Things To Do In Arklow #1- Arklow Maritime Museum

Things to do in Arklow #1 - Arklow Maritime Museum

Arklow has had a long and illustrious maritime history. Ever since the Vikings first landed here and dubbed the tiny plot of land "Arnkell", the sea has almost been the veins that flowed into Arklow providing it with prosperity right up to the turn of the 20th century when Arklow was Ireland's finest fishing port.

The Arklow Maritime museum is a tribute to the strong sea faring history and tradition of the town. The museum relocated to a space at the Bridgewater Centre, and from the outside it looks deceptively small, tucked away between a cafe and the local Eddie Rockets restaurant. But appearances can be very deceiving as we came up the stairs and saw a giant space packed with just under two thousand individual pieces of  maritime memorabilia.

The museum has been around for about thirty years, but its new location is very crisp and clean. It doesn't feel like museums I've been too before where everything feels dusty and hidden away. This history is here to be celebrated. The view of the Avoca river from the balcony is also stunning, and the fact that the port is just a few minutes down the road gives you the sense that you are standing in the centre where all this history happened so many years ago.

The view for the balcony, even on a cloudy day it looks stunning.

When you enter the museum, the people there are friendly and incredibly knowledgeable about the great amount of history that has happened over the hundreds of years that Arklow has existed, and how its maritime roots allowed it to thrive. We got to watch a short fifteen minute documentary about the history of Arklows maritime roots and then spent a good hour exploring the exhibit. There is so much to see and learn about, and some of the facts are guaranteed to surprise you.


It's so interesting to look at the exhibits and learn about the experiences and accomplishments of men and women from Arklow, and its fantastic to have a place where they can be remembered and respected.

A womans shoe obtained during the sinking
of the HMS Lusitania 

Its also incredible to hear just how much Arklow had an impact on the world in times gone by. The very first RNLI station was established in Arklow one hundred and eighty years ago, with a some of the artifacts from the period now in the museum. When the HMS Lusitania was sunk in May 1915, it was two Arklow captains who were the first on the scene to try and provide assistance to the people overboard. The museum contains both the medals received by German
officers who shot the Lusitania down, and also the shoe of a woman who fell overboard one hundred and one years ago.

If I were to try and explain every part of the museum and every one of the nearly two thousand exhibits I would most probably be writing a book on the subject. But if you're in the area and have a few hours to kill it's definitely worth your while popping in to the Arklow Maritime Museum and seeing for yourself just how much impact the sea had on Arklow, and just how much impact Arklow had on the sea.

If you'd like to find out more about the Arklow Maritime Museum you can visit their website at http://www.arklowmaritimeheritage.ie/ or you can find them on Facebook