09/05/2026
THE MEDIEVAL EXPERIENCE - WHERE HISTORY COMES ALIVE!
The Medieval Experience at Kerry County Museum is open Tue to Sat 9:30am to 5pm, last admission is at 4.15pm. We are also open on Bank Holiday Weekends and during special events. The Medieval Experience is fun for all the family. Get hands-on with history in our exciting, family friendly exhibition. Highlights include dressing up in medieval costume and strolling through the streets of Geraldine Tralee, before exploring how archaeology works in our interactive dig-experience 'Bone Investigators'.
DID YOU KNOW? The Medieval Experience is an authentic reconstruction of what an Irish medieval town outside the Pale would have looked like and the way people lived back then. You can dress up in costume and stroll through the streets of Geraldine Tralee in the year 1450AD, complete with the sounds and smells of the time.
You might be surprised to learn that medieval Tralee had its own town wall, several castles, a Dominican monastery, parish church, thriving port and about 100 timber framed houses with a population of about 800 people living inside the walled town. Other walled towns in Kerry included Ardfert and Di**le and there were also fortified strongholds, settlements and mighty castles such Carrigafoyle Castle and The Castle of the Island in Castleisland.
By the year 1450, Tralee's Anglo-Norman founders, the powerful FitzGeralds, had become 'More Irish than the Irish themselves'. Irish was the main language spoken by the townspeople and trade with Spain, England, France and other countries was thriving. Visit our unique Medieval Experience and find out how we know about the turbulent history of the town, what life was like back then and why Tralee was completely destroyed at the end of the 16th century!
