A PICASSO in one drawer, a large drinking horn in another, a Henry Moore in a third... the inviting knobs on the chests of drawers just beg to be pulled. The Hunt Museum is a place where you make all kinds of interesting discoveries - and it's deliberately planned to be so. It's not just a new cultural asset for Limerick city, it's a major educational resource for Ireland.

As the Taoiseach, John Bruton, observed at the official opening on St Valentine's Day, this is not a didactic museum - he was referring to the fact that the objects on display were all personally collected by the Hunt family, and are not marshalled chronologically.

"We're getting away from the chronology that most museums are obsessed with because we want people to relax and really look at the objects," museum director John Hunt told explains. "One thing we are going to do here that I know of no other museum doing is allow students to touch the objects. That's the best way of learning about them."

Such touching is only for bona fide students in the controlled setting of a special touching room where the objects of interest are brought and handled under the supervision of museum staff. This room is part of a dedicated educational suite.

Hunt himself, as the son of the two collectors John and Gertrude Hunt, grew up surrounded by, and playing with, a bronze horse by Leonardo da Vinci, a cross belonging to Mary Queen of Scots, and innumerable objects from pre-Christian times onwards. Most of the collection, which is now estimated to be worth £50 million, was given by his parents to the people of Ireland in 1977, with the wish that it be kept in Limerick. More recently John and his sister, Trudy, donated the rest of the collection.

Now these treasures are housed in a beautifully-restored Palladian building. The ground floor displays religious objects, the first floor exhibits decorative arts from the Medieval period onwards and the second floor houses the archaeological collection and the jewellery gallery.

The Hunt Museum, which has strong links with both the Limerick College of Art and Design and the University of Limerick, has its own formal educational programme for schools and for its own docents.

Docents are volunteers who study the collection for two terms - at evening classes one night per week - and then give four hours to the museum each week as tour guides or in other capacities. The formal lectures cost £40 per term. Afterwards the docents are encouraged to continue studying and to carry out research if they wish.

SOME docents give a special series of lectures on art history to students at the Limerick College of Art & Design, which is part of Limerick RTC. Others are responsible for first aid or answering questions from the public in foreign languages or sign language. Some work on the schools Outreach and community groups programme, visiting schools and talking about the collection, or arranging visits to the museum. This programme is currently operating in Limerick city and county only, but it is hoped to widen the range later on.

There are 78 docents but the museum would welcome more, says Sarah Egan, the museum's education officer. "Lectures for the next intake are starting very soon and I would welcome a phone call from anyone who is interested," says Egan. Her phoning number is 061-312833. "Volunteers don't have to know about art, but they must be able to communicate and make visitors feel welcome - everything else can be learned."

John Hunt points out that it can be difficult for students writing a thesis to find material that has not been published. The museum, he says, has much that hasn't been hitherto seen. This will help both undergraduate and post-graduate students.

THE head of the Limerick College of Art and Design, Richard Ruth, says that the museum is an important resource for all students. "It's a magnificent opportunity to look at decorative objects, put them in an historical context, and translate them to contemporary life," he says. "The ceramics students will especially benefit, but it's also a great source of inspiration for sculpture and fine art students."

The University of Limerick is planning a post-graduate course in decorative design which will draw strongly on the collection. Having been the home for part of the Hunt Collection from 1977 to last December, the university has a special interest.

"The fledgling University of Limerick was honoured to be entrusted with the care of the nucleus of the collection," says Dr Edward Walsh, president of the university. "It has been honoured to serve as custodian of the Hunt Collection for 20 years and is pleased that its involvement continues in perpetuity."

The museum is open every day except Monday. Entrance fee is £3 for adults and £1.50 for students and children - but, says John Hunt, local art and design students will be admitted free by arrangement.