Butter Museum

The Butter Museum celebrates one of the great success stories of Ireland, the butter trade.

Located in the historic Shandon area of Cork city, the story begins with the central role of dairy culture in the Island of Saints and Scholars through the Early Ireland exhibition with displays focusing on the Irish practice of preserving butter in bogs, the importance of milch cows in medieval Ireland and cattle raiding, and traditional butter-making equipment.

The development of the dairy industry in the twentieth century is also explored and the story is brought completely up-to-date with an audio-visual presentation on the industry since the early 1960’s.

The Museum goes on to describe the internationally important Butter Exchange in nineteenth century Cork, the traditional craft of home butter making and the modern success of the Kerrygold brand. In the course of this story around the development of Cork as a city trading on the Atlantic in the 1700’s, the commercial, social, and domestic life of Ireland is recalled.