About a decade ago, I started a Twitter account called Vintage Oddities (since rebranded as CuriosMuseum) as a place to share strange finds from the darker corners of the internet. I’ve always been drawn to the unusual, the forgotten, and the slightly grotesque. Things like the Gitcraft Grocery List or the Sweetheart Toaster would occasionally go viral, and over time, I built up a large and loyal following of fellow lovers of the bizarre.
Alongside this growing online presence, I was touring Europe with my band, Monsieur Pompier’s Travelling Freakshow, a theatrical, musical curiosity of its own. On those travels, I started to amass a personal collection of oddities — the real, tangible kind. What began as a few strange objects in a suitcase grew into boxes, then stacks of boxes, until my home eventually became a labyrinth of unenterable rooms filled with bad taxidermy, hideous specimens, sideshow hybrid creatures, Victorian relics, forgotten household inventions, medical and dental devices, and much more.
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Two-headed Cow
People would often say, “You’ve got so much stuff you could open a museum,” and while it started out as a joke, the idea gradually took root. I’ve always loved museums. As a child, my mum regularly brought me to the Natural History Museum in Dublin, affectionately known as the Dead Zoo. It’s a Victorian-era space filled with ancient wooden cabinets, specimen jars, beetles, and dusty taxidermy — often described as a “museum of a museum.” That fascination with old displays and preserved curiosities never left me.
Butcher Automaton
Over the years, I visited other inspirational places too, like Victor Wynd’s Museum of Curiosities in London and the Designpanoptikum in Berlin. These showed me there was still space in the world for strange, eccentric collections — places where weirdness is celebrated. In my other life, working as a marketing manager for cultural events, I gained insight into how museums run and began to sketch out a plan for my own.
Wax Moulages
About five years ago, I decided I was really going to do it. My collecting accelerated, and I became something of an obsessive. I find things in all sorts of ways, from online sources like eBay and Etsy to flea markets, antique fairs, and the more obscure corners of Facebook oddity groups. Along the way, I’ve met some truly strange people — many of whom are even more peculiar than their collections.
Cyclops Skull
Then, at the end of 2024, a building became available in Dublin, and I jumped at the chance. It was far from perfect — burst pipes, damp walls, and plenty of long days with a paint roller — but with help from friends, we got it over the line. On 28 May 2025, Monsieur Pompier’s Museum of Curiosities officially opened its doors.
Cabinet of Curiosities
The museum houses the full breadth of my personal collection, along with a few kind donations from members of the public. In many ways, it’s a natural evolution of Monsieur Pompier’s Travelling Freakshow — only now, the strange things stay in one place. It’s not slick or shiny, and that’s the point. It’s a bit rough around the edges, a bit chaotic, but full of soul — the opposite of so many overly polished but emotionally flat modern museums.
Since opening, I’ve been overwhelmed by the positive response from visitors. It seems this kind of place was something Dublin was sorely missing. People appreciate that I’m there in the building, happy to talk and share the stories behind the objects and the journey it took to get here.
Ultimately, what I’ve tried to do is build the job I always dreamed of — even if its contents might seem like a nightmare to some. It’s a personal project turned public space, and finally seeing it come to life has been both surreal and deeply satisfying.
Taxidermy Cat
Monsieur Pompier’s Museum of Curiosities is open Wednesdays to Sundays, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. If you like your museums with a side of the surreal, you’re very welcome — though don’t be surprised if something stares back at you from behind the glass.
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