A Cork museum has launched a fundraising campaign in a bid to plug a €12,000 hole in their finances caused by the pandemic. 

Independence Museum Kilmurry, set up by the voluntary group, Kilmurry Historical & Archaeological Association (KHAA), has attracted visitors in their droves since opening in 2016, but Covid-19 has proved a major challenge for the museum.

"We, through partial leader funding and other fundraising endeavours, got the chance to build a purpose-built museum and community space which was officially opened by the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins in August 2016. 

"As a group, we still have a debt of loan on this building which has been financed through a charity lending finance group," Chairman of Independence Museum Kilmurry, Aidan O'Sullivan, told The Echo.

"As with all buildings, the museum and community space have running costs such as heating, ESB, phone, insurance etc, which came to €30,000 approximately last year. 

"These expenses would be met in a normal year by fundraising events such as concerts, coffee mornings and bag packing, but these avenues of fundraising have been closed to us due to Covid-19," he continued.

Up until March, the community room onsite was used as an area for classes, birthday parties and other events, which also generated income for the museum. 

In a bid to raise much-needed funds, Independence Museum Kilmurry has now launched a GoFundMe campaign. 

"We had to think outside the box and go online for inspiration for fundraising. 

"We became aware of the GoFundMe forum and this has allowed us to seek donations from virtual donors," Mr O'Sullivan said.

If you would like to donate to the fundraiser, visit the GoFundMe page

In line with Level 3 restrictions, which come into effect from midnight tonight, the museum will be closed for a period of three weeks.