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heritage · Sunday 16 August 2026 · 3:00pm 
Donegal Railway Heritage Museum - Heritage Week Talks
At Donegal Railway Museum, Donegal Town · Donegal Town, Co. Donegal
At Donegal Railway Museum, Donegal Town · Donegal Town, Co. Donegal
The Donegal Railway Heritage Museum opens its doors for a series of free illustrated talks during National Heritage Week, kicking off on Saturday 16 August with local historian Dr. Joe Kelly. This is a talk for anyone with a curiosity about how a web of narrow-gauge railways once stitched together one of Ireland’s most remote counties - and what it meant to the people who lived alongside it. County Donegal had the largest narrow-gauge railway network in the British Isles, and the museum brings that world back to life with a collection built around the station house that served Donegal Town from 1889.
Dr. Joe Kelly opens the Heritage Week programme at 3pm on Saturday 16 August with a talk titled “The Donegal Railways - Aspects of their History and Folklore.” Joe is a historian, teacher and author who appears regularly on Highland Radio’s Nine ‘til Noon programme, and his presentation covers the railways’ historical development, their social impact on the county, and the local folklore that grew up around the lines. Expect previously unseen photographs and a speaker who knows this material from the ground up.
The Heritage Week series runs until Sunday 23 August with two further talks. On Sunday 17 August at 2:30pm, railway historian and photographer Charles P. Friel gives “The Wee Donegal in Pictures” - a photographic journey over all 124 miles of the County Donegal Railway, from Victoria Road in Derry through Letterkenny, Glenties and down to Killybegs. On Tuesday 20 August at 7pm, Joe Begley presents “Building the Burtonport Extension Railway,” focusing on the engineering and construction story behind one of the line’s most ambitious stretches.
The museum itself, housed in the original 1889 station house just 300 metres from Donegal Town’s Diamond, holds the restored steam engine Drumboe (built 1907), original carriages and wagons, working railway models, and Ireland’s first full-size interactive railway cab. All talks are free to attend.
Donegal Town sits at the southern end of the county, about 40 kilometres south of Letterkenny on the N15. From Dublin, the most direct route is the N4 to Sligo and then the N15 north into Donegal - roughly three hours by car. From Derry it is about an hour via the N13 and N15. Bus Eireann and Feda O’Donnell coaches serve Donegal Town from Dublin, Galway and Letterkenny. The museum is a short walk from the bus stop in the town centre. Parking is available in the town at the Diamond and nearby car parks.
Donegal Town is a natural base for the wider county. The 15th-century castle sits just across from the museum, and Donegal Bay opens up a few minutes’ walk away. There is more to see in Donegal and across Co. Donegal.
Heading to Donegal Railway Museum, Donegal Town in Donegal? Donegal has plenty more to see. Read the Donegal area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.