30th June 2011

Congratulations to the GAA Museum which has been awarded full accreditation by the Heritage Council under the Museum Standards Programme for Ireland.

The GAA Museum was one of three museums awarded full accreditation at a ceremony attended by the Minister of Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht Affairs Jimmy Deenihan, T.D.  The other two museums were Farmleigh House and Donegal County Museum.

The Museum Standards Programme, the first of its kind in Ireland, is an important initiative which sets out to improve all aspects of Ireland’s museum practice and in particular raise the standards of care for collections across Irish museums and galleries.

The GAA Museum was awarded full accreditation after only last year receiving interim accreditation. Assessors felt that the Museum is distinguished by the professionalism and determined developmental focus it has brought to its engagement with the Standards Programme. Within the timeframe of the assessment process, the Museum has invested in substantial improvements, including redevelopment of its main exhibition area and commissioning new temporary exhibition and education areas.  Overall, this reflects a high level of achievement and places the Museum in the top division of European sports museums. Programme assessors commented that the museum was an excellent example of a museum with ‘unambiguous and demanding commercial goals that sustains a cultural ethos’.

The Museum Standards Programme for Ireland (MSPI) aims to benchmark and raise professional minimum standards in the museum sector. An application for interim accreditation takes three years to complete, while full accreditation takes five years. The GAA Museum has achieved its full accreditation status within four years of joining the Programme. 

Fully accredited museums – The National Gallery of Ireland, National Print Museum, Muckross House, Muckross Research  Library and Muckross Traditional Farms, Butler Gallery, Kilkenny, Monaghan County Museum, Knock Museum, Waterford Museum of Treasures, Donegal County Museum, Farmleigh and The GAA Museum.