The National Museum of Ireland: An ideological history

This paper traces the history of the National Museum of Ireland through the lens of ideology. 'Ideology' in this context is used not in the more straightforward sense of 'political doctrine', but as an indicator of the role of communicative systems in power relations. From this perspective, the museum (after Foucault and Bennett) can be seen as a cultural technology of government, and a means by which the powerful in society exercise control over questions of representation and identity in relation to the less powerful.