Culture Night Late Opening, Museum of Country Life

What to Expect

Culture Night 2026 falls on Friday 18 September, and the National Museum of Ireland’s Country Life branch at Turlough Park marks it with a late opening from 6pm to 9pm. Admission is free, no booking is needed, and the main galleries stay open for the full three hours. Culture Night is an all-island initiative in which hundreds of venues open their doors in the evening at no charge, and Turlough Park is Mayo’s largest participant.

The permanent galleries cover trades and crafts, life in the home, life in the community, clothing and textiles, and farming and fishing, drawn from the National Folklife Collection. Seeing them at night rather than on a weekday afternoon changes the experience of the building considerably. The museum also flags this as the last chance to see the temporary exhibition The Murmur of Bees, a selection from the same folklife collection, before it closes. The Victorian house and the grounds around it are part of the visit, though the gardens will be dark for much of the evening in mid September.

Good to Know

• Friday 18 September 2026, 6pm to 9pm.
• Venue is the National Museum of Ireland Country Life, Turlough Park, Castlebar, Co. Mayo, F23 HY31.
• Free admission and no booking required.
• Last chance to see the temporary exhibition The Murmur of Bees.
• Enquiries on 094 903 1755.
• Other Culture Night venues across Mayo are listed on culturenight.ie.

Getting There

Turlough Park is on the N5 about 8km northeast of Castlebar, signposted on the left as you drive from Castlebar towards Swinford and Longford. There is a large free car park at the museum and the walk from the car park to the entrance is level and surfaced. Castlebar is the nearest town for food before or after, ten minutes back along the N5, and Castlebar railway station sits on the Dublin Heuston to Westport line. There is no evening bus service to Turlough village, so plan on driving or sharing a lift.