What are the opening hours?

Monday 10am - 6pm Tuesday 10am - 6pm Wednesday 10am - 6pm Thursday 10am - 6pm Friday 9:30am - 5:30pm Saturday 10am - 6pm

Skibbereen Heritage Centre

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Skibbereen Heritage Centre

The Skibbereen Famine Story
Genealogy
And more! Skibbereen was one of the worst affected areas in Ireland, losing a third of its people to hunger and disease.
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Skibbereen Heritage Centre houses two permanent exhibitions - one on the Great Famine and one on Lough Hyne as well as offering a genealogy service for the greater West Cork area. The Great Famine Exhibition commemorates this tragic period of Irish history and serves as a tribute to the suffering of the local community. The Exhibition portrays the Great Famine through the primary source accounts o

f the time, giving an overview of government policies and how they impacted on the ground. Reports from the relief committee in their attempts to alleviate the suffering of local people are shown alongside reports of how the international community responded to the crisis. The story unfolds in an interactive way through the dramatisation by actors, including Jeremy Irons, of actual events and people of the time. Lough Hyne is a salt-water lake 5km from Skibbereen. This small marine lake was designated as Europe's first Marine Nature Reserve in 1981 and is now one of the most-studied marine sites in the world. This unique lake and its surrounds are home to a rich and varied range of plants and animals, including many rare and beautiful species. Skibbereen Heritage Centre has a database of over 350,000 genealogical records. Our genealogist, Margaret Murphy, will answer queries relating to the greater West Cork area assisted by Deirdre Collins. Volunteer Patricia Tomlinson enters data such as estate records, loan funds and deaths. These records have benefited many people over the years and are available on the database section of our website www.skibbheritage.com

All images and text on this site © Skibbereen Heritage Centre

02/06/2026

Awwww mama duck and her ducklings outside our windowns on the River Ilen today - we think there were 10 chicks!

09/05/2026

We are thrilled to see the beautiful murals now featuring in the Skibbereen Heritage Centre Courtyard thanks to the wonderful work of the Skibbereen Tidy Towns and the very talented artist Jessica Challacombe - they are just WOW!

Thanks so much to everyone involved and we know that visitors will just love them too .....
(and covering up an eyesore too for good measure 🙏)

04/05/2026

A beautiful sunset last evening but unfortunately 'the sheperd's delight' promise has not materialised today .... but there is somewhere warm and interesting to visit!

We are open today, Bank Holiday Monday 10am-6pm, and we look forward to welcoming you to our exhibitions....

01/05/2026

Sincere thanks to our wonderful neighbour Anne Minihane for 'bringing in the green' for us in celebration of May Day!

Her father, Michael, for many years provided this vital service to Bridge Strreet on the Celtic Festival of Bealtaine and we are delighted to see this tradition continueing.

Thank you kind neighbour!

29/04/2026

Hurrah it feels like High Summer in West Cork right now and we are also moving to our summer opening hours - daily except Sunday, 10am to 6pm - we look forward to welcoming all our visitors this summer! (and another hurrah to that)

28/04/2026

We are delighted to feature in the ever-popular Ireland's Own magazine this month....

18/04/2026

We were delighted to welcome Dr John Crowley - one of the editors of The Atlas of the Irish Famine - with his lovely UCC group to our exhibitions today.

John will be the opening speaker at the upcoming Famine Conference, by the Castlehaven & Myross History Society, which will take place in just two weeks time. The line up of speakers is impressive and it promises to be a fascinating day - more information and tickets here https://www.tickettailor.com/events/castlehavenandmyrosshistsocboxoffice/2143937?fbclid=IwY2xjawRQnhFleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFBZjBlWTZOcDZnWmFWR05Ic3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHiHafnw4heTh0sT8QYl4BlAdgXb-Ue1CRG5LLCdzYm4w5oiEmvdoYyd5lGQk_aem_7qEku_OJ-NI6cjAfcmcrQA

14/04/2026

We were delighted to present at the Defiance College McMaster Symposium this evening. Defiance students have come to Skibbereen on a 'Study Abroad' programme now for several years and we hope to continue to welcome them again in years to come.

08/04/2026

We are delighted to see this one-day conference happening in West Cork next month, organised by the Castlehaven & Myross History Society, it promises to be a very interesting day. For full details and tickets go to https://www.tickettailor.com/events/castlehavenandmyrosshistsocboxoffice/2143937?fbclid=IwY2xjawRDEsVleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFQbDY0ZVQwNElZc0FVQlQxc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHq3EOSWynAbLwNt72_aWGBI27bjw0gvUdrQZDsiPjjj-q000t5vGADxOgl5F_aem_EKyhRkJsEVIWeiOw6GkoDA

04/04/2026

Storn Dave is on its way to us with the promise of heavy rain and wind for the rest of the day but - fear not! - there is an interesting, warm and welcoming place to go to hide from it 😊

Our exhibitions are open all afternoon, we look forward to welcoming all the weather refugees ....

Address

Bridge Street
Skibbereen

Opening Hours

Monday	10am - 6pm
Tuesday	10am - 6pm
Wednesday	10am - 6pm
Thursday	10am - 6pm
Friday	9:30am - 5:30pm
Saturday	10am - 6pm

Telephone

+3532840900

Website

http://www.skibbheritage.com/

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