Words on the Wave St. Gallen’s Gallery

In June 2025, the National Museum of Ireland opened the landmark Words on the Wave: St. Gallen’s Gallery—a major international exhibition housed in the museum’s main building on Kildare Street, Dublin. The exhibition showcases rare early medieval manuscripts from Switzerland’s famed Stiftsbibliothek St Gallen, offering an immersive and narrative-led experience that explores Ireland’s deep intellectual and artistic ties to continental Europe.

Appointed as the specialist fit-out contractor, Marcon was tasked with delivering a technically complex and sensitive museum environment. The project required high levels of craftsmanship, logistical planning, and close collaboration with National Museums Ireland, exhibition designers studio mb, and a range of specialist subcontractors.

Marcon’s full scope of work included the fabrication and installation of:

• Bespoke setworks and exhibition structures
• Showcases for artefact display
• Large-format graphic installations
• Integrated interactive and AV elements
• Seamless multimedia and film presentation, including bilingual adaptation

Central to the exhibition’s narrative are large-scale manuscript quotations, meticulously embedded into the design to complement the artefacts and draw visitors into the world of early medieval scholarship. Reconstruction drawings, interpretive graphics, and immersive AV content including a short film on the Life of St Gall, adapted into both English and Irish provide rich historical context for visitors.

The museum’s listed status and structural limitations presented several key challenges:

• Structural Constraints – A standout challenge was the engineering of an 18-metre exhibition wall. Due to the original building’s timber-joist ceiling, the wall could not be fixed above. Given the listed status of the building, it could not be fixed to the floor. We worked closely with structural engineers to design a fully self-supporting modular walling system that could bear its own weight without additional support. This ensured structural integrity without compromising the building’s heritage.
• Site Access and Modularity – All works had to be conducted while the museum remained fully operational. Setworks needed to be constructed off-site, then broken down and transported through narrow back-of-house routes. All elements were fabricated at our workshop with a modular approach, enabling safe handling, discreet delivery, and reassembly without disruption to daily museum operations.
• Stakeholder Co-ordination – Artefact mounting was handled by client-appointed specialists, requiring detailed sequencing and planning. We managed a comprehensive coordination strategy, aligning installation timelines with conservation and mounting teams to ensure smooth integration of exhibits into the finished fit-out.
• Noise and Dust Management – With the building open to staff and visitors throughout the project, controlling disruption was vital. Works were phased and scheduled to minimise high-impact activity during visitor hours. Strict dust control protocols and noise-reduction measures were implemented throughout.

Image Credit: © National Museum of Ireland