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Real Rooms – LIC X MotH

Calling all the London Irish of the 1950’s and their families. 

A new venture between the London Irish Centre and Museum of the Home has begun, and you could be part of it! Head down to the London Irish Centre to see our interactive exhibition from August 29th to October 5th!

As part of Museum of the Home’s development of its ‘Real Rooms’ gallery, the London Irish Centre has partnered with the Museum to recreate an Irish immigrant house from the 1950s.  

We aim to bring to life the lived experience of the Irish immigrants who came to London and shaped the UK’s landscape today. From nurses in the NHS and construction workers, to creatives and writers, to singers and pub owners, we want to tell our London Irish History, and we are pleased that Museum of the Home will be placing this narrative in its museum in a dynamic and immersive way.  

What’s the project? 

The Home Galleries at Museum of the Home embody a new approach, with displays that are representative of many of the Museum’s local communities.  

The Irish residents of London were identified as one of the communities without representation in the museum. So, in an innovative bottom-up approach, they are looking for real-life experiences from our extensive community of current and previous Irish inhabitants of London to inform and create the display.  

Realism is at its heart – 

That means we are looking for your stories, your objects, your memories.  

From your makeup compact, to your nans’ rosary, your bedside cabinets to the cigarettes that you used to (or still!) smoke.  

At the heart of this redevelopment are you and your families.  

At the heart is the London Irish Experience.  

You can find out more about the Real Rooms project here.

And more about the museum of the home itself here.

What we’re looking for: 

• Any objects or items that you brought to London with you from Ireland, or any items that were staples in the house.  
• Stories of you or your family members, particularly men and/or women who worked as Nurses or in Construction.  
• Photographs that show what type of house you or your family lived in when they had their first London house.  
• Recollections of events you attended, items you purchased or used, the way your or your family’s home was decorated, work that you conducted at the time – i.e. nursing, shop work etc. 

We need answers to some questions – would you be able to help?

Click here to download our questions sheet. This can be used as a basis for you to think on, or can be used to interview a family member or friend. 

Take part in person: 

• See our ‘What’s On’ page and keep an eye out on our socials and mailing list to know when we have in-person collection days and HOME themed workshops
• Arrange an in-person oral history session with one of our lovely team 
• Head down to the London Irish Centre to see our interactive exhibition in August  

Take part online: 

• You can drop your images onto our public interactive map here
• You can submit answers to our questions here
•  You can send in spoken memories (alongside our ‘Verbal Recollections Consent’ form) to our email address [email protected]  
• You can send us any images privately to the same address (alongside our digital collections guidance form’ [email protected]  
• You can send us any written details you remember or you want to be considered for inclusion to our email address
  [email protected]  

Take part online: 

• You can drop your images onto our public interactive map here.
• You can submit answers to our questions here.
• You can send in spoken memories (alongside our ‘Verbal Recollections Consent’ form) to our email address [email protected]
• Click here for our collection form and wavier. 
• You can send us any images privately to the same address (alongside our digital collections guidance form) [email protected]  
• You can send us any written details you remember or you want to be considered for inclusion to our email address
  [email protected]

Take part with us: 

We are looking for volunteers to take part in a number of different activities. If you have an idea for a workshop or project around the theme of home for the Irish Community, please get in contact with us by emailing us at [email protected]  with the subject heading ‘Real Rooms Volunteer’.  

Please see this document to understand our collections guidance.