Projects

Local Authority Museum Network

March 1, 2021

Local Authority Museum Network

The Local Authority Museums’ Network (LAMN) represents the 12 Local Authority Museums across Ireland who all play a vital role in the social, cultural and economic life of the regions they serve. Collectively, local authority museums serve a population of over 1.8 million people, attracting over half a million direct visitors each year with a far reaching impact in schools, communities and voluntary organisations across the country.

Video ‘Preserving the Past, Shaping the Future’ by the Local Authority Museums’ Network (LAMN).

The Local Authority Museums’ Network (LAMN) represents the 12 Local Authority Museums across Ireland who all play a vital role in the social, cultural and economic life of the regions they serve. Collectively, local authority museums serve a population of over 1.8 million people, attracting over half a million direct visitors each year with a far reaching impact in schools, communities and voluntary organisations across the country.

The LAMN video (above) was produced to highlight the importance of the museums work and contribution to Irish Society. The 12 local authority museums play a significant role in driving local and regional tourism by supporting the cultural identity and image of Ireland to overseas visitors. The local authority museums’ rich collections include some of the most inspiring and unique examples of Ireland’s archaeological and historic heritage all of which can be experienced in a diversity of ways.  The wide and imaginative range of exhibitions and events provided by local authority museums nationwide demonstrates the catalytic impact of how local museums create social cohesion in their communities.

This short video was filmed in a number of the LAMN Museums including Carlow and features three of our staff. The LAMN comprises of the following Museums:-

The LAMN plays a vital role in preserving archaeological heritage. The members of the LAMN are Designated Museums by the National Museum of Ireland and under this legislation each Museum is legally entitled to display archaeological objects on behalf of the State. All of the LAMN Museums are professionally and full time staffed and are open all year round. The majority of the LAMN Museums, including Carlow, have free admission.

What We Do

Local Authorities throughout Ireland play a vital and proactive role in promoting and preserving culture and heritage, adding significantly to the quality of life of their communities. LAMN work in
partnership with services across the wider local authorities, as well as with other organisations in their respective regions, with government departments and, of course, with communities, amplifying and contributing to the development of sustainable cultural and economic activity in our local areas.
 

Our Collections 

The LAMN rich collections include some of the most inspiring and unique examples of Ireland’s archaeological, historical, social, industrial and cultural heritage, all of which can be experienced in
a diversity of ways. The wide and imaginative range of exhibitions and events provided by local
authority museums locally and nationwide demonstrates how local museums can create social
cohesion in their communities.

As a group of professional organisations, one of the unique strengths of the LAMN is the ability to continually use their collections to pioneer new and imaginative programmes for engaging with communities of all ages and all backgrounds.

Standards

The members of the LAMN strive to achieve best standards across all areas of museum work. The Museum Standards Programme of Ireland operates under the auspices of the Heritage Council and sets out to raise standards of care across Irish museums and galleries. 

The programme aims to benchmark and promote professional standards in collections care and
to recognise the achievement of those standards within the Irish museum sector. The Programme
is fully supported by the LAMN and its members have variously achieved Maintenance of Accreditation, Full Accreditation and Interim Accreditation.

Who We Serve  

Collectively the LAMN serve a population of over 1.8 million people, attracting over half a million direct visitors each year with a far – reaching impact in schools, communities and voluntary organisations across the country. They also play a significant role as engines of local and regional tourism and support the cultural identity and image of Ireland to overseas visitors. LAMN demonstrate resilience, creativity and imagination which firmly roots them and their work at the heart of local communities throughout Ireland. 

LAMN Strategy 2022-2026

Building on the success of its previous strategy, ‘Preserving the Past Shaping the Future Strategy 2016 – 2019’, the Local Authority Museums’ Network is now setting out its strategy for the next five years. The Strategy will build on its achievements to date and focus on ways in which it can continue to strengthen and develop its role, in a sustainable way, for the enjoyment and engagement of communities into the future.

Policy Context

The LAMN Strategic Development Plan has evolved in the context of key policy areas such as Heritage 2030, Culture 2025 and Project Ireland 2040. Our goals and actions while specific to LAMN are aligned to these policy contexts to highlight how LAMN is central to the successful delivery and implementation of policy at the regional and local level.

The Covid 19 pandemic presented the LAMN members with unique challenges both in terms of collections  management and interaction with our users. With our services closed to the public and our colleagues working remotely, the sector embraced new technologies and new ways of working to ensure that we continued to provide services to our communities while also ensuring the safety and care of the collections we hold in trust. 

We have taken the learning from this experience and reflected it in the strategic focus of the plan Our plan is also aligned to the principles of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals which seeks to position the role of museums more centrally as part of the solution to the global challenges and opportunities linked in particular to cultural diversity and climate change. 

In the implementation of the strategy we will collectively strive to meet the obligations of the Public Sector Duty (IHREC Act 2014) and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. We will also endeavour to support the work of each of our Local Authorities on the implementation of relevant strategies including the Climate Change Local Adaptation and Mitigation Strategies, the Migrant Integration Strategies and the Age Friendly Strategies.

Key Partners

Through this strategy, the LAMN will play an even greater role in the delivery of local, national and cross-border programmes working in partnership with a wide range of organisations including: Local Authorities, the County and City Management Association (CCMA), relevant government departments, the Heritage Council, National Museum of Ireland (NMI), Irish Museums’ Association (IMA), National Museums’ Northern Ireland (NMNI), Northern Ireland Museums’ Council (NIMC), International Council of Museums’ (ICOM), Local Government Management Agency (LGMA), Irish Museums’ Trust (IMT), Office of Public Works (OPW), Fáilte Ireland, Creative Ireland and the County Development Partnerships. We will also continue to work actively with the network of Heritage Officers, Archivists, Biodiversity Officers, Conservation Officers, County Librarians, Arts Officers, Tourism Officers and County Archaeologists.

You can download a copy of the LAMN’ recently published 2022-2026 strategy via the button below.

Previous LAMN Strategy ‘Preserving the Past Shaping the Future Strategy 2016-2019’ 
 

Strategy – “Preserving the Past Shaping the Future Strategy 2016 – 2019” which looks at the aims and objectives of the LAMN.

Please click on the links below for the English and Irish versions.

Previous LAMN Exhibitions  

Under Construction

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