Lucky Cork (or Corcaigh if you are a local), this glorious city ….. the second largest in Ireland… is not only home to the World’s only BUTTER Museum (now, could we make that up?) but it’s about to have the country’s first permanent LGBTQIA+ Exhibition.  It probably wasn’t what Saint Finbar had in mind when he founded the city back in the 6th Century, but then again he wasn’t still around in the year 965 when it became more urbanised after those blond Norseman (Viking) settlers moved in.  

Cork is not only one of the most gay friendly Irish cities…..I mean it twinned itself with San Francisco, but in 2012  it elected openly gay Jerry Buttimer, as TD for the Cork South-Central constituency in the 2011 general election for Fine Gael. Then later, as a Senator, he was the Leader of the Senate when Queerguru met him in Provincetown in 2018 and filmed a quick interview with him (see HERE) 

This new development is all due to The Cork LGBT Archive, which, since it was formed in 2013, has been collecting, preserving and sharing the history of LGBTQ+ communities in the county. The collection amassed is both physical and digital, with the archive’s volunteer group and public engagement programme offering publications, exhibitions, documentaries and walking tours.

The new exhibition is scheduled to open in the Cork Public Museum in August 2026, coinciding with a significant anniversary: 50 years since Cork’s first Gay Centre opened in 1976. Throughout history, Cork has been home to many firsts for the Irish LGBTQ+ community, including the first National Gay Conference (1981), the first Irish Lesbian and Gay Film Festival (1991) and the first LGBTQ+ float in a St Patrick’s Day parade (1992).

Queerguru has always been a great believer and supporter of the notion that we, the queer community, should take responsibility for sharing our past and history.  It was therefore great to hear Orla Egan, Exhibition Curator and Founder of the Cork LGBT Archive, tell us “Too often the history of the LGBT community has been invisible, ignored or erased. Having Cork’s LGBTQ history on display in the Cork Public Museum will ensure that it is accessible and cannot be forgotten or ignored.

“It sends a powerful message of respect and inclusion for a community that too often has experienced prejudice, punishment and exclusion. This is even more important in today’s world, when we are witnessing an increase in transphobia and homophobia in the world.