Cobh Museum is a voluntary Museum. It is run as a Company Limited by Guarantee on a not-for-profit basis.
It is staffed by members of a part time Community Employment Scheme who work alongside a team of over 20 volunteers . The Company Secretary, Treasurer and Curator are also volunteers and give many hours of work to maintain the collection, oversee the conservation programme, and ensure the smooth running of the Museum and its service to visitors.
Donations towards the conservation programme and the improvement of storage facilities for the important archive and the many artefacts in the care of the Museum are urgently needed.
GENEALOGICAL RESEARCH
Cobh Museum receives many requests for help in the area of tracing ancestors that left from Cove/Queenstown/Cobh over the past two hundred years. We do not offer a full genealogical research service but we can direct you to where you could start or continue your search.
Visitors are offered the opportunity to consult our reference section which includes information ongenealogical sources/ Irish and local history/ shipping/ emigration (including copies of some passenger lists)/ Lusitania and Titanic history.
Donations towards the upkeep of the Museum archives are appreciated.
We also offer a genealogical referral service and a limited research service in the area of local history to those who telephone, write or email. However there is a small charge for this service.
A 32 page booklet, compiled by the Museum, called ‘Steps towards Tracing your Irish Ancestor’ is available at a cost of €10 (plus postage). This together with books on local history, postcards and souvenirs are also for sale in the Museum.
Conservation is a vital part of our work in Cobh Museum.
In the past year two projects have been completed:
– The restoration of the delicate ornate frame of the Atkinson painting of the P.S. Sabrina c. 1845
– The cleaning and preservation of the Cunard Crest
These projects are costly and are only possible through private sponsorship. We are extremely grateful to all those who donate towards this very important conservation programme.
Next year our target is to raise enough money to conserve the drawings of the Customs House in Queenstown (Cobh) dated 1896. The drawings below show the elevations and plans for the ground and 1st floors of the proposed building.