Journeys with Bronze Age seafarers to the Aran Islands, encounters with pirate queen Gráinne Mhaol, and the dramatic legacy of the Spanish Armada are marine themes of €19.3 million euro development plans for Galway City Museum.
The project, focusing also on Galway’s “sea gate”, will integrate the existing museum with a new three-storey extension and the historic Comerford House, according to Fáilte Ireland.
The tourism body says a “new visitor journey” will connect the buildings and surrounding landscape, including access to elevated views from Spanish Arch.
It says the redevelopment will establish the museum as “a leading cultural hub on the Wild Atlantic Way, with state-of-the-art galleries and immersive exhibition spaces that bring Galway’s stories to life in new and engaging ways, while supporting sustainable tourism growth and wider economic activity across the region”.
Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Peter Burke announced €12.6 million in capital investment from Fáilte Ireland, delivered in partnership with Galway City Council, this week.
He said the overall project is valued at €19.3m.
The project was initially announced in 2019 at an estimated cost of over €10 million.
Revised works on the existing museum, additional structural repairs to Galway’s historic city wall and updated specifications are said to have contributed to the increased cost.
The fact that the museum is close to the river Corrib and prone to flooding is also a factor- the area is covered by a separate flood defence plan which has also increased in cost substantially.
Fáilte Ireland says that the extension will ensure “literature and poetry will animate Irish as a living language throughout the visitor experience, connecting audiences to its continued influence on contemporary creative expression and reinforcing Galway’s identity as a proud bilingual city”.
