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Address:
Department of Classics, K216, Belfield, Dublin 4
Opening Hours:
The Museum is open in term time on Tue and Fri from 10 am - 1 pm, and on Thu from 2 pm - 5 pm, or by appointment (+353-1-716 8576).
Contact:
Dr Christina Haywood, Curator
christina.haywood@ucd.ie
Phone: +353 1 716 8576
Fax: +353 1 716 1176
Links:
Classical Museum
University College Dublin
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Description:
The Classical Museum was founded in 1910 by Father Henry Browne, a Jesuit priest and Professor of Greek at University College Dublin, and firm believer in the use of "educational aids" for the teaching of Classics.
The material in the collection spans the periods from the Neolithic in Crete (6th mil. BC) to late Roman antiquity (6th c. BC). The core of the collection derives from offers of antiquities by the Asmolean Museum the British Museum and the National Museum of Ireland between 1910 and 1914. Purchases were also made in the antiquities market between 1910 and 1922, the date Henry Browne retired from University College Dublin.
The collection includes Minoan, Mycenaean and Cypriot antiquities, a large collection of Greek vases, Greek terracottas, Greek and Roman coins, Roman glass, wine-amphorae, various items of daily life, and Egyptian Antiquities, including some stelae, ostraka and papyri. There is also a Roman marble sarcophagus and a good collection of Roman cippi and stelae bought by the College in 1936 at the sale of the Sir George Cockburn collection. This is the only acquisition which was made after Browne's retirement.
The most significant antiquities are on display in the Museum, the rest is stored in easily accessible cabinets. The museum mounts exhibitions with the participation of students every other year, the recent themes being: "All that glitters: an exhibition of repicas of Bronze Age plate", "Wine drinking habits in Antiquity, from the Minoans to the Romans", and "The making of the Classical Museum: Antiquarians, Collectors and Archaeologists"
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