Ireland is confronting one of its most painful historical chapters in a deeply public way. A major new exhibition at Galway City Museum is now giving survivors of the Tuam Mother and Baby institution a dedicated space to be heard, remembered, and understood by visitors from Ireland and the global Irish community.
The exhibition, “Survivor Stories: Tuam” and Ireland’s Institutional Past, is the first museum installation in Ireland created specifically to examine Mother and Baby institutions and their long shadow over Irish society. For readers of Irish Around World, it is a significant cultural moment that connects memory, accountability, and irish heritage worldwide in a way that is both local and international.
Why the Tuam exhibition matters in Irish Around World conversations
Developed by University of Galway in partnership with Galway City Museum, the exhibition focuses on the Tuam Mother and Baby institution while also exploring the broader treatment of unmarried mothers and their children in Ireland. It places survivors at the centre of the story through testimony, photographs, archival material, audio, and personal artefacts.
The project also highlights the work of historian Catherine Corless, whose research fundamentally changed public understanding of Tuam and helped bring international attention to this history. Her contribution is woven through the exhibition, including a detailed scale model of the institution.
Visitors can expect:
- Audio and visual testimony from 18 survivors
- Historical documents and photographs
- Personal objects connected to institutional life
- A survivor-focused interpretation of Ireland’s institutional past
- An accompanying podcast series for deeper engagement
This is not simply a museum display. It is a public act of remembrance and education, with relevance for anyone interested in irish culture abroad, irish diaspora history, and the history of irish immigration shaped by silence, stigma, and separation.
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Survivor-led storytelling and the role of memory
The exhibition has grown out of the University of Galway’s survivor-led Tuam Oral History Project, led by Dr Sarah-Anne Buckley and Dr John Cunningham. Since 2018, the project has gathered testimonies and artefacts from survivors, their families, and others directly affected.
That survivor-first approach gives the exhibition particular weight. Rather than treating this history as distant, it invites visitors into first-hand experiences and shows how trauma can echo across generations. For audiences seeking a fuller understanding of modern irish culture and craic, this is also a reminder that culture includes difficult truths, not just celebration.
Catherine Corless described the project as a vital effort to preserve life stories that might otherwise be lost over time. Her comments underline the urgency behind the exhibition: remembrance must be active, recorded, and shared.
What visitors will see
According to organisers, the installation includes photographic portraits, survivor testimonies, archival records, audio elements, and meaningful objects. One especially poignant item is a lock of hair belonging to writer and survivor J.P. Rodgers, adding a deeply human dimension to the historical record.
The museum has also framed the project as a place for reflection and healing. That matters not only for Galway audiences, but for international visitors tracing family memory through an irish genealogy search or tracing irish ancestry with a deeper interest in the lived realities behind the records.
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Galway City Museum exhibition draws local and international interest
The exhibition runs at Galway City Museum from July to September 2026 in the museum foyer. Organisers say it is expected to attract both Irish and overseas audiences, including 29 US tour groups travelling to Galway specifically to experience the exhibition and learn more about this part of Ireland’s past.
That level of interest shows how strongly this story resonates beyond Ireland. Across the global irish community, people continue to search for ways to understand family histories, institutional legacies, and the realities behind irish traditions kept alive abroad. In that sense, Irish Around World is not only about celebration, irish festivals international, or what is the craic; it also means engaging honestly with history.
A public programme of talks, workshops, and screenings will accompany the exhibition, offering additional context for visitors and making it one of the more important irish culture and craic conversations happening in Galway this season.
Conclusion
The new Galway City Museum exhibition is a landmark step in how Ireland presents the history of Mother and Baby institutions to the public. For readers following Irish Around World, it stands as an essential example of how museums, universities, and survivors can work together to preserve truth, dignity, and memory. In a time when so many people are reconnecting with irish heritage worldwide, this exhibition offers not just history, but a necessary act of listening.
