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From schoolchildren stepping back into Victorian classrooms to local people sharing memories of home, work and community life, Newry and Mourne Museum has enjoyed a lively and wide-ranging first half of 2026.
opening of Categorically Celtic.
Twenty schools took part in the Museum’s education programme, with pupils getting hands-on experience of the past through workshops on Victorian life, the Newry Union Workhouse, World War Two and Bagenal’s Castle. Young visitors sampled the discipline of a strict Victorian classroom, learned about life in the Workhouse in 1847, discovered the role of Fire Guard Messengers during air raids, explored original features of the 16th-century Castle, built their own castles and tried on costumes.
The Museum’s Schools’ Transport Scheme, developed by Newry, Mourne and Down District Council, also helped make visits more accessible by providing financial support towards school trips to both Newry and Mourne Museum and Down County Museum until March.
The year began with two well-attended January talks. In partnership with the Old Newry Society, photographer Billy McAlpine explored the local legacy of W&S Magowan Printing Works, while historian Andrew Johnston delivered a sell-out talk on the notorious body snatchers Burke and Hare in a uniquely atmospheric setting.
Families were also at the heart of the programme in February, when the Museum took part in the Northern Ireland Museums Council’s annual Playful Museums festival. The festival offers free activities for children under five and their parents and carers, and local crèche children enjoyed Myths and Music, an interactive family theatre performance filled with storytelling, music and song.
Beyond the Museum walls, staff visited care homes across the district to deliver reminiscence sessions with residents. Everyday objects from the Museum’s reminiscence loan boxes sparked conversations about schooldays, home life and growing up before the internet and mobile phones. The boxes were also used by schools and community groups for their own reminiscence activities.
In March, the Museum opened its temporary exhibition, Categorically Celtic - traditional design in Irish art, politics and popular culture. The exhibition traces Celtic art from its ancient origins to its modern use in design, architecture, typography and national monuments, while highlighting motifs connected with growth, renewal, nature and Irish mythology. Among the artefacts on display are Irish dancing dresses, a Lambeg drum, an Ancient Order of Hibernians sash and a 19th-century bog oak brooch.
Sustainability took centre stage in April and May through talks and workshops linked to the Fashioned by Nature programme, funded through the Natural History Museum’s Fixing Our Broken Planet initiative. Drawing on the Museum’s costume, quilt and textile collections, the programme explored how past and present approaches to fashion and textiles can encourage more sustainable choices.
The Museum also worked with a number of organisations on PEACEPLUS-funded projects, supporting cross-border initiatives focused on peacebuilding, community cohesion and social development across Northern Ireland and the border counties.
In May, the Museum hosted talks and a film screening as part of the Homes for Everyone project, which explored the history of social housing across Newry, Mourne and Down. Local groups and communities contributed their own stories, helping to record lived experiences of housing from across the district which will feature in an upcoming exhibition.
Another project, Newry Canal and Our Engineering Heritage, has been exploring the engineering history of the Newry Canal. The Museum hosted information evenings and talks on the Canal’s history, and when the project is complete, work produced by participants will become part of a permanent digital archive on the Museum’s website.
The Museum also contributed to the Whitework and Flowering in the Mournes project. Curator Shan McAnena gave a talk on “flowering”, a local embroidery industry that employed thousands of women working from home in the 19th and 20th centuries. A related display featuring white-on-white linen embroidery from Counties Down and Armagh can currently be seen in the Museum.
Local maritime history was also highlighted in May, when Captain McParland’s uniform went on display. Born into a Newry seafaring family, John McParland went to sea at just 15 and later became Master of the SS Inverpool. He retired in 1982 after his final command, the MV Esso Tenby.
June brought one of the biggest changes to the Museum since it opened in Bagenal’s Castle in 2007, as civil registration services moved from Newry Town Hall to the Museum. Since then, the atmospheric Banqueting Room has welcomed regular weddings ceremonies.
Looking ahead, the Museum’s popular summer camp for children aged seven to 12 returns from 3 to 7 August. Inspired by the Museum’s collections, exhibitions and the local area, the camp will give children the chance to create their own artistic masterpieces while learning more about the life and history of the district.
Across the five days, attendees will take part in a variety of craft activities, including creating storybooks inspired by Narnia and the Mourne landscape, making necklaces and beaded bracelets, painting mini canvases, working with clay and producing a marine-themed picture. To book a place, email declan.carroll@nmandd.org
With exhibitions, education, outreach and community projects continuing to bring local history to life, Newry and Mourne Museum is looking forward to another busy six months.
The Museum is currently offering free tours of the main exhibition galleries on Wednesdays at 2.00 pm. These must be booked in advance by calling our Education Officer at 0330 137 4422.
Newry and Mourne Museum is open Tuesday – Saturday 10.00 am – 4.30 pm. Please call 0330 137 4422 or email museums@nmandd.org for further information.
Visit their website at www.visitmournegullionstrangford.com
