The Steam Museum & Lodge Park Walled Garden is a

steam museum A museum ( ) is an institution that displays and Preservation (library and archive), preserves objects of significance. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects in public display, and some have private collections that are used by Resear ...

and tourist destination in

Straffan Straffan (variously ''Teach Srafáin'', ''Strafáin'' or ''An Cluanini'' in Irish) is a village in County Kildare, Ireland, situated on the banks of the River Liffey, 25 km upstream of the Irish capital Dublin. As of the 2016 census, the vi ...

County Kildare County Kildare ( ga, Contae Chill Dara) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county, ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

Location

The Straffan Steam Museum is housed in a church building which once stood by the

Inchicore railway works Inchicore railway works, also known locally as 'Inchicore' or 'The Works', was founded by the Great Southern and Western Railway in 1846 and emerged to become the major engineering centre for railways in Ireland. Located west of Dublin city ...

in Dublin. The church building was later moved and rebuilt in

in Kildare. The museum is located on the site of Lodge Park, a former "big house", which has an 18th century

walled garden A walled garden is a garden enclosed by high walls, especially when this is done for horticultural rather than security purposes, although originally all gardens may have been enclosed for protection from animal or human intruders. In temperate c ...

Collection

This steam museum contains a collection of prototype model locomotives and live steam engines. Two of the locomotives on display were used in the late 19th century by the Great Northern Railway. The museum also has a selection of steam engines used for industrial propulsion, including a large beam engine used in the old Midleton Whiskey Distillery, a pumping engine once employed in Jameson's Distillery in Dublin, and a beam engine installed in Smithwick's Brewery, Kilkenny, in 1847.

Operations

The museum is open to visitors from Wednesdays to Sundays during the summer, from 2pm to 6pm. It has a café and a small shop.

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steam Museum Straffan Steam museums Museums in County Kildare Tourist attractions in County Kildare 1988 establishments in Ireland