’:
Mike Hogan adds to the gaiety of the nation. This is perhaps the sincerest compliment in Dublin
A former Eye in the Sky, Hogan bought the iconic In Dublin magazine for £6,500 when it was in financial trouble and succeeded in turning it around, despite courting scandal with ads for ‘massage parlours’. Hogan once owned 38 magazines. He now works with telecoms magnate Denis O’Brien.
With thanks to Mike Hogan
Graham Knuttel painted gently satirical pictures of all the Taoisigh
This painting references Ahern’s reputation as a man of the people – his famous anorak, that pub in Drumcondra opposite his constituency office. Charlie Haughey’s much quoted description – “The Most Cunning of Them All” – refers to the other side of Ahern’s reputation.
Permanent Collection
Watch a video about the Mahon Tribunal and Bertie Ahern:
Homosexuality was illegal in Ireland until 1993
The 1993 Pride Parade was held the day after the old criminal laws were abolished, and the celebrations on the steps of the Central Bank were, in the words of photographer Christopher Robson, “wild and memorable.”
With thanks to Christopher Robson
Visit the RTE Archives to listen to the announcement of the decriminalisation of homosexuality:
Gay Byrne is one of the most well-known television personalities in Ireland
Gay Byrne hosted RTÉ’s flagship talk show, the Late Late Show, for 37 years from its first broadcast in 1962. Byrne was a major catalyst in the transformation of Irish society, riffing on abortion, contraception and homosexuality.
The Late Late Show featured an owl on its opening credits, hence the owl’s appearance on Byrne’s freedom of the city award. Byrne retired in 1999, but still pops up on Irish television.
With thanks to Gay Byrne
The Evening Press was a very popular Dublin newspaper
The Evening Press was the most popular evening newspaper in Ireland from 1954 to the mid-1990s, with sales at one point of 175,000 copies a day. It published nearly 10,000 cartoons by ‘Till’ (George O’Callaghan), the most prolific cartoonist in the world, and the early work of journalists Con Houlihan and Vincent Browne.
With thanks to Winter Hynes
The Little Museum Collection 
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