The Hunt Museum in Limerick, which houses a private collection of arts and antiquities, has won the Museum of the Year Award 2003.
The announcement was made at the Museums of the Year Awards presentation ceremony yesterday - attended by the President, Mrs McAleese - in the House of Lords, Bank of Ireland, Dublin.
The Hunt Museum was cited for its consistent good practice, including an ongoing inventive education programme, quality exhibitions, website, published guide and the maintenance of its historic collection and building.
"These awards are deserved recognition of the considerable efforts you make to be careful but imaginative custodians of the past, astute observers of the present and accessible, credible bridge-builders between peoples, times and places," the President told museum workers.
The Museum of the Year Awards, in their 12th year, are administered jointly by the Heritage Council and the Northern Ireland Museums Council.
The Best Access and Outreach award had joint winners: the Down County Museum and the Museum of Country Life in Co Mayo.
Commendations went to the National Gallery of Ireland, the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum and the Irish Agriculture Museum in Wexford.