Museums

The Ulster Folk And Transport Museum is what I believe to be one of the jewels in the crown of Northern Irelands heritage attractions, and well deserves its title of Irish Museum of the Year.

Ulster Folk Museum

The Ulster Folk Museum was set up in 1958 to illustrate the way of life and the traditions of the people of the north of Ireland. This was primarily in response to the speed at which the countryside and people's way of life was changing and the need to preserve and record a heritage in danger of disappearing.

The Ulster Museum On Stranmillis Road in Belfast has historic origins, and was first opened to the public in 1833 for a small admission charge. The museum gained the status of a National Museum in 1962, and this prompted a sizeable extension to the original building as well as some sizeable art acquisitions such as a Gainsborough portrait of the First Marquis of Donegall, a Reynolds portrait of Theodosia Magill, later the First Countess of Clanwilliam, a 12ft high canvas of St Christopher by the 17th century Flemish master Jacob Jordaens and a 12ft wide 'veil painting' by the post-war American artist Morris Louis.