As part of my ongoing quest to visit every museum that features authentic smells, when I discovered that the Kerry County Museum featured a recreation of a medieval village, I needed to add it to my list. Tralee itself had a few too many chain stores and newsagents to be picturesque, but the building the museum was housed in was certainly attractive enough, and much larger than I had anticipated. The exhibits were on several levels and primarily pertained, as you might guess, to the history of Ireland, and Kerry County in particular. When I visited, they had a nice photographic display on 1950s Tralee in the special exhibits room. The main bit of the museum showed the history of Ireland starting from the Stone Age and progressing up to the 20th century and the formation of the IRA, and was enhanced by the use of mannequins throughout, including one of Oliver Cromwell; and plenty of interactive things for the kids (and me, since I like to participate in fun stuff as much as anyone else, and am pretty shameless about it as long as there aren't any actual children hogging the activities). But really, all this was just filler until I could get to the main attraction: medieval Ireland on the lower level.
I hurried downstairs, since there was an older couple looking around the museum behind me, and I like to walk through historic recreations alone if possible, as it allows the nerd in me to pretend I'm actually living in that era. I recall there being a few skeletons and some information about the village in the antechamber, but I'd gotten a whiff of the authentic smells at this point, and they were beckoning me in to the medieval village. I was not disappointed. Although the smells weren't quite as bad as I thought they should have been, I doubt normal people would have any complaints about that. The village was surprisingly large, with a winding road running through it, and lots more mannequins, shops, and other appropriate buildings. There were also some sound effects, and buttons you could press to learn more about things, but like most of their type, they were rather long-winded, so I left those well-enough alone after the first one. But I loved the village so much I ended up walking through it twice, as there was still no one else in there with me.
I think that by adding the village, the Kerry County Museum has cleverly turned what would be a rather ordinary local museum into something to attract the masses. The admission price was very reasonable, so if you're in the area, stop by and pay them a visit. They deserve the support for going the extra mile to create a wonderful little creation of a medieval world. read more
