Construction set to commence soon on new 'Medieval Museum of Kilkenny'

The 'Medieval Museum of Kilkenny', which will incorporate the existing Medieval Mile Museum and the planned new visitor attraction at The Tholsel, is eyeing up an opening date of Quarter 2, 2025.

This was the update relayed to elected officials by Director of Services, Sean McKeown, at this month's full meeting of Kilkenny County Council.

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"The detailed design stage is almost complete and the construction contract is to be awarded by the year's end," he said.

"We expect that there will be a twelve month phase of construction and then three additional months to fit-out the building, including the virtual reality elements."

The existing Medieval Mile Museum will operate as normal during this construction phase.

The plans for the new Medieval Museum of Kilkenny will also enable Kilkenny County Council to retain use of The Tholsel as a Town Hall and associated civic use.

Upon completion, visitors will be able to explore the basement of The Tholsel. This will be the first time the dungeon and clocktower will be accessible to the public. 

A new brand and interpretive scheme will unify the entire complex and will use fun, humour and ‘horrible history’ style stories to appeal to a wider variety of visitors.

The outdoor areas surrounding St Mary’s Church will be landscaped and an outdoor play space and covered seating for a coffee kiosk will also be introduced within the churchyard.

In St Mary’s Church, the interpretation will be revised to integrate with the new overarching brand and interpretive concept.

The central map table will be made mobile to allow for large events in the nave, and the Kilkenny room will be adapted to allow for events and venue hire.  

It is intended this major new attraction will help to re-establish the historic city centre as the essential highlight of any visit to Ireland’s Ancient East. 

It was raised at the meeting that there are many visitors that come to Kilkenny and opt not to leave the vicinity of Kilkenny Castle, and it is hope that this attraction will go some way to changing that.

Under Fáilte Ireland’s Large Capital Grants Scheme in 2016, Kilkenny County Council was offered €3.2 million to develop the experience.

Costs for construction have risen since that funding announcement, but Kilkenny County Council are confident that Fáilte Ireland will be sympathetic to this, and ongoing talks are hoped to allay fears of any funding shortfall.