Welcome to Down County Museum

The collection comprises about 9000 objects and an estimated 30,000 photographs, collected since the museum was established in 1981. They all relate to archaeology, human and natural history of County Down. Over 90% has been given to the museum, by local people, or those who have family connections with County Down. A few items are purchased where appropriate.

Strengths of the Collection
The strength of the collection lies in its wide-ranging content and good background history. There are no date limitations and the objects represent 10,000 years of County Down's history. However, most items are late 19th or 20th century. There are particularly good collections of costume, paintings, photographs and cameras, quilts, tools and toys.

Special Interests
The museum has a special interest in Early Christianity, the Normans, the 1798 Rising (and 1803) and crime and punishment because of the close links with the people involved.

The museum has a range of both permanent and temporary exhibitions. So, whenever you visit you will be able to see some of the most important items in our collection as part of our main permanent exhibition.

Loans
Because ours is a relatively new museum we do not have large archaeological collections. However, our status as a registered museum, meeting professional staffing, environmental and security standards, means that we can borrow material, originally found in County Down, from other museums to fill in gaps. This is particularly important for periods like the Iron Age from which objects are scarce. We are very grateful to both the Ulster Museum and the British Museum for their help in this area.

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