Ballyshannon and District Museum

The Ballyshannon and District museum is a grassroots project driven by community spirit and inspired by the town and hinterland’s rich heritage. The museum is dedicated to the preservation of the shared histories of the local community and to the presentation of such stories through exciting exhibitions covering the social, cultural and political history of Ballyshannon and its surrounding areas. As an educational resource the museum focuses on a policy of learning programme development and community outreach, encouraging students of entry level and all members of the community to utilise and explore their local history.

Those involved in the project have faced numerous challenges along the way from finding a space, to getting the entire community to donate items in the hope of attracting the bus loads of  international tourists that tour Donegal throughout the year, boosting the local economy and providing jobs. The Project was recently featured on national RTÉ Television as part of a ‘Local Heroes’ series which looked at how individuals or groups around the country who were doing something visionary to create jobs in their local communities following the deep recession that hit Ireland. Since the documentary screening, the project has gained a large support base and is ever gaining momentum as a community venture. The museum has also attained a wide rage of artefacts in quite a short period of time through loans and donations, and is continuing the search for new additions to the growing collections. The current collections, organised into specific exhibition spaces, tell the story of a thriving industrial hub; of a garrison stronghold; and of a town steeped in artistic, cultural, literary and sporting heritage.

A noteworthy feature of the museum if the wide ranging area it covers. The areas surrounding Ballyshannon play a significant part in the historical assets of the museum. The exhibitions display artefacts and portray historical associated with Bundoran, Pettigo, Belleek, Kinlough, Tullaghan, Rosnowlagh and everywhere in between. Due to the project’s success, it is now expanding making the museum 33% bigger. From when museum opened in Mid-April 2013, it has had almost 5,000 visitors who have come from all over the world as far as Barcelona, Switzerland and Australia. It is also of course, proving a great attraction to Irish tourists as well.

For further information check out the website below: