The Big Dig at Carlow County Museum

What to Expect

Carlow County Museum stages The Big Dig for National Heritage Week 2026, a hands-on archaeology activity run by the School of Irish Archaeology on Thursday 20 August between 11:00am and 5:00pm. It runs as a series of 45-minute workshops through the day for children aged 6 to 12, with limited places in each, so a slot has to be booked rather than chanced. The Big Dig format puts children into a mock excavation with trowels and brushes, working a prepared trench to uncover objects and then recording what they find the way an archaeologist would. It is the practical counterpart to the museum’s permanent displays: instead of reading about how the county’s finds came out of the ground, children do a small version of it.

Carlow County Museum occupies the restored Presentation Convent building on College Street beside Carlow College and holds the county’s collection across several floors, from the medieval period through to twentieth-century industry and the Carlow sugar factory. Admission to the museum is free. The Big Dig runs on the same day as several other Heritage Week events in the town, including the Kehoe Papers talk at Carlow County Library at lunchtime and the Nature and Folklore all-ages table quiz at An Gairdin Beo in the morning, so a family can string a few together.

Good to Know

• Thursday 20 August 2026, workshops running between 11:00am and 5:00pm.
• Venue: Carlow County Museum, College Street, Carlow Town.
• Free, but places are limited in each 45-minute workshop and must be booked in advance through the Eventbrite link on the listing.
• Run by the School of Irish Archaeology, for children aged 6 to 12.
• Phone Carlow County Museum on 059 913 1554 if you need to check a slot.
• Part of National Heritage Week 2026, which runs from 15 to 23 August across County Carlow.
• Bring old clothes; a mock dig means soil and dust.
• The museum’s permanent galleries are open the same day and are worth combining with the dig.

Getting There

Carlow County Museum is on College Street in the centre of Carlow Town, beside Carlow College and a short walk from Tullow Street, Dublin Street and the Potato Market. Carlow railway station on the Dublin Heuston to Waterford line is about ten minutes on foot. Drivers should use the town-centre car parks at the Shopping Centre or Potato Market, both within a few minutes’ walk of the museum door.