museums ireland

Donegal County Museum is based in a fine old stone building which was once part of the Letterkenny Workhouse built in 1846.


The Museum houses both temporary and permanent exhibitions which chart the history of Donegal from Stone Age to the Twentieth Century.


Disabled access....

The only Irish Standard Gauge 1600mm (5'3'') working Railway Museum. The Terminus 150 metres from St Patrick's Heritage Centre. Housing steam and diesel locomotives, century old carriages, rebuilt signal cabin and engine shed. The railway carries passengers southwards to Ballydugan and northwards across the marshes and the River Quoile to the tranquil 12th century ruins of Inch Abbey.

Ask about the train rides along a restored section of the BCDR Belfast-Newcastle main line t...

Irelands First Coal Mining Museum - Irelands first and last Coal Mines. In the hill Country of North Roscommon, Argina is situated in a pictureesque valley with breathtaking scenery and unexpoiled landscape.
The work of a Miner was exhausting and often hazaedous, with working conditions that were very harsh and cramped. Experience this for yourself at Arigna Mining Museum. Walk underground through what was the last working mine in Arigna and see how the coal was mined. Take a journey thr...

This is a folk museum housed in an origianl building of old rural Ireland. Everything is kept to it original splendor.
There is a old kitchen here with all the authentic untensils and farm implements, old news papers are can also been found here.

The main attraction is the public bar which is still kept to it's old country style....

Sligo's rich Stone Age history forms the centrepiece of the most interesting exhibits on display here. There is a special section devoted to W.B Yeats. A copy of his Nobel Prize winning medal is on view together with a complete collection of his poems from 1889 to 1936, and a large body of his prose work....

Established in 1967, the folk museum was the brainchild of Fr. James McDyer, who moved to Glencolmcille in 1951. On his arrival, Fr. McDyer recognized the lack of proper services in the area and set about promoting industry and providing better facilities within the parish. The Folk Museum was central to Fr. McDyer's plan in maintaining the traditional culture of the Glencolmcille area....

Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919) was a Scottish born US industrialist and philanthropist who established a number of trusts for education and research. This included the establishment of many public libraries in English speaking countries.

At the turn of the century a library committee was formed in Swords and The Carnegie Trust was approached for financial assistance. A site was acquired on North Street and by 1908 the library was open to the public.

Today the library houses...

At the end of Ireland's widest main street - laid out by the 2nd Lord Hartland as the widest street in Europe - a Georgian Gothic arch leads to Strokestown Park House, seat of the Pakenham Mahon family from 1600 to 1979.
The house was designed for Thomas Mahon in the 1730s by the German architect Richard Castle and incorporates parts of an earlier tower house. The central block is the residential part of the house. The north wing houses Ireland's last galleried kitchen (a gallery in the...

Artifacts to do with island life; churn, dressers with jugs, cradle, settlebed, dress of islanders, baskets for carrying nets, patterns for making curraghs, part of curraghs; old stone from medieval castle; old photographs and manuscripts....