Jackie Clarke Collection

It is the most important private collection of Irish history material in public hands, comprising over 100,000 items spanning 400 years. It includes artefacts associated with Theobald Wolfe Tone; letters from Michael Collins, Douglas Hyde, Michael Davitt and O’Donovan Rossa. It also contains rare books, proclamations, posters, political cartoons, pamphlets, handbills, works by Sir John Lavery, maps, hunger strike material and personal items from Leaders of the 1916 Rising. The Jackie Clarke Collection is located in the former Provincial Bank building on Pearse Street, Ballina. Built in 1881, it was used as a bank until 1977. It was designed by the Victorian architect Thomas Manly Deane, who also designed the National Museum and Government Buildings, Dublin. The building, which was acquired by Mayo County Council in 2008, has been completely renovated and refurbished. It now hosts an award winning exhibition centre that has been specially designed for the Jackie Clarke Collection