The youngest was 13 – trenches reopen in Ballyjamesduff

After nearly two years of closure, the immersive trench experience at Cavan County Museum has reopened - fully refurbished and improved. What began as a temporary exhibition in 2014 has now been transformed into a more solid installation, continuing its mission to give voice to the thousands of Irishmen who went to war and came home to silence.

The trenches - based on World War I frontlines - were the museum’s signature attraction before their closure in October 2024 due to safety concerns.

“I’m glad to see it refurbished,” said local councillor Trevor Smith. “It’s our biggest attraction. We had 30,000 people here yearly, because of the trenches - the largest outdoor replica in Ireland. We really hope that picks up again.”

With a soft launch for the month of August, the museum will celebrate the official opening in September. The trenches feature significant improvements. New retaining walls and a drainage system ensure structural integrity, while additions like a raised viewing platform allow younger visitors and those with mobility issues to engage with the exhibit more fully. According to the museum team, the goal wasn’t just restoration - it was transformation.

“This was originally built as a temporary exhibition. I don’t think anyone predicted how popular it would become,” said Catherine McGuinness, the museum’s Research and Educational Officer. “We literally had to peel everything back earlier this year. If you stood in the trenches in February, you’d be up to your ankles in water. So yes, it was authentic - too authentic.”

Beyond physical upgrades, the museum has recommitted to the deeper aim of the trench experience: To preserve the forgotten stories of Irish soldiers who fought in World War I. To enter the trenches, visitors pass through a specially curated garden, symbolically designed as a “path to war”. Here, visitors confront the pivotal moment faced by young Irishmen in 1914 - fight for the British Army abroad or stay and join the movement for Irish independence.

“When we talk to schools and visitors, we ask them to think about that choice,” Ms McGuinness explained. “Some men went to war for faith, some for the promise of Home Rule, others simply for a wage and a good pair of boots. Some were just boys - 13 or 14 years old - lying about their age to enlist.”

School tours

A third of the visiting schools come from Northern Ireland, underscoring the exhibition’s cross-border significance. The trenches have hosted groups as diverse as Orange Order lodges, Men’s Sheds, and international tourists, serving as a place of shared history and conversation.

The museum is already seeing renewed interest. School programmes are quickly filling up with bookings. Plans are also under way for live re-enactments to mark the 110th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme next year.

“It’s a very important part of our cross-border work,” Ms McGuinness said. “And it’s not just for young people. Adult groups, veterans’ groups, and history buffs all find something powerful here.”

The experience walks visitors through the grim realities of life on the front. From trench foot to gas attacks, from lice and rats to the psychological toll of warfare, the detail is stark and unflinching. The infamous Battle of the Somme is a major feature, highlighting the brutal conditions that claimed tens of thousands of lives - including many from Cavan.

“Five thousand men died on the first day of the Somme,” noted Ms McGuinness. “It rained constantly. The mud, the muck, the smell - it’s what they remembered. Diseases like trench foot and rat bites could be fatal. And after surviving all that, many of these men returned home to a country that had moved on without them.”

Ireland’s political landscape had shifted dramatically by the end of the war. The 1916 Easter Rising, followed by the push for independence, cast a long shadow over those who had fought in the British Army. Unlike their counterparts in Britain, Irish veterans were not celebrated. Many struggled with post-traumatic stress, then called “shell shock", and others, like one man from Belturbet, couldn’t even bear to sleep indoors after returning. Instead, he built shelter over a bog hole and lived there.

“There was no place in the national narrative for these men,” Ms McGuinness explained. “They were left out of history. The trench experience, and everything we’ve built around it, is about giving them their voice back.”

The trench experience and other exhibits are open to the public at the County Museum in Ballyjamesduff throughout the month of August and beyond.