The Tower Museum is a museum on local history in Derry, Northern Ireland. [1]
The Tower Museum is a museum on local history in Derry, Northern Ireland. [1]
The museum opened in 1992 in the presence of Ian Paisley and John Hume. The President of the European Commission Jacques Delors was also invited though eventually pulled out. [1] It was funded by the European Development Fund and the International Fund for Ireland. [1] It was constructed as a public-private partnership and was considered by the Northern Ireland Office to be a flagship project to promote tourism. The local press deemed it as "magnificent". [1]
The museum is located in Union Hall Place, within a historic tower just inside the city walls, near the Guildhall. The museum has two permanent exhibits; The Story of Derry which presents the history of Derry from its prehistoric origins to the present, and An Armada Shipwreck – La Trinidad Valencera which details the local shipwreck from the Spanish Armada. [2] The Spanish Armada exhibits were split between the Tower Museum and Ulster Museum in Belfast. [3] The Tower Museum is the home of the Mabel Colhoun collection. [4] The top of the museum has an open air viewing facility, which provides views of the city centre and the River Foyle. [2]
In 2021, a maquette of the Hands Across the Divide was purchased by the Derry and Strabane District Council and they chose to display it at the Tower Museum. [5] The Museum also has temporary exhibits throughout the year. The Tower Museum's record attendance came in 2023 when it had an exhibit on the television programme Derry Girls . [6] [7]
The Tower Museum has won a number of awards. [2] It has a permanent exhibit that covers the history of the city. [8]
