Exhibition Introduction

A Message in Time

If you have ever dropped a letter in the post, or dashed-off a postcard to a friend on holidays, or even just sent a text or an email, you are part of a human tradition that goes back thousands of years.

Our new exhibition “A Message in Time” uses Tipperary County Museum’s extraordinary collection of vintage postcards and stamps to explore how this tradition has developed over time….. and where technology is taking it today.

We trace the origins of our own fascination with ‘messaging’ in this country from the uniquely Irish Ogham script right up to today’s truly international forms of communication such as email, twitter and snapchat. We look at the advancements of technology from hand-written letters to typewriting, the hobby of writing and collecting postcards, how telegrams became emails, and how an idea intended to cut-back on paper and phonecalls in a business environment went on to change the world.

Our postcard collection adds colour – literally and figuratively – to this story, depicting scenes from Irish life, townscapes & architecture, business advertisements, Irish humour, political satire, landscapes, portraits, and family holiday destinations. Along the way, we also look in on some famous Clonmel residents who had a surprising impact on the world of communication in the 19^th century.

We hope you enjoy our exhibition. But watch out – the pace of change in recent years has been extraordinary: by the time you’re finished, somebody somewhere will probably have invented a whole new form of communication!