New director of Hunt Museum appointed

THE Board of the Hunt Museum has announced that Virginia Teehan has been appointed as the new director of the Limerick-based museum.

The Hunt Museum is home to one of Ireland’s greatest private collections of art and antiquities dating from Neolithic to twentieth century, including works by Renoir, Picasso and Yeats.

A professional archivist by training, Ms Teehan is director of Heritage and Visual Arts at University College Cork and will take up her new position in June. She was appointed to the Heritage Council in 2000 by former Arts Minister Silé de Valera and has chaired the Council’s Museums and Archives Committee.

During the 150th anniversary celebrations at UCC, Ms Teehan successfully fought off opposition to the inclusion of a statue of Queen Victoria in an exhibition on the history of UCC, which was originally Queen’s College, Cork.

The chair of the board of the Hunt Museum, George Stacpoole last night welcomed the appointment.

“The board and I are delighted that Virginia Teehan has agreed to join us. We are convinced that Virginia has the qualities, the qualifications and the experience to make a significant impact,” said Mr Stacpoole.

One of the new director’s first tasks will be to develop ceative and commercial strategies for the Hunt Collection which will bring it to the attention of a wider audience.