Connect with culture this Christmas at Mayo's Museum of Country Life
THE National Museum of Ireland - Country Life is the perfect place to connect with culture and spend time together this Christmas. Admission is free so step back in time with the National Folklife Collection where rural life and traditions are on display across four floors of award-winning exhibition galleries.
Refresh and unwind in the Victorian gardens or embark on an adventure in the woodland playground. Browse a unique range of Irish gifts, crafts and books in the museum shop - perfect for that Christmas gift - and then enjoy a coffee and treat in the courtyard café.
It’s the National Museum of Ireland on your doorstep with lots to see and do.
Christmas and New Year opening
The museum is open as normal throughout the Christmas and new year season with the exception of Christmas Eve (closed at 1 p.m.), Christmas Day and St. Stephen’s Day (closed).
Admission to the National Museum of Ireland - Country Life, Turlough Park House & Gardens is free. The exhibition galleries are open Tuesday to Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday to Monday from 1 to 5 p.m.
Christmas traditions
See how generations past celebrated Christmas in Ireland on Level C of the exhibition galleries.
Life in the Community follows a year in the life of our rural ancestors outlining the traditions associated with the seasons, feast days and festivals. This includes a display about winter and Nollaig featuring Christmas cards, wren boys, mummers, traditional Christmas toys and more.
Christmas cards
John Horsley and Henry Cole produced the first Christmas card in England in 1843. Christmas cards became useful substitutes for the Christmas letter or personal visit. Their popularity increased with developments in colour printing, the introduction of the penny post in 1840 and the development of the Christmas card in America in 1875.
See some examples of traditional Christmas cards in the Nollaig display on Level C.
Wren boys
On December 26, St. Stephen's Day, the wren boys paraded the body of a small bird from house to house. Dressed in disguise, they carried the wren in a small, decorated box. At each home they asked for money to ‘bury the wren’. In return they entertained the household with their songs and jokes. The money collected was usually spent a few days later on a wren party. Learn more about the wren boys on Level C.
Mummers
Mummers also feature in the Nollaig display. These were actors who, over the 12 days of Christmas, performed an ancient form of theatre in verse. The main characters in the performance were two battling heroes, and a doctor who revives the one that falls.
This tradition continues today in some parts, particularly in the north of the country.