Kerry County Museum has recently been included in the Museum Standards Programme for Ireland (MSPI). The programme, which is run under the aegis of the Heritage Council, sets out to raise standards of Irish museums and to bring them into line with standards elsewhere in Europe and across the world. The Museum Standards Programme consists of a series of detailed, and rigorous, minimum standards and objectives that recognise international best practice in museums. The voluntary programme was developed in full consultation with the museum sector and now has over thirty participants, all of whom are endeavouring to raise their levels of professionalism.



The Museum Standards Programme sets
the bar for participating institutions

As part of the Samhlaíocht Easter Arts Festival KCM offered free admission on Easter Saturday. As we hoped, this generated a great response and the Museum was packed with over 200 people visiting. Last November and December we had a similar response when we opened the doors free of charge for a trial period. Normally one of the quietest times of the year, the Museum was buzzing in the lead up to Christmas, and most of the local schools took the opportunity to pay us a visit. In fact the KCM attracted over 2,000 extra visitors as a direct result of the free admission. Hopefully this is an experiment we can try again so check back for future announcements!