The Craggaunowen Project is known as "Craggaunowen: The Living Past". It is designed to bring the Bronze Age and Celtic Culture to life on a recreated prehistoric site on the Craggaunowen Castle estate. This project was begun by noted archaeologist John Hunt in 1960 who got his inspiration from his excavations along the shores of Lough Gur in County Limerick. Craggaunowen Castle is a tower castle and was refurbished to house pieces from Hunt's excavations.

Staff at the site are dressed in period costume and go about their business as if they were part of history themselves, though you can feel free to interact with them. Certain trades are on display such as spinning and carving boats from tree trunks. You can even see meat being prepared in a fulacht fiadh, a traditional hunter's cooking hole.

The site also includes part of a togher, Iron Age timber road, that was discovered in Longford and moved to this site for preservation; a crannog, a man-made island, which contains wattle and daub houses (above) . . . crannog's were built as a form of 'homestead defense'; and a collection of standing stones, stone circles and wildlife.

Probably one of the more interesting objects is a life-size recreation of St. Brendan the Navigator's ship. This leather-hulled ship was built by Tim Severin in the 1970's and sailed from Ireland to America along the recorded route that St. Brendan sailed in the 6th century. You will see this ship housed in an A-frame glass house towards the end of your visit.