Pic: Davey O'Connor
Close
to the border of the midlands and west is Derryglad Folk Museum which
encompasses 5,000 artefacts from the last hundred years or so. The folk museum is situated within eyesight
from Curraghboy village, which is about seven miles from Athlone town.
Pic: Davey O'Connor
The museum has its own storyteller, Charlie Finneran, who gives individual attention to each of the folk who happen upon the popular museum on the country road. Charlie has become an institution in himself, and has proven himself a big hit with visitors to the folk museum, writes David Flynn.
Charlie built the museum on his own land, and filled it with original artefacts from the past.
Signs to many of the Roscommon villages adorn the grounds of Derryglad Folk museum, showing its support for its native and surrounding homeplaces on this acre of history.
Pic: Michael Fagan
As you enter the driveway, you spy the old black
bicycle and green post-box on the wall and around the corner from there is an
old skillet pot over a fireplace. 
Pic: Orla Donnelly
In
front of there is a telephone box, and inside the museum, you'll find an old phone with the button A and button B. Outside the building is a monument of remembrance for
legendary Roscommon footballer, Dermot Early.One of the highlights of the centre is a clever replica of the old McCormack’s photography and sweet shop, which resided in Church Street, Athlone from 1948 to 2002. Here you can see old photographs of familiar faces on the walls of the replica building. Cameras, all from the film age are there on display, just like we were still in the 20th century.
Pic: Davey O'Connor
Following on you encounter a great array of farm
machinery and an old schoolroom, which looks so real, you can see yourself back
in the desk with the inkwell. Around the
schoolroom are tin whistles, the old map, religious artefacts, and the old
suitcase schoolbags.
The main body of the museum houses many old
household objects, like washboards, earthenware hot water bottles, a settle-bed,
ration books, war medals, and butter churns, to name a few out of thousands. This is probably the highlights of the museum,
with its numerous memories of old Ireland.
Sport is featured to a great degree in the Derryglad
museum, with heroes such as Jimmy Murray of Knockcroghery and Gerry O’Malley of
St. Brigid's honoured with photographs and old footballs. 
Pic: Michael Fagan
Pic: Orla Donnelly
Memories of various shops from the midlands are also
there, like an old chemist called the Medical Hall’. The chemist, which has
potions from another day displays old wares such as carbolic soap, and
something called ‘Asthma Cigarettes’.
Pic: Orla Donnelly
Out the side door, you can walk into a colourful
area of well-preserved farm machinery, ploughs, and tools of other ages.
Pic: Michael Fagan
Charlie is there throughout the whole acre of
history. He is there for guidance or
just a sociable chat. Derryglad is a
magnificent journey into a past that we thought was long gone, and which we
thought we would never see again.
