Wish of Limerick museum curator comes true as antiques are to 'return home'

A LIMERICK woman has followed through on her late father’s final wish by beginning the process of returning a number of 19th-century African and Aboriginal objects to their respective homes.

The ten artefacts, which are from South Africa, Sudan, and Australia, will now be returned to their respective countries of origin thanks to the dedicated work of 39-year-old artist Isabella Walsh.

“It was my father’s final wish. He wanted these objects back where they belonged,” said Ms Walsh.

Ms Walsh’s father was Larry Walsh, a well-respected curator of the Limerick Museum.

“When he was working for the museum he used to attend auctions of big houses across the country. He would have picked up various items that were of interest to him at these auctions,” Ms Walsh said.

Big houses, or manors, were a prominent feature in Limerick when the whole country was under British rule, and it’s believed that the 10 artefacts in question were brought to Ireland during this period.

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When her father passed in 2013, the same year Ms Walsh graduated from Limerick School of Art and Design, the artefacts became her responsibility and thus the process of repatriation began.

However, Ms Walsh said she found herself at a loss of how to go about finding where exactly the artefacts were from.

Having recently read an article regarding a similar project, Ms Walsh reached out to Christos Tsirogiannis, who is a guest lecturer at the University of Cambridge, and an expert on illicit antiquities trafficking.

He then directed her towards the correct channels and embassies.

“He was a massive help. He didn’t even ask for a fee, just that I speak out publicly in news articles, in the hope it might inspire others to do the same,” Ms Walsh said.