Cork Butter Museum

The Cork Butter Museum is a museum in Cork city in Ireland which documents the history of butter production and sale in County Cork. It is housed in the former Cork Butter Market.

Cork Butter Museum
Músaem Ime Chorcaí
Location within Ireland
Established1985
LocationCork, County Cork, Ireland
Coordinates51.9027°N 8.4767°W / 51.9027; -8.4767
TypeButter museum
CuratorPeter Foynes
Websitethebuttermuseum.com

History

A display of early butter brands in the Cork Butter Museum

The Cork Butter Market building is situated in the Shandon area of the city,[1] with the building dating from 1849.[2] Shandon was the largest Shambles (open-air butcheries) in Ireland, and the Exchange was located within this commercial area. During the Exchange's peak in the 19th century, Cork was the largest exporter of butter in the world, with butter exported as far as Australia and India.[3][4]

Exhibits

A selection of steel churns in the butter museum.

The museum documents the role of the butter trade in Ireland over the course of history. The museum has displays covering the international Butter Exchange in the 19th century, the domestic production of butter, and the operations of Kerrygold in more recent times. The displays document elements of Irish commercial, social and domestic history.[1][5] The exhibitions are intended to bring the visitor through various elements of butter production, from dairy cattle farming, to the documents and artifacts relating to the commercial butter trade.[6] The Museum's collections include dairy paraphernalia, including a container of thousand-year-old medieval bog butter.[7]

References

  1. "Cork Butter Museum". Ask About Ireland. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  2. "Shandon Craft Centre, Exchange Street, Cork City, Cork City". National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  3. "How we built Ireland – exploring our proud engineering heritage". The Engineers Journal. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  4. "Museums and Attractions - Cork Butter Museum". Discover Ireland.
  5. "Cork Butter Museum (Industrial)". Irish Museums Association. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  6. The Liffey Press (2006). The Museums of Ireland: A Celebration. Dublin: The Liffey Press. pp. 126–127. ISBN 1904148883.
  7. Corneanu, Miruna. "20 Museums for Food Lovers in Europe". Travel Away. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
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