Recent years have witnessed a sea change in political and public opinion regarding Ireland’s military tradition with the British armed forces and a renewed appreciation of the Irish Defences Forces and their service. Within this positive environment, in 2010 the Curragh Military Museum was established by the Irish Defence Forces with the objective of highlighting significant and diverse aspects of Ireland’s military tradition, establishing an enduring link between the Defence Forces and the public and contributing to the esprit de corp within the Irish armed forces. The museum includes a range of exhibitions detailing Ireland’s military past and the modern era of the Irish army. The Curragh Military Museum’s highlights include the Chester Beatty Weapons Collection, rare examples of oriental matchlock guns and swords; a range of artefacts from the 1600s to the present day, including small-arms weapons from the Great War, the 1916 Rising, the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War; and a range of armoured vehicles, including the Rolls Royce armoured car, Sliábh na mBan, which formed part of General Michael Collins’s convoy when it was ambushed at Béal na mBláth in August 1922.
