Limerick's People’s Museum hosts taxidermy exhibition with a difference

AN EXHIBITION highlighting the dangers of littering and environmental damage is to take place in Limerick over the next month.

Well-known local taxidermist Donal Mulcahy has put together a collection of almost 80 stuffed animals, many of which have been harmed by dumping or pollution in Irish rivers and seas.

The People’s Museum at Pery Square in the city will play host to the exhibition, with the exact opening date still to be confirmed.​

It’s hoped the showcase will educate people as to the dangers of leaving even the smallest bit of litter behind on the beach, or riverside.​

Donal, who hails from Cappamore, but now lives in Pallaskenry said: “I’m working with GMIT and four marine biologists on this. They have six birds and it shows off the plastic pollution. The amount of plastic pollution on our beaches is quite scary. It's heartbreaking and people don't realise the damage, how many birds will actually die from this.”

One of the more stark exhibits is a guillemot with oil dripping from its wings, Donal said.

There is also a shearwater bird which died from light pollution, highlighting the danger of this.

Donal has been putting together this collection for two-and-a-half years, taking into consideration a delay due to the pandemic.

Ultimately though, he has been gathering the exhibits for a decade.

He hopes people will be educated around the dangers of dumping, saying: “We’ve all done it. We've all taken the lazy way out. The amount of litter ending up in the sea is killing things, not just whales, but seabirds.”

There are some other rare birds which will be shown as part of the exhibition.​

A golden eagle is coming down from Donegal, as well as a puffin, a gannet, a sparrow hawk, kestrel, plus an osprey which is a once-off.

Working with Dublin’s Natural History Museum, Donal has preserved two other rare birds – a brown booby found on Greystones beach in Wicklow, and another once-off, a short-tail shearwater.

These will all be exhibited in Limerick before going national.

The exhibition has happened after Donal linked up with Corbally woman Lucy O’Sullivan, who happened upon a rare bird on the side of a road two years ago.

Concerned that “it’s death would not be in vain”, she contacted Birdwatch Ireland and then was put in touch with the taxidermist.

“The bird turned out to be an incredibly rare water rail. I found him down the Sandy Mall. I'm not sure what he was doing there. They are rarely seen,” she explained.

It was after this, she met Donal and saw his collection and persuaded him, for the first time, to put his work on show.