Down County Museum is delighted to announce new Saturday opening hours. The new 10am opening will commence 5 November and will enhance the visitor experience for those who come to Downpatrick, allowing an extra three hours every Saturday to come in and enjoy the museum.
A new breakfast menu has been launched at The Cathedral View Tearoom where the Mainstay Down Residential Project staff serve healthy, freshly-cooked and tasty breakfasts.
The Museum and Cathedral View Tearoom will be open from 10am-4.30pm Monday to Saturday and 1.30pm-5pm on Sundays.
Newly Mourne and Down District Council Chairperson, Councillor Gillian Fitzpatrick said: “I am delighted that the Museum will be open on Saturday mornings from November 2016. The Museum provides an important resource to the local community and a great visit for local people and tourists alike. These extended opening hours also significantly increase our tourist offering in Downpatrick and will enable visitors to learn more about our history and culture.”
During the past year, the Museum has reported visitor figures of 43,000 after opening the new extension in September 2015. The state-of-the-art extension; funded by the Special European Union Programmes Body together with the Council. Exhibits include the Downpatrick High Cross, on loan from the Dean and Chapter of Down, galleries displaying farming and maritime history as well as the story of the Old Gaol, in which the Museum is based.
Three new permanent galleries now provide a great addition to the ‘Down Through Time’ exhibition, an extensive display on the history of County Down. ‘Raising the Cross in Down’, with the centrepiece of the 10th Century Downpatrick High Cross, tells the story of the Cross and its place in the early Christian tradition of County Down.
‘Harvests from Land and Sea’ tells visitors how the farming and fishing industries have developed over time, and ‘At Present Confined: Life in the old Gaol of Down’, uncovers the history of the Gaol and tells the stories of some of the prisoners held here from 1796 to 1830.
