In visiting the Skibbereen Heritage Centre in the town of Skibbereen, Cork,  you will learn of the history of the town, which was one of the worst affected areas of the Great Hunger Famine of the 1840s. The exhibition depicts life during that time in an area that was notorious for its overly disturbing forms of suffering among the victims and the survivors. The nearby Abbeystrewery graveyard pays homage to the approximately 10,000 victims that suffered at the mercy of the potato crop failure.The stories of the old combined with modern technology of video and voice depictions, is a view into the Great Hunger Famine like no other.

The second theme of the Heritage Centre takes a different view, exploring Lough Hyne, Ireland's first Marine Nature Reserve. Located 5 km south west of Skibbereen, this marine lake is fed from the sea by a narrow tidal channel known as 'The Rapids'. Home to many beautiful and rare species of plants and animals, it is easy to understand why the Lough Hyne is one of the most studied marine sites in Europe. The Skibbereen Heritage Centre shows an audio-visual documentary on the history, formation and folklore of this unique phenomenon. Conveniently, you can listen to the presentation in English, Irish, French and German.