2 pictures woven at the exhibition. The first of a Dublin scene in black and white with red details, gold trimming and bordered by green. The second of of O'Connell (Sackville) Street and Bridge in black and white with gold trimming and bordered by green.
The Irish International Exhibition was the key social event of the first decade. It was hosted on the grounds of Herbert Park in Ballsbridge between May and November of 1907. The aim was to promote domestic industry by showcasing Irish products, as well as encouraging the development of commercial links by inviting all countries to exhibit their goods. Nearly three million visitors came to ogle at everything from industrial machinery to fine art, but the main attraction was a full-scale Somali village and the rare whimsy of a water chute and switchback railway. One of these pictures shows the central exhibition hall; the other captures a scene from O’Connell Bridge.

Gate Theatre Poster from 1940s detailing week's worth of productions including 'Gaslight' and 'The Importance of Being Earnest'.

A black and white photograph of Maureen O'Hara signed by her with 'To the "Litle Museum" of Dublin, + all my fellow Dubliners, Best Wishes, Maureen O'Hara'

The great Maureen O’Hara, star of The Quiet Man and Miracle on 34th Street, was born in Ranelagh in 1920. Now aged 91, she lives in Glengarriff in Cork. O’Hara trained as an actor at the Abbey Theatre and the Ena Mary Burke School of Drama and Elocution in Dublin. Her father owned shares in Shamrock Rovers F.C. and she remains a fan.

A collection of posters censored by the Irish distributors so as not to offend religious authorities or the sensibilities of Irish audiences at that time. The censorship usually amounts to painting dresses on scantily clad female actors (never on men, interestingly) in varying degrees from covering up low cut dresses to adding dresses or tops to bikini clad girls. Includes Hotel Sahara, 1951, The Prodigal 1955, The Captain's Table 1959, No Love for Johnnie 1961, What A Carve Up 1961, Some Girls Do 1970, and many more. A fascinating and unique collection of Irish social history ephemera of the 1950s to 1970s. (32)

1954 Anthony Cronin, John Ryan and Patrick Kavanagh at Martello Tower. A black and white photo of Anthony Cronin, John Ryan and Patrick Kavanagh on Bloomsday, 16 June, 1954 outside the Martello Tower, Sandycove, Co. Dublin

Bloomsday was first celebrated on the 16th of June 1954, the 50th anniversary of the day on which the story of James Joyce’s Ulysses took place. Poets Anthony Cronin (on the left) and Patrick Kavanagh (on the right) are pictured here with publisher John Ryan at the Martello tower in Sandycove, where Joyce once lived.

An Invitation from the Director of the Gaiety Theatre to the Lord Mayor of Dublin and Lady Mayoress inviting them to the reopening of the Gaiety Theatre on Friday 25 November 1955.

An invitation to the Lord Mayor of Dublin to attend the performance that re-opened the Gaiety on the 25th of November, 1955. The Gaiety had been forced to close ten months previously when Dublin Corporation condemned the upper circle balcony as unsafe. The auditorium had to be redesigned with safer exits before the Gaiety could re-open. Denis Larkin, son of the famous labour activist Jim Larkin, was Lord Mayor at the time.

Colour lithograph of 5 horses standing on top of the world. ‘Dublin Horse Show August 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 1957. Great International Jumping Competitions. Travel to Ireland the easy way Fly Aer Lingus.’

Book with white cover and red writing. ‘Dublin Horse Show August 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 1958’ The cover also has the RDS logo.

Commemorative programme for the Gaiety Theatre- featuring Orson Welles