We Were Always Here Launch

Darren O’Connor designed Ireland’s first permanent LGBTQ+ exhibition at Cork Public Museum, which launched on 18 August 2026. The launch brought together the Cork LGBT Archive, museum and archive teams, local LGBTQ+ community and guests from the GLBT Historical Society in San Francisco. The opening coincided with the 50th anniversary of Cork’s first Gay Centre and formed part of a week of events welcoming the original Gilbert Baker Rainbow Flag to Cork for the first time outside the United States. The exhibition creates a permanent public space for Cork’s LGBTQ+ history, making stories and archives accessible to future generations.