Revenue museum

  1. Overview
  2. Exhibitions

Exhibitions

The Revenue museum is currently hosting two exhibitions.

Connections - Revenue and 1916

'Connections – Revenue and 1916' explores the associations between Revenue and the Easter Rising through two extraordinary men: Bulmer Hobson and Mortimer O’Connell.

Bulmer Hobson worked for the Office of the Revenue Commissioners from 1924 to 1948 as Deputy Director of Stamping.  

However, between 1900 and 1916 Bulmer Hobson was one of the most influential nationalist leaders in the country. He was a founder of Na Fianna and the Irish Volunteers. He was also a senior member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood and a gun runner.

Bulmer played no part in the emergence of the Irish Free State he had plotted to bring into existence.

In recent years historians have begun to rescue Bulmer Hobson from obscurity. His key role in preparing the ground for Irish independence has been recognised. he remains in many respects the forgotten revolutionary.

On Good Friday 1916, members of the Irish Volunteers kidnapped Bulmer Hobson. This was to prevent him calling off or disrupting the planned Rising. One of the men guarding him was Mortimer O’Connell. He was, at the time, a Customs and Excise officer.

After guarding Hobson, O’Connell fought with his volunteer colleagues at various locations around Dublin. He was subsequently arrested and interned in Frongoch in Wales. In later years he worked in Dáil Éireann where he rose to become Clerk of the Dáil in 1948.

Irish Fiscal Stamps 1922 to date – A visual history

The exhibition provides a unique window into the world of fiscal stamps. These are adhesive and embossed stamps that were used for a huge range of purposes, other than posting letters and parcels.

Revenue has been closely associated with the production and use of fiscal stamps since the Office was established in 1923. This exhibition celebrates that long association and brings together, for the first time, a dazzling array of stamps, artwork and related materials.

Entry to the exhibitions is free.