Museums in Dublin and Mayo
8 listings
Chester Beatty
A free museum of the arts of the book at Dublin Castle, holding Sir Alfred Chester Beatty's collection of manuscripts, prints, icons and sacred texts from across the world. It was named European Museum of the Year in 2002.
Last verified 2026-07-10
EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum
A fully interactive museum in the vaults of the CHQ building on Custom House Quay, telling the story of the ten million people who left Ireland and shaped the world. Voted Europe’s Leading Tourist Attraction more than once — twenty themed galleries, an experience rather than a collection of artefacts.
Last verified 2026-07-10
Irish Museum of Modern Art
Ireland's national institution for modern and contemporary art, set in the 17th-century Royal Hospital Kilmainham, with exhibitions, a collection, gardens and a wide public programme. Free admission.
Last verified 2026-07-10
MoLI – Museum of Literature Ireland
A museum of Irish writing on St Stephen’s Green, a joint venture of UCD and the National Library and named for Molly Bloom. Joyce manuscripts including the first copy of Ulysses, literary exhibitions, gardens and a café in a historic Georgian house.
Last verified 2026-07-10
National Museum of Ireland – Archaeology
The state’s treasure house of Irish antiquities on Kildare Street — Iron Age bog bodies, the Ardagh Chalice, the Tara Brooch and the largest collection of prehistoric gold in western Europe. Free to enter, and a cornerstone of the National Museum.
Last verified 2026-07-10
National Museum of Ireland – Country Life
The National Museum’s folklife branch, and its only home outside Dublin, in the grounds of Turlough Park near Castlebar, Co. Mayo. It records everyday rural Irish life from the mid-19th to mid-20th century — trades, homes, work and tradition. Free to enter.
Last verified 2026-07-10
National Museum of Ireland – Decorative Arts & History
The National Museum’s decorative-arts and history branch in the handsome Collins Barracks, covering furniture, silver, ceramics, costume and military history. It also now hosts the Dead Zoo Lab, a stand-in display from the Natural History Museum while that Merrion Street building is closed for refurbishment. Free admission.
Last verified 2026-07-10
The Little Museum of Dublin
A people’s history of twentieth-century Dublin told through donated objects, in a Georgian townhouse on St Stephen’s Green and seen by guided tour every 45 minutes. It reopened in 2026 after a €4.3m refurbishment. Small, warm and consistently well reviewed.
Last verified 2026-07-10