[2] The museum exhibits the way of life of rural Irish people between 1850 and 1950, and is in the grounds of Turlough Park House.

There are displays about the home, the natural environment, trades and crafts, communities, and working on the land and on water.

The original gardens of Turlough House are now maintained by the Office of Public Works and the local authority, Mayo County Council.

They include a vinery, a special type of greenhouse for grapevines and other fruiting plants, a number of walks, terraces and a sunken garden, the ruins of the original house (occupied 1722-1786) and a section of the Castlebar River, with an artificial lake with islands, and a round tower.

[4] The National Folklife collection is extensive, comprising around 37,000 items, and only a small part of it is on display at Turlough Park, much of it being in storage there, and the remainder, including large machinery, in the National Museum's storage facility at the former St Conleth's Reformatory School in Daingean, County Offaly, or at the Collections Resource Centre on the edge of Swords near Dublin.