The Jackie Clarke Collection in Ballina, County Mayo contains the most important private collection of Irish history material in public hands.
Jackie Clarke was a Ballina businessman and a genius collector of Irish historical material. In 2005 his widow, Mrs. Anne Clarke, gifted his collection to Mayo County Council for the people of Ballina, Mayo, and Ireland.
The collection is housed inside the town's former Provincial Bank building and comprises over 100,000 items spanning 400 years. It includes artifacts associated with Theobald Wolfe Tone; letters from Michael Collins, Douglas Hyde, Michael Davitt, and O’Donovan Rossa.
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It also contains rare books, proclamations, posters, political cartoons, pamphlets, handbills, works by Sir John Lavery, maps, hunger strike material and personal items from Leaders of the 1916 Rising.
During your visit, you will also get to view "The Collector" exhibition which displays some key items that illustrate Mr. Clarke's genius for finding rare and unique materials and it presents a short film on how he put his collection together.
While the "Repository" section of the museum offers in-depth access to the Jackie Clarke Collection and visitors can view these items by appointment only. This facility will have particular appeal to scholars, researchers, those interested in the history of Ireland’s struggle for independence and the Irish Diaspora.
To learn more about the Jackie Clarke Collection check out their website.