Heritage Island, Ireland's Visitor Attractions

Down County Museum is the place to be this St Patrick’s Day with a packed programme of music, dance, stories and family events sure to entertain and enthral.

Every year the museum welcomes thousands of local people and visitors from further afield to the annual celebration of St Patrick which mixes traditional and modern shows in the unique setting of the old gaol of Down. This year’s programme is no exception and is sure to appeal to all ages and tastes. One of Northern Ireland’s most popular storytellers, Fra Gunn, will present tales from here and around the world suitable for all ages. Top quality traditional and folk music will be provided by the Crimson Arrow Pipe Band, the Walsh Family and the Carrickmannon Traditional Group while unmissable displays of Irish dancing will be performed by dancers from the Brennan-Miskelly School of Dance.  Circus style entertainers Babcock and Bobbins and the Grundy Brothers will be providing laughs and thrills with their madcap shows of juggling, clowning and acrobatics. In addition to all of these performances and shows, facepainting and refreshments will be available throughout the day.

The museum also runs a programme of special exhibitions every year and this St Patrick’s Day visitors can see Down to Monaghan: Farming in Two Counties which features a selection of significant farming artefacts and photographs from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Also on display is  Drawing Attention: Political Cartoons in Ireland which presents a thought provoking examination of how cartoons and caricatures have been used for political satire. As well as these temporary exhibitions the museum’s permanent exhibition, Down Through Time and the restored historic cells will be open as normal.

Down County Museum’s St Patrick’s Day programme begins at 11am and finishes at 6pm.  Admission to the event is free.  Full details of the day’s programme are available from staff at the museum on 028-44615218.

A special event to be held between 10.15 and 5pm on Friday 12th March will explore the subject of pilgrimage, as part of the Museum’s contribution to a packed St Patrick’s Week programme. Archaeologist Jerry O’Sullivan will be giving a virtual tour of the remote island of Inishmurray off the west coast of Ireland, while Dr Peter Harbison of the Royal Irish Academy will be providing an overview of the evidence for pilgrimage in early medieval Ireland and beyond. The day also includes lunch in the Museum café and afterwards a special guided bus trip to Struell Wells, with a tour there by Dr Finbar McCormick of Queen’s University, who has been researching the history of the site from its traditional origins as a site where St Patrick himself blessed the waters in the fifth century. All this, and great company, is on offer for only £16 to anyone who books in advance by ringing Down County Museum on 028 44615218.

For details of other events, including the Museum’s fun-packed St Patrick’s Day celebration for all the family, including music, circus acts, storytelling and face-painting, see the St Patrick’s Week programme now available. For the booking form click here.

Saturday 2 January - Sunday 11 April
Down to Monaghan: Farming in Two Counties
This exhibition compares and contrasts farming in two Ulster counties. Farming has always been crucially important to the social and economic development of both counties and continues to be one of the most important industries today. However there have been differences in how agriculture has developed in both counties and the range of farming implements collected by both museums reflects these differences. Until the 1950s, most farms in both Monaghan and Down were less than 30 acres.  The growth of the world famous Irish linen industry in the eighteenth century was the main factor in the spread of these small farms.  Landlords encouraged linen production, and farms as small as five acres (c2 hectares) in size became common, even on good land. During the nineteenth century changes in agriculture encouraged the development of larger farms with livestock rearing becoming more important. Compulsory tillage policies during the World Wars brought more changes while increasing mechanisation after the end of WWII changed the character of many farms for ever. The story of these changes as well as details of social life, seasonal work and women’s work are all told in this exhibition.
Admission is free!

Saturday 30 January - Sunday 11 April
Cartoons and Caricatures
Cartoons and caricatures have long been used by artists to make comments on social and political life. This display of works from Down County Museum and the Linen Hall Library presents a thought provoking insight into the work of the political cartoonist.

Friday 30 April - Sunday 7 November
Sporting Heroes
This exhibition looks at the achievements of sporting heroes and heroines, particularly those from County Down, across a range of sports.

Location
We are located on the Mall, English Street, Downpatrick, between Down Cathedral and Downpatrick Courthouse. On entry to the town from either the Belfast Road or the Newcastle Road, follow the brown signs to the Museum. There is an Ulsterbus service from Belfast to Downpatrick, departing from the Europa Bus Centre. There is also an Ulsterbus service from Newry.

Access
All areas of the Museum are accessible to wheelchair users and families with pushchairs and prams. A tactile model of the Museum is located outside the shop for orientation.