Ye Olde Hurdy Gurdy Museum of Vintage Radio
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 | |
  Location within Dublin | |
| Established | 2003 |
|---|---|
| Location | Howth, Ireland |
| Coordinates | 53°23′16″N 6°03′49″W / 53.387668°N 6.063654°W |
| Type | communication history |
| Curator | Pat Herbert |
| Public transit access | Howth railway station St Laurence Road bus stop (Dublin Bus route 31) |
| Website | sites |
Ye Olde Hurdy Gurdy Museum of Vintage Radio is a museum of communication history based in the Martello tower in Howth, Dublin.[1]
Tower history[edit]
The tower was built in 1805, one of the many towers built along the Irish coast to guard against a possible Napoleonic invasion,[2] and has long been associated with the history of radio transmission in Ireland and beyond.[3] From 1825, the tower was used by the Preventative Water Guard (now the Irish Coast Guard) in its anti-smuggling work.[1]
The tower was the terminus of the first telegraph line connecting Wales to Ireland in 1852.[2] The first successful wireless radio transmission by Lee de Forest on 23 November 1903 was also conducted from this tower.[3] Guglielmo Marconi demonstrated his technology using a high aerial to communicate with a ship in 1905.[1] From 1922, the tower was used by the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs, then Telecom Éireann until the 1980s when it was sold to Dublin City Council.[1] It passed to Dublin County Council and then to Fingal County Council, who still own it, as of 2020.
Museum[edit]
The tower was refurbished in 2001,[1] with the museum opening in 2003. It is based around the collections of former curator Pat Herbert[3] who had been collecting for over 60 years.[4] The name of the museum is an homage to a remark by Taoiseach Seán Lemass, who asked an RTÉ radio controller in the 1950s "How's the hurdy gurdy?".[5]
The exhibition includes artefacts relating to all forms of communication and related Irish historical events,[2] including radios, early televisions, gramophones, and records.[3] The story of curator Pat Herbert and the museum was the subject of a 10-minute award-winning film in 2014, Hurdy Gurdy Man.[4][6] The museum was operated by Herbert and a team of fellow volunteers up to the COVID-19 pandemic, when, as with all museums in Ireland, it closed. Herbert died in June 2020, and the museum's website was updated by his fellow volunteers.[7]
The Morse code-based amateur radio station, EI0MAR, operates from the museum.[8]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e Thompson, Sylvia (4 August 2012). "Heritage hot spots: History, nature, art, environment". The Irish Times. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
- ^ a b c "Ye Olde Hurdy Gurdy Museum of Vintage Radios (Industrial)". Irish Museums Association. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
- ^ a b c d "The Museum of Vintage Radio in Martello Tower". Atlas of Ingenious Ireland. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
- ^ a b Russell, Cliodhna (23 February 2014). "Gramophone and radio collector: 'Throwing away records is sacrilege'". The Journal. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
- ^ Ó Conghaile, Pól (2013). Secret Dublin: An Unusual Guide. France: JonGlez. p. 259. ISBN 978-2361950712.
- ^ "Pat Herbert, curator of the Hurdy Gurdy Museum of Vintage Radio - SK". QRZ.COM. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
- ^ "The Hurdy Gurdy Museum of Vintage Radio, Howth". The Hurdy Gurdy Museum, Howth. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
- ^ "Ye Olde Hurdy Gurdy Museum of Vintage Radio". Ask Ireland. Retrieved 8 May 2015.