DEAD ZOO - DUBLIN You stroll in the door and you walk back in time… Back into a world of Victorian exotica
It’s particularly pleasant to be led around by two women as this world is very much the preserve of the Victorian gentleman. “A lot of the collectors would have been gentlemen scientists”, agrees Siobhán, “and would be what we call ‘Anglo Irish’.” On the subject of gentlemen, Geraldine is hastened to add – “We have very strong connections with England as well and we would have shared collections with the English museums so we have material, for example, that was collected by Darwin.” Charles Darwin that is
“Flies that Darwin collected during the voyage of the Beagle,” Geraldine says, exuding wonder. It seems there’s truth to the clichéd image of the British gent with the waxed moustache running around far flung colonial isles with a big net. And apparently there was also a big shot entomologist – that’s someone who studies insects – in Leinster House and Darwin boxed up some of his examples and sent them to him.
I love taxidermy (don't think I could ever do it tho) so creepy and fascinating