On the Move: A Century of the Irish Passport

EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum, May — October 2025

The release of the first Irish passport in 1924 was an important statement of national sovereignty. Though issued in the name of King George V, the document referred to its holder not as ‘a British subject’ – as per the wishes of British authorities – but rather as ‘a citizen of the Irish Free State and of the British Commonwealth of Nations’.

On the Move chronicled the political debates surrounding the passport’s development and examined how its evolving form reflected Ireland’s changing relationship with the wider world. It showcased some of the high-tech security features contained in today’s passports, along with tracing the recent increases in demand for the document.

Drawing on public submissions, the exhibition also highlighted the role passports have played in the lives of a diverse range of men and women who left Ireland — from economic migrants and victims of institutionalisation, to missionaries, writers and sports stars.

Exhibition video, featuring interviews with author Jan Carson; Rosalind Scanlon, founding artistic director of the Irish Cultural Centre, Hammersmith; Rebecca Tallon de Havilland, transgender rights activist; and Zak Moradi, a Leitrim intercounty hurler who came to Ireland as a refugee.

Curated by Catherine Healy. Graphic design by Joanne Byrne. Sensitivity reading by Dr Claire McGettrick.