Located in a modern purpose built extension to the restored Lews Castle the new Museum nan Eilean opened on 14 July 2016 as a museum interpreting the history and culture of the Outer Hebrides through permanent and temporary exhibitions.

Exciting new galleries look at the stories of the Islands and Islanders. Visitors can discover how the distinctiveness of the Outer Hebrides is shaped by a unique combination of land, sea and people. The permanent exhibitions explain the diversity of experience, opinion and perception of life in the Outer Hebrides and examine work and leisure from the earliest times to the present day and how culture is expressed through the Gaelic language, religion and community life.

Significant loans from National Museums Scotland and the British Museum, including the world-famous Lewis Chessmen, alongside unique objects from the Comhairle’s collection set the modern culture of the Islands in their historic context.

The museum collections accessible by appointment cover the whole of the Outer Hebrides including uninhabited islands, but at this location relate primarily to Lewis, Harris and Great Bernera (while the sister museum on Benbecula focuses on the Uists and Barra). They include archaeology, social history, photographs, paintings, natural history and other local ephemera.