National Print Museum, Dublin
The National Print Museum is a unique museum — the only one of its kind in Ireland. The main collection is not behind glass or rope, but is instead an example of a working collection of fully-operational letterpress printing equipment, displayed and organised like a traditional 1960s print-shop.
The panel of retired printers and compositors who founded the Museum continue to play a vital role in preserving the collection and the craft. A major challenge is preserving their knowledge and skills, and passing these on to future generations. This field trip to the Museum will include a short walk through the collection and the description of two recent educational projects which try to answer that challenge, Creative Makers and the Skills Transfer Programme, ‘Making Our Impression’.
Mary Plunkett is the Education Officer at the National Print Museum. She joined the staff in 2019 having been involved in a number of projects since 2012, most recently as Project Artist on the Creative Makers Project and Training Manager on the Skills Transfer Programme. Mary is a designer and printmaker with a particular interest in letterpress and book arts. When time permits she makes limited edition books and prints at her own workshop, the Belgrave Private Press. Her work is in the collections of the National Library of Ireland, The British Library and Hesburgh Library, Notre Dame, among others.
