Irish Examiner view: Enriching villages

Odenkirk in Cork museum

'Better Call Saul' actor Bob Odenkirk posed for a photo when he visited Independence Museum Kilmurry this weekend. Picture: Independence Museum Kilmurry

Readers saw yesterday that the Independence Museum Kilmurry, near Lissarda outside Cork City, had an interesting visitor.

Actor Bob Odenkirk, familiar to many from TV shows such as Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad, has been in Ireland for some time making a TV show about his Irish roots. He spotted the sign for the museum on his way from Macroom and made a detour to take in the exhibits, making a very good impression on the volunteers working in the museum at the time.

One might expect this visit to open the floodgates to a torrent of puns based on Odenkirk’s high-profile TV shows, but it also offers something deeper, a validation of what is necessary to keep facilities such as the Independence Museum open. 

The actor’s visit produced much more than a quick headline or a selfie circulating on social media; it gave a tangential glimpse of the hard work which is done by people determined to retain a sense of who they are by preserving a sense of who they were.

All over Ireland there are small places which would feel a lot smaller if they did not remember those who went before them.

HISTORY HUB

If you are interested in this article then no doubt you will enjoy exploring the various history collections and content in our history hub. Check it out HERE and happy reading

Kilmurry, and all those other towns and villages which work to remember their history, are all the richer for the effort they put in.