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Current Exhibitions

This unique exhibition explores the impact of the new Irish Free State on the lives of women. It includes topics such as Employment; Education; Health Care and Politics and gives an insight into the stories of some of the extraordinary women from Donegal who played an important role in these areas both nationally and internationally. The exhibition opens in late January 2025.  

Past Exhibitions

Enjoy a virtual tour of this Decade of Centenaries exhibition by Donegal County Museum, which focuses on the years 1919-1925 in County Donegal. The exhibition explores the events of the War of Independence, the Civil War and Partition, all of which had a significant impact on life in County Donegal and the North West. 

This exhibition formed part of the Echoes of the Decade Project developed by Donegal County Museum and Donegal County Archives and was funded through the European Union’s PEACE IV Programme, which is managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB).  

This Virtual Tour was funded by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media under the Community Strand of the 2021 Decade of Centenaries programme as part of the Decade of Centenaries Initiative 2012-2023. 

 See the Virtual tour here 

Donegal County Museum curated this exhibition in association with the Donegal County Archives.  The Workhouse is synonymous with the social care system that existed in Ireland prior to Independence, but its role in society has often been overlooked or misunderstood.  This exhibition tells the story of the Donegal Workhouses from the Great Famine to their closure in 1922 and shines a light into the lives of those who spent time in their care.   

A touring version of the exhibition is available for loan.

There is an accompanying publication The Workhouses Of Donegal. 

Donegal County Museum holds the original Field Notes, survey drawings and slides of the Archaeological Survey of County Donegal. County Donegal was the first county in Ireland to have a full survey of its archaeological sites conducted and published in 1983. 

In about 1970 Máiréad Dunlevy from County Donegal who was working at the National Museum of Ireland organised an ‘amateur’ survey conducted by volunteer members of the County Donegal Historical Society. In 1979 Dermot Walsh of the Donegal Regional Development Organisation proposed that this survey be put on a professional basis by Donegal County Council using money from the government’s Employment Guarantee Fund. About 35 persons, mainly young archaeology graduates, were employed and the fieldwork took place between the summers of 1980 and 1981.  About 4000 sites were inspected of which 2,500 were deemed to date prior to the chosen cut-off date of AD1700. Where appropriate the sites were described, drawn, and photographed on 35mm film.  Information on these sites with a selection of plans, drawings and photographs was then published in 1983 in the Archaeological Survey of County Donegal.

As part of the 40th anniversary of the survey, the Museum  received grant aid from the Heritage Council’s Heritage Stewardship Fund to digitise the slides and drawings and to create an accompanying exhibition.   

Click here to see a sample of the Digitised slides   

In collaboration with the National Museum of Ireland, the Rainbow Revolutions digital podium is now available to view in Donegal County Museum. Visitors can see videos, photographs and archival collections which tell the stories of LGBTI+ people in Ireland and the growth of the Irish LGBTI+ rights movement.

There are oral histories of 42 people, which were captured by RTE film-maker Edmund Lynch in 2013 for his documentary - A Different Country.  Amongst the well-known people featured are Nell McCafferty, Lydia Foy, Ailbhe Smyth, Rory O’Neill, Tonie Walsh, Sara R Phillips, Gay Byrne, Mary McAleese and Mary Robinson. Also profiled are a range of photographs, video footage and documents illustrating the emergence of the LGBTI+ rights movement in Ireland.

Donegal County has curated numerous exhibitions on the history and heritage of County Donegal   

Here are a just selection of them:

  • 'From Leaders To Exiles' - The Flight of the Earls 
  • The Plantation of Ulster  
  • The Ulster Covenant 1912
  • Connection and Division - Donegal 1910-1930
  • The Railways of Co Donegal 
  • Remembering World War I- The Donegal Story 
  • County Donegal in 1916 
  • Donegal & the Easter Rising &‘Dún na nGall agus Éirí Amach na Cásca' 
  • Donegal and WWI  
  • 'A Vanished World' - The Landed Gentry of County Donegal 
  • 'A Long Farewell' - The Emigration of Donegal Women 1845 - 1955 
  • The Workhouses of County Donegal 

For further information on any of these exhibitions contact Donegal County Museum  museum@donegalcoco.ie  

Donegal County Museum has curated numerous exhibitions over the years, here are those that are available to view on-line:   

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