Galway City Museum has just announced Museum Lates, a series of late opening hours and free events running at the museum from June 25 until the end of the year.
Museum Lates supports a thriving, diverse, and accessible evening-time cultural offering in the heart of the city. The programme also strengthens Galway’s tourism appeal by extending cultural activity into the evening, encouraging visitors to stay longer in the city centre and experience Galway’s heritage and creativity after dark.
Running the last Thursday of the month from 5pm to 9pm, Museum Lates invites the public to explore Galway City Museum’s exhibitions after hours while enjoying immersive musical performances, talks, workshops, performances, and community events.
From June 25, visitors can look forward to a specially curated programme of talks, tours, and performances, including Letters to Ireland – the Emigrant Experience in Their Own Words, a powerful performance drawing on a remarkable archive of thousands of surviving letters written by Irish emigrants to America across the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, in partnership with the University of Galway.
The museum galleries will come alive after hours with immersive performances from acclaimed artists Lúan, Cathedral, Olan Monk and others — renowned for their distinctive sounds and captivating live presence. These performances will transform the museum space, creating a unique sensory experience where music and heritage intersect in unexpected and memorable ways.
Gaeilge will feature prominently with events and performances in collaboration with An Bruach Thoir and tours by Seán Ó Coistealbha.
Alongside this programme of events, visitors can explore Galway City Museum’s rich and diverse exhibitions, spanning history, culture, and science, including Surrounded by Stone, Keepers of the Gael, Revolution in Galway, The Claddagh, Galway Hooker, Earth Action, Sea Science, and Superhuman.
“Museum Lates reflects the very best of our city — creative, welcoming, and alive well into the evening," said Galway's Nighttime Economy advisor Kate Howard. "By opening our cultural spaces after hours, we are supporting a vibrant night-time economy while making arts and culture more accessible for everyone.”
As a key action within the Galway City Night-Time Economy Action Plan — and aligned with the national Night-Time Economy report and the Programme for Government — Museum Lates extends public access to arts and culture beyond traditional hours, ensuring that residents, families, students, visitors, and workers can engage with creativity and cultural experiences after dark.
By opening cultural buildings later and offering dynamic weekly programming, the initiative strengthens Galway’s evening cultural life, drives footfall into the city centre, and fosters greater participation in culture.
“Museum Lates is designed to broaden participation in the city’s nighttime cultural life, with extended opening hours ensuring more people can access our exhibitions and collections, while a programme of immersive musical performances, engaging talks and workshops means people can encounter our exhibitions in new and exciting ways,” said Adam Stoneman, acting director of Galway City Museum.
Funded by the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport ‘After Hours at the Museum’ scheme and Galway City Council, Museum Lates embodies Galway’s commitment to building a more vibrant, inclusive, and safe night-time economy—one where culture plays a central and inspiring role.
People are invited to join in the last Thursday of the month and be part of Galway’s growing cultural life after dark.
For more information on the Museum Lates programme of events and activities, see GalwayCityMuseum.ie.
