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Museums & Galleries in Dublin
Ireland's capital on the river Liffey, a compact Georgian and medieval city of literature, museums, music and pubs. Once a great port and the second city of the British Empire, it packs national collections, historic distilleries and a dense cultural calendar into a walkable centre between the Liffey quays and St Stephen's Green.
Why here
Dublin holds Ireland's national collections in a centre small enough to cross on foot, and much of it is free. The National Museum on Kildare Street is the single best place to understand the country's deep past, from Iron Age bodies preserved in bogs to the gold and metalwork of early Christian Ireland. A short walk or tram away, EPIC tells the other half of the Irish story, the ten million who left, through a modern interactive museum in the old docklands vaults. Around them sit the National Gallery, the writers and revolutionaries of Kilmainham Gaol, and the illuminated Book of Kells at Trinity College, so a museum day here can move from prehistoric gold to the 1916 Rising to the global diaspora within a couple of hours' walking. For a capital its size, the concentration and quality of what is on show is unusual, and the national institutions carry no admission charge.
Best months
The national museums are open year-round and the National Museum branches are free; EPIC and some attractions are ticketed. Museums are an ideal wet-weather and winter option in a city with plenty of rain. Weekends and school holidays are busiest, and popular sites like Kilmainham Gaol sell out, so book timed tickets ahead where they apply.
Getting there & around
The main museums cluster in the walkable city centre, with the National Museum on Kildare Street near Trinity College and EPIC across the river in the CHQ Building on Custom House Quay, linked by tram, bus and a short walk. National Museum admission is free; book EPIC and Kilmainham Gaol online in advance. The city centre has abundant accommodation and transport.
Skill levels: beginner
Schools & guides (2)
EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum
OrganizerEPIC The Irish Emigration Museum opened in 2016 in the vaults of the CHQ Building on Dublin's docklands, and has been named Europe's Leading Tourist Attraction three years running at the World Travel Awards. It is a fully digital, interactive museum telling the story of the millions who left Ireland and shaped communities around the world, across twenty themed galleries covering migration, culture, science and sport. It also houses the Irish Family History Centre for genealogy.
National Museum of Ireland
OrganizerThe National Museum of Ireland holds the state's national collections across several Dublin sites, with free admission. Its Archaeology branch on Kildare Street displays the treasures of early Ireland, including the eighth-century Ardagh Chalice and Tara Brooch, Iron Age bog bodies and a major collection of prehistoric gold. The Decorative Arts and History branch at Collins Barracks covers furniture, silver, weaponry and Irish military history.