Cork's Nano Nagle Place wins prestigious European museum award

Nano Nagle Place was chosen for both its commemoration of the pioneering educational work of Nano Nagle herself, and its ongoing mission to provide support and care for people in need

Nano Nagle Place in Cork City. File Picture

Cork’s Nano Nagle Place has been awarded the prestigious Council of Europe Museum Prize for 2021.

The complex, which houses a museum, heritage rooms, gardens and a Cork-focused bookshop, was selected by the Culture Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) at a meeting earlier this afternoon.

Each year, the Council of Europe Museum Prize is awarded to a museum which emphasises “European perspectives and the interplay between local and European identities, on a commitment to and presentation of key values of democracy, human rights, inter-cultural dialogue, of bridging cultures and overcoming social and political borders.” 

@NanoNaglePlace are over the moon to share that we have been awarded the 2022 Winner of the Council of Europe Museum Prize! pic.twitter.com/SultZamF0j

— Nano Nagle Place (@NanoNaglePlace) December 3, 2021

Previous winners of the prize include the Gulag History Museum in Moscow, the National Museum of Secret Surveillance or ‘House of Leaves' in Tirana, Estonia, and the Museum of Communication in Bern, Switzerland.

The PACE Culture Committee said it chose Nano Nagle Place for this year’s prize for both its commemoration of the pioneering educational work of Nano Nagle herself, and the centre’s ongoing mission to provide support and care for people in need.

In particular, the Committee noted how the charity which runs Nano Nagle Place "continues the order’s educational and spiritual work through the Cork Migrant Centre, providing services for asylum seekers and refugees, and the Lantern, which runs community education and development services."

Committee representative, Roberto Rampi said:

Despite being rooted in the specific religious tradition of Roman Catholicism, with nuns still living on the site, there is a strong sense of caring based on need, not on doctrine.

“Nano Nagle Place has a very strong and coherent mission which is in line with the Council of Europe’s human rights values and principles."

Speaking this evening, Nano Nagle Place CEO Shane Clarke said the prize was “a huge honour.” 

"Nano Nagle was a true European. Having spent her youth in France, she also looked to Europe for help and inspiration when she invited the Ursuline Sisters to come to Cork. 

"Nano Nagle addressed the needs she saw before her in the 18th Century, and at Nano Nagle Place we continue in that spirit, addressing the societal issues before us today," he said. 

"We are both moved and proud that the Culture Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe have recognised our twin missions of celebrating the daring endeavours of Nano Nagle in the past, while continuing her work to address new societal issues in the present."