Ireland’s only known dinosaurs to go on public display for the first time at UCC

UCC’s Glucksman Gallery will unveil Ireland’s only known dinosaurs in its largest-ever fossil exhibition, featuring over 250 prehistoric specimens

The full programme of events will be advertised on the Glucksman Gallery website. File picture: David Creedon / Anzenberger

Skeletons of the only dinosaurs known to have existed on the island of Ireland are set to go on display to the public for the first time in a new exhibition of Irish fossils in Cork.

The Domain of the Dinosaurs will run in University College Cork’s Glucksman Gallery from November 18 until April 12​ next year, and will feature real fossil specimens from land, sea and air.

The exhibition is the largest dinosaur exhibition ever in Ireland, with over 250 real fossils and over five tonnes of material.

It will take a team of 12 people a week to assemble, with specialists flying in from around the world to build the dinosaur skeletons.

The centrepiece will be skeleton casts of a two-legged predator Megalosaurus and Scelidosaurus — which was an armored herbivore — the only known dinosaurs from the island of Ireland.

Bones from both were discovered in the 1980s by the late Roger Byrne, a schoolteacher and fossil collector, on a beach in Co. Antrim. This exhibition marks the first time the public can view casts of these dinosaurs in Ireland.

UCC Professor of Palaeontology, Professor Maria McNamara, said: “This remarkable exhibition is a celebration of life in Ireland as it was during the time of the dinosaurs.

“That ancient Ireland would be unrecognisable to us today — ecosystems on land and in the ocean were dominated by reptiles, with many unfamiliar plants and animals.

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“Visitors to the exhibition can see the real fossil evidence of those extinct creatures, including fossil footprints, trees, insects, giant flying reptiles called pterosaurs, and lots of marine animals including giant predators such as the ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs. There’s even fossilized dinosaur eggs and poo.” 

Director of the Glucksman Gallery Professor Fiona Kearney said: "The artists bring a creative lens to the pioneering scientific research happening in our university and provide an imaginative response to the fascinating fossils that are on display.” 

The exhibition will be accompanied by a programme of events, including special tours led by UCC palaeontologists, panel discussions featuring international fossil experts and artists, public lectures and creative workshops for all ages and abilities.

The full programme of events will be advertised on the Glucksman Gallery website.