Cork museum makes history with new LGBT+ exhibition

Cork Public Museum has announced the opening of its latest exhibition ‘We Were Always Here — Cork LGBT History’.

This permanent exhibition is a collaboration between the museum and the Cork LGBT Archive and opened to the public yesterday.

Using original documents, objects, and personal possessions, the exhibition traces LGBT+ history in Cork through the stories of the people and organisations that sought to support and defend the LGBT+ community, especially when it was illegal to be homosexual in Ireland until 1993.

The display is a celebration of activists who created, and continue to create, social, and cultural spaces, challenge prejudice, and help bring about lasting social and political change.

It marks the first time a permanent LGBT+ exhibition has been installed in any Irish museum, and coincides with the 50th anniversary of the opening of the first gay centre in Cork on MacCurtain St in 1976.

The Cork LGBT Archive, established in 2013, gathers, preserves, and shares the rich history of Cork’s LGBT+ communities.

Orla Egan, exhibition curator and founder of the Cork LGBT Archive, said: “Too often the history of the LGBT community has been invisible, ignored or erased. Having Cork’s LGBTQ history on display in the Cork Public Museum will ensure that is it accessible and cannot be forgotten or ignored.

“This is even more important in today’s world when we are witnessing an increase in transphobia and homophobia in the world.”

This exhibition was funded by Cork City Council, the Heritage Council of Ireland, and the Department of Culture, Communication and Sport.