Invitation to become a Philanthropic Leader
Regular Giving is all about sustainability. Predictable and reliable philanthropic support enables the Irish Agricultural Museum to plan and undertake hugely impactful and essential heritage work which would not otherwise happen.
About the Irish Agricultural Museum
Housed in Johnstown Castle Estate’s farm courtyard buildings, the Irish Agricultural Museum displays one of the most comprehensive exhibits of farming and rural life in Ireland. The Museum which has been open for over forty years, now consists of 19 different exhibitions – everything from tractors to country kitchens. In July 2022, the Museum was awarded full Museum Standards Accreditation from the Heritage Council of Ireland in recognition of its high standards in museum management, collections care, education and visitor services.
Visitors to the Museum can admire the large collection of beautifully restored farming heritage from tractors, carts, ploughs, threshing machines, stationary engines and dairy equipment. Members of the public can also see recreated workshops of traditional trades including that of the blacksmith, cooper and wheelwright. The Museum also is home to ‘The Great Famine’ an exhibition which vividly reveals what life was like before, during and after the famine. The Irish Agricultural Museum houses the largest display of Irish country furniture and enables visitors to compare farmhouse kitchens through the ages. The Irish Agricultural Museum houses an unparalleled collection of Irish folklife and agricultural exhibits in the castle courtyard building.
MEET OUR SUPPORTERS
Johnstown Castle Estate, Museum & Gardens, Wexford
Johnstown Castle is a gem of gothic revival architecture, and, since 2015, the Irish Heritage Trust has overseen its careful transformation into a successful Wexford visitor attraction.
Funding from the Irish government, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and Fáilte Ireland (Ireland’s National Tourism Authority) enabled us to undertake the vital conservation and development work that underpins the compelling visitor experience now on offer across Johnstown Castle Estate, Museum & Gardens.
The Irish Agricultural Museum brings together intriguing objects and stories that reflect the realities of life in rural Ireland over the centuries. The museum’s plentiful collections – carefully built up over 40 years – reflect traditions and progress in rural Ireland.
Over three floors, you’ll find 19 fascinating exhibitions that shed light on Irish rural life for farmers and tradespeople. Every object has a story, and artefacts retrieved from across the country reveal details about family life and community in Irish society from the 18th century onwards too.
Visitors of all ages enjoy our displays of restored tractors, carts, ploughs, threshing machines, stationary engines, and dairy equipment, as well as our collection of country kitchens.
Evocative scene-setting recreate the atmosphere of the blacksmith’s forge and the cooper’s workshop, celebrating timeless skills we continue to draw on as we sensitively restore the Johnstown Castle Estate.
Why We Need Your Support
For over 40 years the traditions, practices and stories of rural Ireland have been preserved and shared by the Irish Agricultural Museum. Led over the years by committed volunteers from the agricultural community the Museum now proudly displays one of the most comprehensive exhibits of farming and rural life in Ireland.
To enable the Museum’s next stage of development philanthropic support is now needed to help meet our greatest needs:
The Irish Agricultural Museum needs to grow strategically. To continue in our mission to protect the heritage of rural Ireland the Museum must now be upgraded environmentally – ensuring the appropriate lighting and temperature for exhibitions is in place, thereby protecting all these heritage exhibits for future generations.
As the Museum grows the size and diversity of its collection, we also need to reinterpret the entire museum by enhancing the impact of technology in order to share these stories and traditions widely, in the most impactful and innovative ways. By extension of which, the Irish Agricultural Museum wishes to undertake an education programme, aimed at primary and secondary pupils, to ensure this generation hear these stories, appreciate their heritage, understand these traditions and develop an appreciation of how our ancestors working the land farming and contributing to everyday rural life in the past shaped and created the Ireland we live in today. To achieve this goal, the Irish Agricultural Museum wishes to endow a full-time Education Officer role.
Your Support
Sadly, there are no funds available for any of these essential next steps. This means The Irish Agricultural Museum must now reach out to our community across Ireland and ask for philanthropic support. To this end, we invite you to become a Philanthropic Leader and join us in securing, protecting, preserving and sharing this unique Irish heritage in perpetuity, for all.
To achieve these essential goals the Irish Agricultural Museum needs to secure at least €2.5M in philanthropic support.
At the Irish Heritage Trust no donation gets lost in the shuffle. Every single donation helps us in our mission to safeguard and to preserve Irish Heritage – not just for today, but for generations to come.
“This kind of philanthropic support is a salute to the past, an investment in the work that needs to be done today and an eye to the future, where our shared heritage also belongs.”
Anne O’Donoghue, CEO, Irish Heritage Trust
If you are interested in becoming a philanthropic supporter of The Irish Agricultural Museum, please contact our Head of Philanthropy and Supporter Engagement, Paul McCarthy, for a confidential discussion.
Tax Efficient Giving
If you are an Irish taxpayer and donate more than €250 to the Irish Heritage Trust in any year you may increase the value of your gift to the Trust by 44.9%. The Government approved tax back scheme can be availed of by signing and completing the attached CHY3 Enduring Certificate and returning it to the Irish Heritage Trust.
There is no cost to you and the Trust will then reclaim the tax paid on your donation on your behalf from the Revenue Commissioners. All you need to do is to complete the CHY 3 Form and post it to:
Finance Department
Irish Heritage Trust
11 Parnell Square
Dublin 1
D01 ND60
Your Certificate is then valid for 5 years – it can, of course, be cancelled by you at any time.
The impact of this Certificate is considerable and makes a real difference. For example, should you donate €250 the Trust may claim an additional €112.32 in tax back, meaning the true value of your €250 gift is increased to €362.32.
If a company makes a donation of over €250 in the year, the company can claim a tax deduction as if the donation was a trading expense.
There is a four-year time limit for making a claim under this scheme.
Further information from Revenue on the Charitable Donation Scheme can be found here.
The Irish Heritage Trust is an independent registered charity governed by a voluntary Board of Trustees and guided by the Code of Good Practice for Good Governance of Community, Voluntary and Charitable Organisations in Ireland.
Charity Regulatory Authority Number: 20061609
Revenue Charity Number: 16848
VAT Number: 9571484R
Company Registration Office Number: 422959
Contact the Irish Heritage Trust Philanthropy Department
If you would like to talk to us about philanthropy, finance or governance at the Irish Heritage Trust, please contact us below:
Philanthropy
Paul McCarthy, Head of Philanthropy & Supporter Engagement
p.mccarthy@irishheritagetrust.ie
Governance
Daniel Stanford, Deputy Company Secretary
secretary@irishheritagetrust.ie
Finance
Ciaran Griffith, Finance Officer
finance@irisheritagetrust.ie
Donations & Data Enquiries
Every Donation Counts
As a registered charity we count on your support to protect and bring to life heritage properties for the benefit of all. Your support has real impact and enables us to:
