EPIC: Irish Emigration Museum
What is it: Only Europe’s Leading Tourist Attraction 2019 & 2020 (although it opened relatively recently in 2016), this interactive museum on the famed River Liffey in Dublin’s docklands isn’t afraid of epic narratives as it covers over 1,500 years of Irish history and the stories of the 10 million people who left Ireland behind.
Why you’ll love it: A feeling of discovery and exploration is built-into the labyrinthine floorplan which takes you on a journey through the emigrant experience with mostly digital installations that are high engagement and participatory, and often awe-inspiring in the ways the emigrant experience is shared. You’ll pass through passport control, sit within intimate booths with conversational stories, share the perils of the emigrant journey, and even walk on the darker side of this history as you learn the global impacts of Irish emigrants.
What you need to know: It was Irish emigrant, Annie Moore, who made history in 1892 as the first person to be processed through Ellis Island’s gates though her story of what happens after makes you doubt the reality of the American dream as it came to be foundational to the nation in which she arrived.
What they offer from wherever you are: The virtual tour had our preteen confidently running through the rooms and following his curiosity as if he was there, the boundary between the physical and the virtual so porous these days. Also, check out their interactive library and Online Educational Resources for our distance-learners.
Why we think it matters: As the world turns this very week – with a new US president proud of his Irish heritage and with a different set of policies than the previous administration — we’re hopeful that the debate around immigration can shift too, becoming less caustic, a sense of humanity restored to the discussion. EPIC shows the extraordinary reach of Irish emigrants – the museum itself was co-founded by Neville Isdell, the Irish-born former CEO of Coca-Cola – and how they have shaped the world in fields as diverse as sport, culture, politics, science, and technology. Immigration has become a highly complex, and often emotionally driven, debate. But we’re always struck by these stats (about the US experience specifically) that counter the belief that immigrants negatively impact the nations in which they arrive: in 2017 although 13.7 percent of the US population are immigrants, they make up 30% of new entrepreneurs. In fact, companies such as Amazon, Apple, and Google were founded by immigrants or their children, while Microsoft is headed by an immigrant.
EPIC tells the complex story of one nation’s emigrants, but it stands in for impacts felt by migration elsewhere and pulls back the narrative of human movement to something more people rather than politics based.
In their own words: “Go beyond the stereotypes at EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum. You won’t find leprechauns or pots of gold here, but you’ll discover that what it means to be Irish expands far beyond the borders of Ireland through the stories of Irish emigrants who became scientists, politicians, poets, artists and even outlaws all over the world. Discover Ireland from the outside in and find out why saying “I’m Irish” is one of the biggest conversation starters, no matter where you are.”
Participate: If you are based in the US, support the work of the ACLU on immigration, advocate for DACA. and be mindful of your own inherent biases around migration.
