!!!! Free Workshops and Tours for Schools at National Museum of Ireland in Mayo
National Museum of Ireland, Turlough Park, Co Mayo
Dates: April – June 2026
From Buttermaking and Biodiversity to an Orienteering Adventure
National Museum in Co. Mayo offers a range of free school workshops and tours this spring.
The National Museum of Ireland at Turlough Park, Castlebar, Co. Mayo, is offering an exciting programme of free workshops and tours for schools throughout April, May and June, providing students with opportunities to connect with Ireland’s cultural heritage and natural environment.
Biodiversity Workshop
This fun and educational Biodiversity Workshop takes place on Thursday, 30 April, with sessions available at 10am and 11.30am. Led by Dr Karina Dingerkus alongside the Museum’s Education team, this hands-on workshop explores minibeasts and wildflowers in the beautiful grounds of Turlough Park.
Designed for 3rd to 6th class primary school students, the workshop includes bug hunts and minibeast identification, a wildflower treasure hunt, pollinator observation, and a nature walk with interactive games.
These free sessions can be booked online.
Buttermaking Demonstrations
In May, students can take part in the Museum’s popular Buttermaking Demonstrations, where they will learn about the origins of traditional buttermaking in Ireland, along with the science, history and cultural significance of dairy production. Pupils will also get the chance to churn cream into butter using traditional methods.
These demonstrations take place every Thursday at 10am throughout May, a time of year long associated with buttermaking and traditional beliefs around protecting the churn and dairy yield from the fairies.
Places are free and booking is available online
Orienteering Adventure Days
Also returning in May are the Museum’s hugely popular Orienteering Adventure Days. Suitable for 4th to 6th class students, these sessions introduce participants to basic map reading and navigation skills before they complete trial runs on an orienteering course set throughout the Turlough Park grounds.
There are various sessions available on Wednesday, 20 May and Thursday, 21 May. These workshops are delivered in partnership with ATU Mayo and Mayo Sports Partnership to celebrate World Orienteering Week.
Places are free and booking is available online.
Guided Tours and Nature Tours
In addition, throughout May and June, the Museum is offering free Guided Tours of the National Folklife Collection and Guided Seasonal Nature Tours in the biodiverse parklands of Turlough Park. These tours are available at 10am and 11.30am on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and can be booked online at the links below.
Guided Tour of the National Folklife Collection
Guided Seasonal Nature Tour
Visit museum.ie for further details of all workshops and tours for primary schools at the National Museum in Turlough Park.
!!!! Free Gallery School Tours at The Model Sligo
The Model, Sligo
Discover ‘Inheritance’ exhibition at The Model, Sligo with free gallery tours for schools.
The Model, Sligo is delighted to invite schools to experience ‘Inheritance’, a powerful exhibition that explores legacies from our past and how they shape our present and future. Through artworks that look at community, connection, and the legacies we inherit, students are encouraged to think about how history shapes the world we live in today and how we can imagine a better tomorrow.
Guided tours will introduce students to artworks that explore endangered languages, our relationship with nature, and even a short film where young children imagine what their future might hold.
Thanks to additional funding, The Model is now offering free guided gallery tours every Wednesday for the rest of the school year. These guided tours provide a way for students to engage with art, ideas, and contemporary issues.
Teachers and students are also welcome to visit for self-led tours anytime during opening hours (Tuesday–Friday), exploring the galleries at their own pace.
Spaces for guided tours are limited, so early booking is advised.
To book or learn more, email: education@themodel.ie
Venue: The Model, Sligo
Opening hours: Tues – Sat, 11am – 5pm
Admission: Free
!!!! School Tours & Workshops at VISUAL Carlow
VISUAL Carlow
until 15th May 2025
School tours and art-making workshops are available to book for primary school students of all ages.
Each season at VISUAL Carlow, students explore the exhibitions through conversation, playful enquiry and making.
Using methodologies and materials inspired by their current exhibitions, students are invited to work together to create different landscapes.
Students will explore shadow-outlining inspired by Deirdre O’Mahony’s paintings, birds-eye views inspired by Carol Rhodes’ constructed landscapes, and pirate egalitarianism inspired by Dominique White’s sculptural installation, to imagine and make drawings collaboratively.
During the tour and workshops, students will practice…
- Looking together: Students will be introduced to the current exhibitions with collectively exploration of observations and ideas.
- Hands-on making: The group will be invited to imagine themselves as pirates, an inspiring mode of collectiveness where everyone’s voice is heard and everyone makes their mark. Working collaboratively as equals in groups of 5, they will imagine new landscapes. Each group will be given a unique set of materials (e.g. sticks and chalk, stones and string, graphite and pencil) for image-making. The groups will be invited to begin to shape their landscapes by tracing shadows of stones and shadows of their limbs on large scale paper. These shapes will stimulate ideas for the material, physical and architectural composition of their landscapes.
- Sharing: Each group will come up with a name for their landscape and a brief description of how it was formed and what life it supports and what stories it holds. They will present their work to each other and will reflect together on the processes used and stories generated.
Availability:
- Tuesdays (10am & 12noon)
- Wednesdays (10am & 12noon)
- Thursdays (12noon)
Duration: 90 minutes
Cost: €50
Capacity: A maximum of 30 students*
Supervision: Teachers are asked to remain present for the duration of the workshop.
*Looking to book more than one tour or a group larger than 30? This can be accommodated via several options. Please contact VISUAL to discuss what will be best for your classes needs. Email Arlene Caffrey at learning@visualcarlow.ie