Noel Campbell, Assistant Keeper at the National Museum of Country Life in Turlough Park, Castlebar, is leading the development of a boat gallery to preserve the history and culture of Irish traditional vessels.

Turlough Park is about eight miles from Castlebar in County Mayo, where the National Museum, through its Irish Folklife Division, operates the Country Life Museum. This collects and preserves material culture from Ireland’s traditional way of life, of which the maritime sphere is, of course, a major part. It is a fascinating place.

The boat gallery at Castlebar in County Mayo, where the National Museum, through its Irish Folklife Division, operates the Country Life Museum

Noel has been telling me how the project is going and how he has been making contact with the owners and users of traditional boats around the Irish coastline.

He has come across great stories about the building and usage of these boats and is also chronicling them in a blog he writes on the NMI’s website: ouririshheritage.org