In 2024, Galway City Museum were awarded €15,000 in the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media’s Regional Museum Exhibitions Scheme. The funding has allowed the Museum to commission modelmaker, Kate Galvin of Presentation Models to create a 3D model of a 16th century Tower House, now on display in the Keepers of the Gael exhibition.
The model, based on the tower house at Kilclooney, Miltown, Co. Galway, dated to c. 1500 AD, now occupies a showcase in the Keepers of the Gael exhibition exploring Gaelic society and culture in Ireland between 1200-1600 AD. Visitors can now see up close what daily life may have been like in and around a 16th century home. More than just a residence, the Kilclooney Tower House was linked to the learned family of Uí hÚiginn and their bardic school where poets were trained. Hundreds of Tower Houses decorated the Irish countryside during this period in Irish history. This model provides a new and innovative way for visitors, especially children, young people and those with limited reading or literacy skills, to engage with Gaelic culture.
The Museum opens Tuesday to Saturday, 10am – 5pm (galleries close at 4:45pm). Admission is FREE!
