Come Fly with Me: Aviation, tourism and Irish design

Curated by Dr Linda King

Dates: 17 July 2026 – 17 December 2026

Free admission

Come Fly With Me: Aviation, tourism and Irish design examines Irish cultural history through the exploration of aviation- and tourism-related graphic design. It focuses on the 1940s through to the 1960s, a period that marked the golden era of international aviation expansion.

This exhibition uses flight as a central thread to explore how design and print helped construct national identity, promote Irish modernisation and position Ireland internationally. With the arrival of a number of Dutch graphic designers to Ireland in the 1950s to work on advertising for Aer Lingus, depictions of Ireland and Irishness were forever changed, as was Ireland’s relationship to Continental Europe and the US. Their design work was recognised internationally, had a huge impact on Irish design and economic development, and was commissioned by other Irish companies including Bord Fáilte, John Hinde, RTÉ and Guinness.

Come Fly With Me, sponsored by AviLease with research funded through the Research Ireland New Foundations programme, displays a wide array of tourism ephemera and original sketches, on loan from national cultural institutions, the families of designers, and members of the public who responded to a call for material. Many of these items are being displayed publicly for the first time. The exhibition tells a story of aspiration, imagination, and modernisation through the enduring power of print advertising.

Events

Curator’s Tours will be held at 7pm on the 30th of July and the 24th of September as part of the After Hours at the Museum scheme, and a bespoke print designed by Niall McCormack in response to the exhibition will be released on the 22nd of August as part of National Heritage Week. See the What’s On section of our website for more information.