The Cork Public Museum has added a permanent exhibit on Jewish history in the town — whose only synagogue was closed and deconsecrated last year because of the dwindling Jewish community.
The Irish Times reports that the exhibit, titled “The Tsar, the Rosehills and the Music Shop”, “features photos of the Hebrew congregation and items from the closed-down synagogue, but also the stories of the tradesmen, those who opened businesses in Cork, and the ‘vickle-men’ who knocked on local families’ doors once a week selling their wares.”
It said, “The pictures, artefacts, and stories were assembled in the museum by West Cork company Heritage Works, which specialises in helping communities tell others about their history and heritage.”
While the sad decline was the reason for the exhibition, it still manages to celebrate what Cork City Lord Mayor Des Cahill said was the Jewish community’s valuable contribution to the city.
“I was absolutely blown away by the magnificent artefacts on view. This is a jewel in the crown of the preservation of the heritage of the city,” he said.
The Cork Public Museum is housed in a two storey Georgian house in Fitzgerald Park, Cork.
Click to read the report in the Irish Examiner
Read our JHE report about the closure of the synagogue in February 2016