A brown bear named Beir Bua by Museum visitors is on temporary display at the National Museum of Ireland, Turlough Park, Castlebar, Co. Mayo.

The brown bear, from the Natural History Collection in Dublin, is presented as part of the ongoing exhibition, The Murmur of Bees, which explores the important role of bees throughout Ireland’s history.
 
Bears have long been associated with bees and honey and one of the ancient Irish names for a bear is milchobur (honey-lover).

The female bear from Alaska has pale brown fur and is mounted standing on her hind legs, with long claws outstretched towards the visitor.
 
Brown bears once roamed throughout Ireland. While they became extinct here thousands of years ago, some were occasionally brought to Ireland as exotic pets, circus performers or for blood sports.

 In the late 18^th century, George Robert Fitzgerald, also known as ‘Fighting Fitzgerald’, kept a pet bear at Turlough Park – the former ancestral home of the Fitzgerald family and now the site of the National Museum of Ireland.  A colourful and controversial figure, Fitzgerald reportedly chained his own father to the pet bear at one time. Fitzgerald was later convicted of conspiracy to murder his father’s attorney and was hanged in Castlebar in 1786.
 
Bears are the most abundant and widespread carnivore found in the Irish fossil record. Fossils from Irish caves show that bears were present in Ireland for tens of thousands of years, from 40,000 years before present (BP) to 3,100 BP.
 
They lived here at most times when the country was free of ice, repopulating the area many times. The most recent date of 3,100 BP means that there was a time when early human settlers and bears co-existed on this island. Evidence of bears has been found in many counties including Aillwee Cave, Co. Clare; Castlepook Cave, Co. Cork; and Poll na mBéar, Co. Leitrim.
 
The bear is on display on Level A of the exhibition galleries at the National Museum of Ireland in Turlough Park. 
 
No booking is required to visit the Museum and admission is free.