Galway City Museum

MOST VIBRANT CULTURAL SPACE IN GALWAY: We visited the museum in Sept 2025 and were deeply impressed by the vibrant cultural space. The museum is located right next to Spanish Arch, overlooking the fast moving Corrib river as well as the Galway Bay and the mighty Atlantic Ocean. We understand that the museum came into being in 2007. The museum blends effortlessly in the historic surroundings, signifying a combination of heritage and traditions with modernity. The museum displays art, history and architecture of Galway. We were impressed with the traditional fishing practices of Galway. The museum also highlights the importance of story telling with the rooftop offering a breathtaking view of the town on the western coast of Ireland. In short, it provides a cultural immersion into the culture and history of the Irish Republic.

Really cool museum, with a great balance between the history of the city, its future, and environmental awareness. The exhibition about the former president was excellent too, especially since we visited the day after the change. Bonus point: the Lego scavenger hunt is a lot of fun!

A proper little gem by the Spanish Arch 🏛️ Great mix of history, culture, and local stories - easy to explore, well laid out, and genuinely interesting even if you’re “just popping in”. Free entry, great views outside, and a perfect stop while walking around Galway. Definitely worth a visit.

Galway City Museum is a lovely stop—free entry, easy to wander, and a great way to learn a bit about Galway. Perfect for escaping the rain and getting a quick culture fix.

Free entry, no need to book in advance! Very interesting experience, you learn a lot about the history of Galway.

What a cool design for a museum. There is so much history about Galway, from the poets to its fishing history, and all the people who once walked the streets shoeless. I love the historical model facing how the town across the bay now looks. Oh! And the Legos throughout the museum.. Nice touch.

Entry is free😍 Museum is worth visiting here and is really good if you want to know about the history of Galway. Worth all the time spent here

This free museum is very descriptive and informative about the history of Galway. Also, for families with kids it can be educational as there are lots of interactive parts.

Free (donations appreciated) and entertaining, the Galway City Museum has more than just history of the city of Galway. It was interesting to learn about shipwrecks and seabed mapping, some human biology and the history of medical devices, and really, what Irish museum would be complete without a history of the Irish Free State and the Troubles. Objects on display are tiny and massive, including the oldest Claddagh ring in existence (dating from circa 1700!) and a sailboat. The museum has stairs and a lift, making it fully handicapped accessible. There are a number of exhibits that are interactive and can be touched. Expect at least an hour to appreciate this museum, two if you're a reader. [Review 1948 of 2024 - 130 in Republic of Ireland - 22970 overall]

Free admission! We visited around 11am on a very rainy day and the museum was quite busy. It is a small museum but does have some interesting displays. There is a lot of reading involved, being a busy day it was hard to get close to the reading materials. The aisles were quite crowded. We enjoyed the boating and fishing displays. They also have a section on ancient instruments.

I really enjoyed this place and was surprised at the size, it looks so small but it just keeps going! They had a lot of really cool artifacts and I loved learning about the city we were staying in, so much history. Some of the upkeep here could have been better but for the price of free it was wonderful. It gets busy and the bathrooms are not big enough so be warned!

Was a bit unimpressed with this museum, not to say it's bad in any way. Just didn't feel very exciting or historically intriguing, despite the historical interest of Galway. But they worked with what they had and it was good enough. Can't say you ought to go out of your way to see it, but if you've got nothing else to do may as well

There are a lot of free activities that Galway has to offer, and the City Museum is one of the most informative! This museum was founded in the 1970s but is currently located in a modern building that opened in 2007. Across three floors of exhibitions, you'll learn about prehistoric and medieval Galway, how WW1 and the Easter Rising affected the city, Gaelic football, sea science and more. And you can't miss the Galway Hooker, a type of fishing vessel, hanging above the main staircase in the middle of the museum. The museum does a good job of preserving and teaching the history of the city and showing how Galway is woven into Irish culture as a whole. Their newly redesigned website showcases much of what the museum has to offer. It took about an hour to see everything at the museum, though we could've stayed longer had we studied each display closely. This was a good way to spend some time, and you can't beat the price of free admission!

This is a great place to learn about the history of Galway. It's also a great place to get away from the outside elements for a while. It's free admission, but please feel free to leave a donation. There are multiple floors.

Exhibits on three floors. Offer simple history of city and Ireland.

What's that, you say? You've checked out of your hotel but your bus doesn't leave for a few hours? Well my friend, you're in luck, the Galway Museum is a great spot to fill those last few "what'll I do?" moments before you head out of town. It has three floors of exhibits, mostly about, surprise, the History of Gallway. But it makes the subject really come to life and covers the medieval commercial and modern military role the city has played over the centuries. You can learn everything you ever wanted to know about designs for hide-covered boats (every little seaside town has a distinct style, really!), and as of this writing they give an ultra-modern nod to urban art in their graffitti exhibition. Including a place to do your own (at least, that's what the little sign seemed to be implying, and there were no cameras...) Bottom Line: I would definitely add this to my "Free Stuff to do in Dublin" list except, well, it's in Galway..

The first thing that comes to mind is GREAT view from the museum, even if you are not into museums, looking at the view into the water is worth going here, also it is free so you will not loose any money by giving it a try. The museum has all kinds of interesting exhibits and a lot of history influenced exhibits which are interesting and you get to learn a little about the city you are visiting, living in or passing through. It is a quiet place so it is a nice place to take a bit of a breather from discovering this beautiful city. Also their couches in the front entrance are really comfortable and I must admit after walking quite far it was a nice place to rest up.

Nice museum to experience a piece of west Ireland history. A little bit on the small side, might take you an hour tops. Worth a visit if you're exploring Galway, Doesn't take up a lot of your time as it's so small. Free admission which is always nice.

Free entry. Takes you about 1 hour. Tells you the history of Galway. Good for rainy days. Also nice for kids.

What!? The free city museum is closed on a Sunday in the middle of summer?