Do you have objects, photographs or documents that you would like to donate to Down County Museum? Here is more information on our donation process and the types of items that we are interested in collecting.
What do we collect?
We collect material with a strong connection to County Down which:
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adds to our existing collections about County Down’s history
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relates to a specialist subject area, for example, St Patrick or the Gaol
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has good associated information i.e. links with individuals or events
Offering items to Down County Museum
If you have something that you think would be of interest, please contact the Museum and we will arrange an appointment with you to assess your item(s).
If your item is accepted…
If we decide to accept your item(s) into the collection, you will be required to sign an object entry form declaring your intention to donate it to the Museum. Your item will then be accessioned and accepted into the collection, assessed for conservation needs and catalogued.
Photographs
If you have photographs that you would like to donate to the Museum, we generally only need to copy them. Once this has been done, your photographs will be returned to you.
Copied photographs become part of the Museum’s digital archive which we use for exhibitions, education and research purposes. We do on occasion accept photograph albums and larger groups of photographs as collection items.
If we do not accept your object…
Whilst we greatly appreciate all offers of material, we cannot accept everything that is offered to us for the following reasons:
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we already hold similar examples of the item in the collection
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the item is more appropriate to a different museum
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there is little associated information with it or no link to County Down
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the item is in very poor condition or will occupy a large amount of space
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it does not fit in with our collecting policy.
If we are unable to accept your item(s), we will try to offer you advice about alternative museums or institutions that may be interested in them.
