SNIPPET: FYI - The National Museum of Ireland in May 2004 was organising a major new exhibition, due to open in late 2005, that would tell the stories of Irish soldiers, their families and Irish civilians affected by war, across 450 years of history, from the Elizabethan Wars of the 16th Century to the Irish UN departure from the Lebanon in 1997. "While the National Museum holds what is probably the finest collection of Irish-related military items in the world, forming an outstanding repository of our country's martial heritage, we are seeking the donation of items to add still further to the depth and character of our Collections. If you are interested in donating military material to the National Museum, there are a number of ways in which you can help: The Social & Economic impact of Military Life in Ireland Items associated with the social interactions between civilians and the military in nineteenth-century Ireland (e.g. artefacts and photos relating to sporting events and to the weddings of army men to local women); objects made locally for sale to soldiers' wives and children; samplers with military themes; and other objects showing the economic and social impact of the British garrison in Ireland, and how it was viewed by the local population. Soldiering Any items or documents relating to the Royal Hibernian Military School, Dublin. Also, objects associated with the Irish Regiments of the British Army that were disbanded in 1922, particularly musical instruments; everyday objects related to World War I soldiering in the trenches such as camp kettles, petrol cans, entrenching tools, helmets, gas masks and material related to gas protection, medical supplies, ID tags. Also, personal objects, letters and photographs used in war that have a link to a particular individual who served between 1550 and 1945. Uniforms The Museum holds a large uniform Collection, which we would like to supplement with Wild Geese uniforms (Irish Regiments in the French and Spanish armies), World War One Service uniforms and trench coats, officer's uniforms from the Volunteer Force (c. 1936), firemen's protective suits from the Emergency period, uniforms of the Local Security Force, Local Defence Force (Emergency period), and. Emergency period de-mobilisation suits 1940s). Civilian objects We are also seeking objects that illustrate how civilians coped with the constraints of the Emergency (1939-1945), particularly the lack of imported goods, fuel and transportation. Examples might include civilian clothing adapted from old military uniforms, turf-burning stoves, special recipes,ration books and so on. As well as this we are interested in objects connected with the German and British internees in the Curragh during the Emergency, and artefacts connected with World War One munitions factories and workers. If you feel you have material you would like to donate, please contact us at: The Military Collections, Art & Industrial Division, National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks, Benburb St., Dublin 7."