Ireland's first permanent LGBTQ exhibition opens in Cork

Ireland’s first permanent LGBTQ exhibition has opened in Cork at the Cork Public Museum in Fitzgerald’s Park.

'We Were Always Here' opened to the public on Wednesday 19 August, and was prepared as a collaborative project between the Cork Public Museum and the Cork LGBT Archive.

The opening of the exhibition in Cork aligns with the central role that the city has played in firsts of Irish LGBT history.

Cork played host to the first National Gay Conference in 1981, the first Irish Lesbian and Gay Film Festival in 1991, and the first LGBT float in a St Patrick’s Day Parade, not just in Ireland, but in the world in 1992.

Orla Egan, the exhibition’s curator said: “Too often the history of the LGBT community has been invisible, ignored or erased. Having Cork’s LGBTQ history on display in the Cork Public Museum will ensure that is it accessible and cannot be forgotten or ignored.

“Think how important it would be for a young person to come on their school trip to the Cork Public Museum and to see themselves reflected in the exhibition – to know that we have always been here and that they are part of a dynamic and vibrant community,” she said.

As part of the opening of the exhibition, Cork has also become the first city in the world outside of the United States of America to host the Gilbert Baker Pride Flag.

Originally designed by LGBT activist Gilbert Baker in San Francisco in 1978, the flag has become a symbol for the LGBT community ever since.

A delegation from the US city of San Francisco arrived in Cork this week and were officially welcomed to the city by Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Damien Boylan today, Thursday 20 August.

The flag will be on display in the Cork Public Museum for the next four months.

Cork City councillor John Daniel Maher, who visited San Francisco as part of a Cork City Council delegation in 2024 when the donation was first proposed, said that he was delighted to see the flag come to Cork.

“The flags colours symbolise sex, life, healing, sunlight, nature, magic/art, serenity and spirit - things that all people of Cork and the world can relate to.

“This compliments the new LGBTQ+ exhibition which will be on display in Fitzgerald’s Park which celebrates our history & remembers those who went before us in more challenging times,” he said.

This article was produced with the support of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme funded by Coimisiún na Meán.