[2] The "Queenstown Experience", located at the centre, has mostly permanent exhibitions of Irish history.

[3] The centre has held exhibits on life in Ireland through the 18th and 19th centuries, mass emigration, the Great Famine, Cork Harbour's defences,[4] on penal transportation to Australia, and on the sinking of the RMS Lusitania.

[5] It also has displays on the history of the RMS Titanic, whose last port of call was at Cobh (then Queenstown).

[6] The centre is a tourist destination, including with visitors from cruise ships, which often dock in Cobh.

[9] The building was damaged on 5 May 1995, when a train arriving at Cobh failed to stop, and crashed through the wall.