About Carlow Museum
Carlow County Museum was based in the former Theatre of Carlow Town Hall.
[ photo: County Museum. ]
Carlow Town Council and Carlow County Council in association with the Carlow Historical and Archaeological Society are upgrading and improving Carlow County Museum. This includes the development of a new Museum premises on College Street adjoining the Tourist Office in Carlow Town. To facilitate these improvement works the Museum will be closed until further notice.
The new County Museum is being established as part of its overall strategy for social, economic and cultural development of the county and the Museum will cater for the cultural and educational needs of the community and provide a much needed indoor heritage tourism amenity for the county. The Museum’s collection contains a growing collection of over 4,000 artifacts and represents a wide range of periods and topics.
Carlow County Museum’s new premises.
[ photo: County Museum. ]
The new development involves the restoration of the former Presentation Convent on College Street, Carlow Town. The building is in a prime town centre location and is part of a complex that already houses the Co. Library, Archive and the Tourist Office. The vision of is to create a central cultural complex in Carlow town that provides easy access to cultural amenities. The Tourist Office will act as the reception area for the County Museum.
Carlow Tourist office will be the entrance for Carlow County Museum.
[ photo: County Museum. ]
The role of Carlow County Museum will be to collect, preserve, conserve, document and display the history and material culture of the county. County Museums are significant in that they are a home for a county’s many historic treasures and they become centres for research, education as well as maintaining high standards of collections care. In Ireland an official County Museum is one that is operated and funded by a Local Authority. Currently there are thirteen County Museums throughout Ireland.
Carlow Historical and Archaeological Society
The County Museum is being developed in partnership with the Carlow Historical and Archaeological Society. The Society has been collecting artifacts and archives relating to all aspects of County Carlow’s history since the late 1960’s. The Society opened a museum in 1974 and it was relocated in 1979 to the former Theatre of the Town Hall, a space provided by Carlow Town Council.
The Society will retain a role in the development of the County Museum, through the medium of a Museum Board that will oversee the strategic development and devise the County Museum’s policies.