Heritage hot spots History, nature, art, environment

Hunt Museum

What is it?The Hunt Museum, in Limerick, houses one of the country's most impressive collections of art and antiquities from Greece, Rome, Egypt and Ireland. Built up by John and Gertrude Hunt, the collection was first shown at the University of Limerick; it moved to Custom House after a long campaign by the museum and its governing bodies to find a suitable building for the collection. Custom House was restored and refurbished by the Office of Public Works in 1996; the Hunt Museum formally opened the following year.

Why visit?The permanent collections offer an insight into past civilisations. Its Irish archaeological material, for example, includes Neolithic flints, Bronze Age shields, early Christian crosses and jewellery, ceramics, and painted panels from medieval times. The museum also has some fine 19th-century silver, glass and ceramics (all of which you also can browse online). Picasso, Renoir, Roderic O'Conor, Jack B Yeats and Henry Moore are among the artists in the collection. The Custom House itself is an impressive Palladian-style building designed in 1765 by Davis Ducart (whose background is unclear but seems to have been born Daviso de Arcort, in Italy).

Why now?The museum has a lively programme of classes. For today's National Drawing Day, the Hunt Museum has a tutored life-drawing taster class at 10.30am, children's arts and crafts from 11am until 12.30pm and drop-in drawing from 10am to 5pm. The winners of a children's doodling competition will be announced at 2pm.

Until the end of the month you can also visit Ranks: A Limerick Industry, which tells the story of the city’s flour mills through objects, stories and photographs of former workers and their families. Hunt 2012: Symbiois, the 15th annual exhibition by second-year painting students at Limerick School of Art and Design, runs until May 20th. Shaped By History, an exhibition of photographs of the Milk Market and some Limerick characters, will be shown from June 8th to September 16th.

How do I get there?Custom House is on Rutland Street, on the banks of the Shannon, two minutes from St Mary's Cathedral and Limerick City Hall. It is open Monday to Saturday from 10am to 5pm and Sundays and bank holidays from 2pm to 5pm. Admission is free on Sundays and two for the price of one on Mondays; 061-312833, huntmuseum.com.