The Story of the Bicycle exhibition tells the fascinating history of a mode of transport invented in the latter half of the 19 th century.
Find out about the role the bicycle played in female emancipation, in providing the first cheap form of transport for the masses, in how its health benefits were recognised from its
earliest days by allowing people to escape overcrowded grimy industrialised cities to enjoy leisure time in clean nature-rich countryside, its use by guerrilla combatants in warfare and
its associations with romance and youth. There are also details to on the darker side of its history, in how the production of the bicycle began the large scale destruction of tropical
forests.
The exhibition is part of the BEO (Irish = alive) project which provides an Online Local Heritage Archive Library of photographs, films and stories reflecting the social, economic,
educational, religious and cultural life in Ireland in days gone by with a particular focus on the twentieth century. BEO is coordinated by the Insight SFI Research Centre for Data
Analytics at University of Galway in association with the Heritage Office of Galway County Council.
Exhibition posters co-funded by Bike Week, Active Cities Galway and Galway City Council
Location: Galway City Centre Library, Augustine Street.