Gold freedom boxes from Cork, Dublin, Waterford, Clonmel, Drogheda, Castlebar, Kilkenny and Trinity College Dublin are among the latest rarities donated to the Waterford Treasures Museum, holder of the greatest collection of gold and silver freedom boxes in the world. They were given by leading Irish arts philanthropists Noel and Stephanie Frisby, who donated silver, paintings and furniture valued at €4.8 million to Waterford in 2024. The Irish Silver Museum in Waterford – now in the process of cataloguing the Frisby freedom box collection – holds 26 gold freedom boxes from a growing collection of more than 60 gold and silver freedom boxes. To add context to this the National Museum of Ireland holds 35 freedom boxes and only seven are made of gold. The largest collection of Irish silver outside Ireland is at the San Antonio Museum of Art in Texas. They hold 22 freedom boxes in total, just two of them are gold. Pictured with some of the gold freedom boxes are Keeper Rosemary Ryan, Stephanie and Noel Frisby, Waterford Mayor Cllr. Séamus Ryan and Head Curator Cliona Purcell.
