On Tuesday, 22 January, the exhibition on Count Laval Nugent of Westmeath was opened to the public at the EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum in Dublin. The Laval Nugent - Warrior and Collector Exhibition is co-organized by the Embassy of the Republic of Croatia in Ireland, the EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum and the Archaeological Museum in Zagreb.
The exhibition was launched by the Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann Seán Ó Fearghaíl TD. Guests at the opening were welcomed by the Deputy Speaker of the Croatian Parliament Željko Reiner, Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia to Ireland Ivan Mašina, Managing Director of the EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum Mervyn Greene, Director of the Archaeological Museum in Zagreb Sanjin Mihelic and Professor Terence Dooley from the NUI Maynooth.
Count Laval Nugent of Westmeath (1777-1862) was a central figure in Croatia"s development into the modern European country during the aforementioned period. The significance of Lavals’ story is also interesting because this fervent advocate of Croatian nationhood was born in Ireland, was a member of the Irish nobility, as well as a field marshal of the Austrian Army, while Croatia was part of the Habsburg Monarchy. Laval combined his military and political career with his personal interests in culture and Croatian history. Conducting archaeological excavations and collecting objects of art across Italy and the Croatian coast, he assembled an impressive collection of artefacts that became the basis for the collection of the first museum in Croatia, the Museum Nugent, which Count Laval placed on the Trsat Fortress above Rijeka, one of his Croatian estates. It is these objects procured by Laval that became the basis of two large collections of the Archaeological Museum in Zagreb, so Museum still safeguards Laval Nugent"s memory through organizing this kind of exhibitions.
The exhibition is organised with financial support from the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia.
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