former infantry quarters into long exhibition areas, retaining the original staircases. The museum's conservation department is housed in a red brick extension to the original buildings of the Transport Square, and was completed in 2001. In 2018, visitor numbers were reported as 198,974. In March 2021, a pair of slippers held in the museum's collections went viral. A screen shot of curator Brenda Malone holding the slippers as she showed them to a group of students from Liverpool John Moores University was shared on Twitter by author and lecturer, Dr Gillian O'Brien. The slippers were owned by Michael Collins, and were donated to the museum by his friend, Bridget O'Connor, in 1958. The bright blue slippers with an embroidered wolf head pattern inspired a large volume of interest. The slippers have never been on public display, but there are now plans to create a range of gift items based on them. Permanent exhibitions The museum contains displays of Irish coins and currency, silverware, furniture, Asian art, folk life and costumes, ceramics, and glassware. Other permanent exhibitions include What's In Store?, Out of Storage, Irish Silver Exhibition, and Irish Country Furniture. In 2021, it was announced that a new gallery dedicated to the 20th century would be opened at the museum. Scheduled to open in 2023, it would coincide with the centenary of the foundation of the Irish Free State as part of the Decade of Centenaries 2012–2023 Programme. The government announced the museum would receive €2.2 million in capital funding for the project. Soldiers and Chiefs The Soldiers and Chiefs - The Irish at War at Home and Abroad since 1550 exhibition features military artefacts and memorabilia tracing Ireland's military history from 1550 to the present. It opened to the public in 2005, and spans over 1,700 square metres of exhibition space. The exhibition is organised chronologically, with the phases of military occupation and development in Ireland covered, as well as the role of Irish soldiers in armies around the world up to modern-day peace-keeping activities with the United Nations. Curated by Lar Joye, it won best exhibition in Ireland 2009–2010 in the museum awards hosted by the Heritage Council and the Northern Ireland Museums Council. One of the exhibits, The Stokes Tapestry, was featured among A History of Ireland in 100 Objects in 2017. The hat that Michael Collins was wearing when he was fatally shot was part of