Tipperary Museum of Hidden History

The Tipperary Museum of Hidden History, opened in 2020, tells the story of County Tipperary from prehistoric times through to the twentieth century. The collection covers the county's role in Irish history — its Norman castles, its Gaelic chieftains, its role in the 1798 Rebellion and the War of Independence — with a focus on stories that are unfamiliar even to many Irish visitors.

The museum is well-designed and free to enter. Among the highlights is material relating to the Siege of Clonmel in 1650, when Hugh Dubh O'Neill's garrison inflicted the heaviest single defeat of Cromwell's Irish campaign before escaping under cover of night. There is also good coverage of the region's prehistoric monuments and the rich medieval heritage of the county's abbeys and round towers.

things to do museum
A story
The museum opened in 2020 in a building that had been Clonmel's town hall since the nineteenth century. It takes its name from the fact that Tipperary, despite being one of Ireland's largest counties, remains relatively overlooked by tourism — "hidden" not because it conceals things, but because visitors tend to drive through on the way to Kerry or Kilkenny.