‘Savina ate, slept and drank the museum’

Cavan County Council members paid tribute to the outgoing curator of the Cavan County Museum, Savina Donohoe, on the announcement of her retirement from the post. Ms Donohoe has been curator of Cavan County Museum in Ballyjamesduff since 2015, and acting curator since 2008.

Since assuming the role of curator, Ms Donohoe has initiated a number of innovations at the museum to keep visitors to the institution engaged. The ‘Life In The Trenches’, ‘Women In Politics’ and the Camogie exhibition all attracted national attention for the Cavan cultural repository. It has exhibits on topics as diverse as the Great Famine, Percy French and Farnham family.

The latest innovation is to establish the Ballyjamesduff museum as Ireland’s first National Storytelling Centre; while the development of the Nuns Walk and 1916 Experience have garnered widespread praise.

Leading the tributes to Ms Donohoe on her retirement was Cllr Winston Bennett who wished her the best: “Savina ate, slept and drank the museum. Her dedication made it one of the finest museums in Ireland.”

Cllr Madeleine Argue (FG) spoke at length about the outgoing curator describing her friend as “an inspiration”.

Cllr Argue said: “She earned fame for the county museum all over Ireland thanks to her dedication and commitment. She brought her skill and passion for heritage to everything she did at the museum.”

Cllr Argue concluded by wishing the museum curator many years of health and happiness.

Cllr Sarah O’Reilly (Aontú) said: “We were so lucky to have someone like Savina in the role of curator. Her great passion has made the museum what it is.”

Cllr John Paul Feeley also joined the tributes. The Fianna Fáil politician said Ms Donohoe was never shy about promoting the cultural institution.

Adding their well wishes to the outgoing curator were Cllrs TP O’Reilly, Trevor Smith and Carmel Brady (FG), Shane P O’Reilly and Brendan Fay (Ind), and Patricia Walsh (FF).