Cape Clear Island Museum
Voluntary museum in an old schoolhouse on Cape Clear Island with panels and objects on island life, maritime history, folklore and the Fastnet Lighthouse.
Have only individual sections read aloud
About the museum
Cape Clear Island Museum was founded in 1981 as a voluntary organisation to collect and preserve objects and records of the island’s folk, farm and maritime life, and to create an exhibition centre and heritage archive. With the help of the island community and state agencies an old schoolhouse was restored to house the collection.
The museum holds more than a hundred framed exhibition panels on fourteen themes, of which only a selection is shown at a time. They cover settlement, folk and farm life, genealogy, folklore, placenames, education, the telegraph and maritime history. The main focus is the sea: boatbuilding and shipwrecks, early lighthouses, postal and ferry services, sailing and fishing. A display on the Fastnet Lighthouse and the Fastnet Yacht Race includes a 20-minute audio-visual presentation and records the rescue operation during the tragic 1979 race.
Other exhibits include household and farm artefacts, a facsimile of the Cape Clear Stone, and material about St Ciarán, who was born on the island. The building also houses the O’Driscoll Memorial Archive, relating to the worldwide O’Driscoll family, and an island archive. The museum is open in summer and by arrangement for groups.
Highlights
- Exhibition panels on island life, folklore and maritime history
- Fastnet Lighthouse and Fastnet Race display with a 20-minute audio-visual show
- Facsimile of the Cape Clear Stone
- O’Driscoll Memorial Archive and island archive
- Located in a restored old schoolhouse on the island
Permanent exhibition
- Cape Clear island heritage exhibition – Panels and objects on island settlement, boatbuilding, shipwrecks, folklore, placenames and the history of the Fastnet lighthouses, with a display on the Fastnet Race.
- Founded
- 1981
- Operated by
- Cape Clear Island Museum (voluntary organisation); bookings through Comharchumann Chléire
Admission & discounts
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
Accessibility
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
Kids & families
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
Getting there & parking
By public transit
Baltimore
Cape Clear Island is reached by ferry. A year-round daily return service runs from Baltimore, and in the summer season from Schull, which also offers Fastnet tours. Bus Éireann runs from Cork via Skibbereen to Baltimore.
Ferry bookings: Cape Clear Ferries, phone +353 28 39159.
Get directionsAmenities & dining
The museum’s website links to an online bookshop (Lankford Books).
Events & venue rental
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
Plan your visit
| Good to know | A 20-minute audio-visual presentation on the Fastnet Lighthouse and the Fastnet Race is part of the exhibition. |
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