Cavan County Museum

Cavan County Museum is located in Ballyjamesduff, County Cavan, and tells the story of the county from the earliest times through to the twentieth century. It is housed in a nineteenth-century former convent of the Poor Clare nuns and was established in 1996. Its galleries are arranged over three floors and hold a wide range of artefacts, among them the ancient Killycluggin Stone, examples of bog butter and a collection of Sheela-na-gigs.

The permanent displays cover archaeology, medieval history, the Great Famine, folklore, the railways and the history of the GAA, alongside exhibitions marking the 1916 Rising and the works of the songwriter Percy French. The museum also documents the lives of influential women connected with the region.

One of the museum’s best-known features is its outdoor First World War trench, described as the largest outdoor replica trench open to the public in Ireland and the UK. Built to the specifications used by the Irish Guards and stretching over 350 metres, it includes frontline, communication and support sections, with sound and visual effects to convey life in the trenches. The trench forms part of a wider outdoor area that also includes exhibitions on the Battle of the Somme and the 1916 Rising. On-site visitors will find tea rooms, a playground and the Nun’s Walk. The museum sits just off the M3 Dublin to Cavan motorway.