A new exhibition at Kilkenny’s Medieval Mile Museum focuses on the lives of the people who lived in the city during the medieval period.

Three years ago, skeletal remain were uncovered during excavation work at the entrance to the museum, which is located on the 13th-century site of St. Mary’s church and graveyard.

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The remains of three females are part of a permanent exhibition, “3 Lives, 3 Deaths, One Life Unlived,” which opened at the museum last week.

On view are the skeletons of three females who lived between 1320 and 1640: a woman in her forties, an adolescent girl and a teenager. The story of an infant, whose remains were also discovered during the excavation, will be told through an interactive display. 

Fáilte Ieland has invested €90,000 into the exhibition. Kilkenny People reports that it is one of 19 new technology-driven visitor experiences to open over the next year in heritage sites and attractions across Ireland’s Ancient East as part of Fáilte Ireland’s €2.3 million Storytelling Interpretation Grants Scheme.

Publiée par Medieval Mile Museum sur Jeudi 27 juin 2019

“When overseas visitors come to Ireland, they not only want to visit these great attractions – they want to hear first-hand the stories about Ireland at that time and the people who lived and worked in the area,” says Head of Ireland’s Ancient East at Fáilte Ireland Jenny De Saulle.

“The new 3 lives, 3 deaths, one life unlived exhibition offers just that – it brings to life Kilkenny’s past in a way that is compelling and emotive.”

The National Museum of Ireland also provided funding and archaeology work was carried out by the museum's team, RTÉ reports.

Immerse yourself in 800 years of history at the Medieval Mile Museum this Summer! Our guided tours have been described...

Publiée par Medieval Mile Museum sur Vendredi 12 juillet 2019

The exhibition was designed and installed by Tandem Design, who have worked on exhibitions such as Titanic Belfast and the 1916 centenary exhibition at the National Museum of Ireland.

“The exhibition presents opportunities for discovery-led, multi-sensory and interactive learning. Within, the remains are respectfully displayed and accompanied by minimal but meaningful interpretation. The visitor will feel a sense of exploration facilitated by the design while having the option to choose if they wish to enter the internal space”, said Grace Fegan, Medieval Mile Museum curator.

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“Until the mid-1600s, only the very wealthy were buried in coffins. Poorer parishioners’ bodies were put directly into the soil, dressed in a shroud. It is ironic that these three parishioners will now be interred alongside the grandiose burial chambers and ornamental tombs of St Mary’s. I think it’s a nice ending to what, for them, must have been a very hard life.”

For more information, visit www.medievalmilemusuem.ie.