In November 2017, several members of the public contacted the museum to inform us about the sale of numerous glass slides on Ebay relating to the 1902/03 Cork International Exhibition. Acting Curator Daniel Breen contacted the seller in England and agreed upon a very reasonable price to ensure the material would be removed from Ebay and sold directly to the museum. The collection contained 49 glass slides that depict never before seen images of the Exhibition, especially of the various buildings and attractions on the Western Field (a site now occupied by the Mardyke Arena). The seller believed that the collection once belonged to Sir Thomas Matthews, who was a British civil engineer and notable builder of lighthouses whilst working for Trinity House. The slides were found amongst a larger collection of unrelated architecture slides and the construction photos of Beachy Head Lighthouse, East Sussex, England. We are currently undertaking research to see if Sir Thomas Matthews actually visited the exhibition or if he purchased them from some other attendee.
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. (Above) Entrance to the Cork International Exhibition, 1902-03.
(Right) Boats on the River Lee during the International Exhibition. Near Sunday's Well.
(Above) View of one of the main exhibition halls. Painting and sculpture.