Museums and galleries in Dublin

Museums and galleries in Dublin

1. Do

   Croke Park Stadium

   This stages Gaelic football and hurling for Dublin County GAA and national competitions, with a playing season April-Sep. The stadium has a capacity of 82,300 yet you may struggle to get tickets for big games. Tours of the stadium and GAA museum are also available, including a chance to try out these sports. You can also take the "skyline walk" across the stadium roof.

2. See

   EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum

   Over the centuries more than 10 million people emigrated from Ireland; this is the story of why they left, where they went and how they shaped the world.

   Daily 10AM-5PM·Adult €21, child 6-12 €10.50, teen 13-17 €14.50, under 5s free, senior €19

3. See

   GPO Museum

   The GPO is the headquarters of the Post Office in Ireland, built in Neo-Classical style 1814-1818. In 1916 it was occupied by Irish rebels led by PH Pearse, who read the Proclamation of the Republic outside the front door of the building. The interior was burnt out by shelling from government forces against the rebels, but the exterior survived. Subsequently the GPO was restored, reopening in 1929, and remains a busy working post office. The museum within it is a multimedia exploration of the Easter Rising.

   Mon-Sat 10AM-5PM·Adult €17, conc €15, child €8.50

4. See

   Green on Red Gallery

   Commercial gallery exhibiting Irish and international modern art.

   Mon-Fri 10AM-6PM·Free

5. Do

   Guinness Storehouse

   Guinness is brewed in 49 countries and Ireland just happens to be one of them. The St James Gate brewery is still in production, now part of Diageo, and this vast storehouse has become an exhibition (self-guided) on the drink and the Guinness family. Price of entry includes a pint at the seventh floor Gravity Bar, which forms the head of the giant pint of stout formed by the atrium. Outside, touristy-trappy horse-drawn carriages ply for hire, but a stretch limo for the 2 km ride back to city centre might be cheaper.

   Sun-Thu 9:30AM-5PM, Fri Sat 9:30AM-6PM·Adult €26, child €10

6. See

   Hugh Lane Gallery

   Sir Hugh Lane (1875-1915) was one of the first collectors of modern art. He died in the sinking of Lusitania and this public gallery reflects his Will, which involved about as much negotiation, fudge and compromise as the Treaty for Irish independence. The permanent exhibitions are mostly contemporary Irish artists, plus Francis Bacon's studio, relocated from London in 2001. Charlemont House was built in 1763 and in 1929 its gardens were built over to create the gallery, which is wheelchair accessible.

   Tue-Sat 10AM-5PM, Sun 11AM-5PM·Free

7. See

   Irish Jewish Museum

   Exhibiting Jewish life in the cities - as in Great Britain, many were emigres from "White Russia". Their best known member is fictional, Leopold Bloom the protagonist of Ulysses.

   Sun 10:30AM-2:30PM·Donation

8. See

   Irish Museum of Modern Art

   IMMA

   Modern and contemporary art, housed in the Royal Hospital of 1684. See also the elegant courtyard and formal gardens.

   Tue-Sat 10AM-5:30PM, Sun noon-5:30PM·Free

9. Do

   Jameson Distillery

   Jameson whiskey was produced in Dublin from 1780 to 1976, when the business relocated to Midleton near Cork. So the old Bow St distillery no longer makes whiskey but has been converted into a museum about the process and industry.

   Mon-Sat 10AM-PM, Sun noon-PM·Adult €26

10. See

    Kilmainham Gaol

    This prison was in use 1796-1924; thousands have passed through, including many convicts transported to Australia. It's best known as the place where the rebels from the 1916 Easter Rising were executed. (Several now lie in Arbour Hill Cemetery just north of the Decorative Arts Museum.) Access by guided tour every 30 min, pre-booking essential.

    Daily 9:30AM-5:30PM·Adult €8, senior €6, child or student €4

11. See

    Little Museum of Dublin

    Their main building on St Stephen's Green is closed for renovation, so this is a temporary home. It displays the 20th-century social, cultural and political history of Dublin city, with many artefacts donated by Dubliners. Visit by guided tour every hour.

    Daily 9AM-5PM·Adult €15, conc or child €13

12. See

    National Gallery of Ireland

    Impressive national collection of Irish and European Art. In January the gallery displays its watercolours by JMW Turner; the original donor specified that they had to be kept out of the light for the rest of the year.

    Tue Wed Fri Sat 9:15AM-5:30PM, Thu 9:15AM-8:30PM, Sun Mon 11AM-5:30PM·Free

13. See

    National Museum of Ireland - Archaeology

    Amazing display of Ireland's artefacts from prehistory through the Viking era to independence. The standout is the Treasury (with the 12th century Ardagh Chalice and 9th century Tara Brooch), and the prehistoric jewellery: gold and silver beautifully worked and carved.

    Tue-Sat 10AM-5PM, Sun Mon 1-5PM·Free

14. See

    National Museum of Ireland - Decorative Arts & History

    The building is remarkable, a Georgian barracks around a parade square. Displays decorative arts and artefacts over 400 years, from rustic houses through Georgian elegance to "Proclaiming a Republic", the events of Easter 1916 when the interior decor of the Post Office took a sad turn for the worse.

