National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks

The National Museum of Ireland – Decorative Arts and History (Irish: Ard-Mhúsaem na hÉireann – Na hEalaíona Maisiúla ⁊ Stair), also known as the National Museum of Ireland – Collins Barracks is a branch of the National Museum of Ireland (NMI) located at the former Collins Barracks in the Arbour Hill area of Dublin, Ireland. This museum holds historical and contemporary collections relating to military history and decorative arts, with core collections relating to historical Irish events such as the Easter Rising. History 1877–1922 The Decorative Arts & History Department of the NMI, formerly called the Art and Industrial Division of the Dublin Museum of Science and Art, was founded in 1877, alongside the Natural History Division, and the Antiquities Division. Early objects for this division were purchased in 1878 and 1879, when 121 Indian and Persian objects, including enamels, ceramics, and textiles were added to the collections which came from the Royal Dublin Society and the Museum of Irish Industry . Material was also loaned from what was then the South Kensington Museum (now the V&A). A Dubliner's Collection of Asian Art: The Albert Bender Exhibition The exhibition of the collection of Albert Bender was remounted at Collins Barracks in 2008, a collection which had been previously displayed at the museum in Kildare Street from the 1930s to 1973. Bender was an Irish-born Jew who had emigrated to San Francisco , where he amassed a large fortune from his work in insurance. The modern remounting of this exhibition displays a selection from the 260 objects of Asian art Bender donated, with one of the most important set of objects being the.