Guide to Museums in:


Cork

Dublin

Galway

Kerry

Limerick

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND

CORK MUSEUMS

The Cóbh Heritage Centre is a museum located in Cóbh, east of Cork. The "Queenstown Experience", located at the centre, has mostly permanent exhibitions of Irish history. It provides information on life in Ireland through the 18th and 19th centuries, the mass emigration, the Great Famine, and on how criminals were transported to Australia for petty crimes. It also has an exhibition on the history of the RMS Titanic, whose last port of call before it sank was Cóbh (then Queenstown). The centre is popular with tourists, in particular with visitors from cruise ships, which often dock in Cóbh. Two onsite Irish gift shops and a café complete the centre's lineup.

For general enquiries please contact Cobh, The Queenstown Story, Cobh Heritage Centre, Cobh, Co. Cork, Ireland, Tel:: 353 (21) 4 813591, E-mail: info@cobhheritage.com

Bantry House is a historic house with gardens in Bantry, County Cork. Bantry House (originally called 'Blackrock') was constructed in about 1700 on the South side of Bantry Bay. The house has been open to tourism since 1946. Since about 1990 it has offered bed and breakfast accommodation. In 1796, Theobald Wolfe Tone Wolfe Tone and the United Irishmen United Irishmen attempted to land a formidable French armada, commanded by Admiral Hoche in Bantry bay. It was intended to expel the British and establish an Irish Republic. The armada consisted of 50 naval warships and 15,000 men. In 1796, Theobald Wolfe Tone Wolfe Tone and the United Irishmen United Irishmen attempted to land a formidable French armada, commanded by Admiral Hoche in Bantry bay. It was intended to expel the British and establish an Irish Republic. The armada consisted of 50 naval warships and 15,000 men. The Armada center showcases the story of the attempted French landing in west cork and contains artifacts excavated from the wreck in Bantry bay as well as a 1 to 6 scale model of 'The Surveillante'. The centre also tells the story of Theobald Wolfe Tone, with extracts from his log and a life-size statue. Visitors can also enjoy the individual sound tour of the Armada centre.

For more information and enquirieries please contact Bantry House, Bantry, County Cork, Ireland, Tel: + 353 (0)27 50047, E-mail: info@bantryhouse.com

Bantry House and Bantry Bay
Photograph © Schorle

Desmond Castle and the International Museum of Wine

Desmond Castle is a tower house located in the town of Kinsale in County Cork. The castle was built as the Customs House for Kinsale about the year 1500 by Maurice FitzGerald, 9th Earl of Desmond. In 1997, the International Museum of Wine, which details the links between Ireland and the wine trade, and is run by the Order of the Wine Geese, was added.

For more information and enquiries regarding Desmond Castle please telephone: 021 477 4855 or E-mail: desmondcastle@opw.ie

For more information and enquiries regarding the International Museum of Wine please contact Order of the Winegeese, Pam Kearney, Stonybrook, Brownsmills, Kinsale, Co. Cork, Ireland, Tel: 021 477 4666, E-mail: info@winegeese.ie

Desmond Castle and the International Museum of Wine

Barryscourt Castle

Barryscourt Castle is a castle located in eastern County Cork in southern Ireland, close to the town of Carrigtwohill. The site on which Barryscourt castle now stands has been occupied for over a thousand years- there is evidence of a wooden watermill having been built next to a stream at the site sometime in the 7th century, long before any fortification existed there. Barryscourt fell into the hands of the Anglo-Norman de Barry family in the 12th century, and masonry from this period found at the site may be the remains of another watermill or possibly an early fortification built by the Barrys. Barryscourt castle was built in a style fairly typical in Ireland in the 16th century, consisting of a main tower house building with smaller adjacent buildings arranged around a courtyard, which was protected by an outer "bawn" or curtain wall, with 3 smaller corner towers. The Barryscourt Trust was set up in 1987 for the purpose of conserving and developing the potential of the castle as a heritage site. In the 1990s, the relatively intact shell of the tower house was repaired and reroofed by Dúchas, and is now a popular tourist heritage site run by the Office of Public Works. The interior is furnished as it would have been in the 16th century.

For more information and enquiries please contact Dublin Castle, 2 Palace St, Dublin 2, Co. Dublin, Ireland, Tel: +353 1 645 8813, E-mail: dublincastle@opw.ie

Barryscourt Castle
Photograph © Philip Halling