    Tue-Sat 10AM-5PM, Sun Mon 1-5PM·Free

15. See

    National Museum of Ireland - Natural History

    The "Dead Zoo" contains a comprehensive zoological collection presented in a manner unchanged since its establishment in Victorian times.

    closed for refurbishment as of April 2026, but some of the collections are on display in the Dead Zoo Lab at their Collins Barracks site·Free

16. See

    Pearse Museum

    Patrick Pearse (1879-1916) saw Irish culture and language as essential for national independence. His one and only case as a barrister was his unsuccessful defence of a Donegal tradesman for using an "illegible" sign, and the verdict effectively made Irish signage illegal. He set up a language school in 1908, which moved here in 1910. He was also a leading Republican, reading the proclamation of independence on the GPO steps in the Easter Rising of 1916. He was court-martialled and shot nine days later.

    Daily Feb-Oct 9:30AM-5:30PM, Nov-Jan 9:30AM-4PM·Free

17. Buy

    Powerscourt Centre

    Attractive shopping centre in a beautifully restored 18th-century townhouse, with clothes, cafes, galleries and jewellers. You're paying premium prices for the elegant location.

    Mon-Sat 10AM-6PM, Sun noon-6PM

18. See

    Rathfarnham Castle

    Built as a fortified mansion around 1583 and prettified in the 18th century, it fell derelict in the 19th but has been restored as a museum.

    Oct-Apr Wed-Sun, May-Sep daily 10:30AM-5PM·Adult €5, conc €4

19. See

    Trinity College

    Trinity College is the fine Georgian campus of the University of Dublin. It's generally open to stroll around in daylight hours, but it is a working university, and most interiors are off-limits to tourists. You can visit the Chapel near the front (west) gate of the College. But the big attraction is the Old Library and Book of Kells. Book online, otherwise buy your ticket from the machines under the Lecky library just south. This is for a timed slot, and at weekends may be booked out. You enter an exhibition hall setting the Book in the context of other monastic writings of its period, circa 800 AD. Next enter the display area: only two pages are displayed at any time, one being richly illustrated with little text (or no text, on the "carpet" pages), and one page being text of the Vulgate Gospels, written in Insular Majuscule Latin. But it's difficult to enjoy, with crowds jostling round the display case. Next, go upstairs into the massive Long Hall of the library, with books and ladders and more books and ladders towering away upwards. No books are accessible to the public. Last but not least, exit through the gift shop, which can be entered without a ticket.

    Kells: May-Sep Mon-Sat 8:30AM-7PM, Sun 9:30AM-5PM; Oct-Apr Mon-Sat 9:30AM-5PM, Sun noon-4:30PM·Adults €26, conc €21, child €14-20

20. See Not mapped

    Chester Beatty Library

    Sir Alfred Chester Beatty (1875-1968) was an American mining magnate who amassed a fabulous collection of early books and manuscripts and oriental art. He moved to London and collaborated generously with the British Museum, but in 1950 there was a falling-out and he moved to Ireland. He established the library to avoid his collection being split up; it's now in the Clock Tower in the Castle gardens.

    Mar-Oct Mon Tue Thu-Sat 10AM-5:30PM, Wed 10AM-8PM, Sun noon-5:30PM, Nov-Feb closed Mon·Donation €10

21. See Not mapped

    Dublinia

    Viking Museum

    Exhibition of life in the Viking settlement and medieval city, child-friendly.

    Daily 10AM-6PM·Adult €15, conc €13.50, child €8.50

22. See Not mapped

    Irish Whiskey Museum

    And not before time. Irish distilleries have for too long pumped out bland commercial fare, though the country has all the ingredients and know-how to produce whiskey of character to rival single-malt Scotch.

    Daily 10AM-6PM·Standard tour €20

23. See Not mapped

    James Joyce Centre

    Georgian townhouse with an exhibition of Joyce's life and times. He never lived here himself.

    Tue-Sat 10:30AM-4:30PM

24. See Not mapped

    Leinster House

    This opulent Georgian mansion is in the same block as the Archaeology Museum. Designed by Cassels, it was built in 1745 as the residence of the Duke of Leinster at a time when the southside was unfashionable. It proved an "anchor development" and Dublin's centre of power and culture soon gravitated from the northside. From 1922 it became the temporary base of the Oireachtas, the Irish bi-cameral parliament, and like the Ulster border it remains temporary over a century later. Tours are only available if you're sponsored by a TD or senator.

25. See Not mapped

    National Leprechaun Museum

    The "little folk" appeared in lore around 1300 AD but only flourished from the 19th century Celtic revival, dressed in late Georgian garb in an idealised rural past, mending a shoe. They proliferated into the silliest of 20th century Irish tourism, like greenfly upon the Rose of Tralee, and fell out of fashion. This museum is immersive telling of the stories woven around them, with a daytime and darker night show.

    Sun-Thu 10AM-6:30PM, Fri Sat 10AM-8PM·Day show adult €18, conce €16, child €11

Listings from the Wikivoyage guide to Dublin (CC BY-SA 4.0).