The LGBTQIA+ tour of Collins Barracks views the exhibitions through alternative lenses, bringing some hidden histories and perspectives to the fore.
Focusing on objects and individuals from the 17th to the 21st century, the tour reveals a wide variety of identities, genders and sexualities along the way. While the tour is not a complete or comprehensive LGBTQIA+ history of the collection at Collins Barracks, we aim to highlight the rich diversity of lives and experiences on the island of Ireland across time through some of the objects on display. Spanning the establishment of the Barracks itself to Ireland’s passing of the Marriage Equality Referendum in 2015, highlights include the non-conformist chair by world renowned designer and architect Eileen Gray and artefacts belonging to some of the women of Ireland’s revolutionary period.Our first edition of this tour launched on Saturday 24th May, 2025 to mark the 10th Anniversary of the Marriage Equality Referendum, which was passed in May 2015. In June of 2026, this tour was redeveloped and stops updated to include our new Changing Ireland galleries, which explore Ireland's 20th Century history.
Please access the links below to find out more about upcoming public tour dates, the creation of this tour, and to learn more about these histories. You can also Download this PDF Project Brief for more information about the research project which informed this tour's creation.