Christmas market and live crib at Turlough Park in the heart of Mayo

The National Museum of Ireland – Country Life at Turlough Park, Castlebar, is hosting a ‘live crib’ display, a Christmas market and some festive storytelling on Sunday, December 15.

The Christmas market takes place in the courtyard of Turlough Park House from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday week, featuring local and regional artists and makers. Visitors will have the opportunity to browse unique gifts and crafts, including candles, calligraphy, jewellery, toys, cards, textiles and more.

Meanwhile, the live crib display, with Kiltimagh Pet Farm, is a fun opportunity to meet some of the farm animals featured in the nativity and other Christmas traditions and stories.

There are also three festive storytelling sessions and a craft workshop on the day. Fiona Dowling will be telling her Christmas tales at 1.30, 2.30 and 3.30 p.m. in the Audio Visual Theatre. The storytelling sessions are suitable for families with children aged five years plus, and no booking is required.

Isolde Dingerkus will deliver two ‘Cosy Christmas Crafts’ workshops, at 2 and 3 p.m. Participants will make their own Christmas decorations to take home, using natural and recycled materials. These are free workshops but booking is required.

The Christmas programme of events continues at the National Museum in Turlough Park on Sunday, December 22, with the return of the live crib to the courtyard, choral performances in the galleries, craft workshops and a traditional toys demonstration with a museum curator.

Throughout the month of December, there is also a fun 'Decoration Hunt' activity in the museum galleries. This is a self-guided trail, meaning visitors can pick up an activity sheet at any time during museum opening hours and enjoy the trail at their own pace. Young visitors can use the clues to explore three floors of exhibition galleries and find 12 decorations hanging in the displays.

Further details on all events and activities are available from www.museum.ie. For bookings, email BookingsCountryLife@museum.ie or telephone (094) 9031751.