Donegal County Museum (Irish: Músaem Chontae Dhún na nGall) is a county museum in County Donegal in Ireland. The minutes of the first meeting held by Letterkenny Board of Guardians in July 1841 record that a decision has been taken to build a Workhouse in Letterkenny. The new workhouse was designed by George Wilkinson. Alex Deane, Cork were contracted to build it for £5,792. The flag stone for the floors was bought from Lord Abercorn’s Quarry for 20p per sq. yard. In early 1842 the work commenced. It occupied a six-acre site and could accommodate 500 inmates. The final cost of the building was £6,450 plus £1,475 for fixtures and fittings. It was declared fit for the admission of paupers on 16 December 1844, and it admitted the first 46 inmates three months later on 14 March 1845, shortly before the Famine began. The Donegal County Museum is located on the High Road in Letterkenny, its building first opened to the public in 1845 as the Warden’s House of the Letterkenny Workhouse. The purpose of Donegal County Museum is to collect, record, preserve, and display the material evidence and associated information of the History and Heritage of County Donegal.

In 2013, the then Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Jimmy Deenihan, said that the museum was among the “best in Ireland” at “dealing with the past and recognising all traditions [and diversity]”

History

In early 1842 the work commenced on building of the Letterkenny Workhouse. It occupied a six-acre site and could accommodate 500 inmates. The final cost of the building was £6,450 plus £1,475 for fixtures and fittings. It was declared fit for the admission of paupers on 16 December 1844, and admitted the first inmates on 14 March 1845– before the Famine began. The first Workhouse Master and Clerk was George Langan. His wife Anne Lane became the Matron. Jane Thompson was the School Mistress. During the famine, temporary sheds were erected to accommodate fever patients. In the 1901 census, the population of the letterkenny Union was 13,080 with 6 officials and 79 inmates in the workhouse. The Workhouse later became the Letterkenny District Hospital, Fever Hospital, Births deaths and Marriages and other purposes. A dispensary was attached to the workhouse and later became Saint Anne’s Maternity Hospital. The Workhouse building was demolished to build the Letterkenny Garda HQ. The Master’s house/Entrance Block is now home to Donegal County Museum.

The Donegal County Museum first opened to the public in 1987. Due to the success of the museum in the early years, it was extended after it received European Union funding in 1989. It was officially opened by President Mary Robinson on 14 June 1992.