You might not think of Dublin as a great museum city – or, at least, we didn’t. But, as so often in life, we turn out to be wrong. First of all, there are a ton of museums in Dublin, and the majority of them are free. So if museums are your thing, you’re in luck! Here, in no particular order, are our favourite Dublin museums. They focus on books, art, and history. And many of them have gardens!
Museum of Literature Ireland
This little gem is not free. But it is lovely! Focusing on both classic and contemporary authors, it’s a multi-media space, where you can browse through books, listen to excerpts, and read quotations. It also contains the very first copy of Ulysses and a map of Dublin tracing out the wanderings of the book’s characters. Many of the exhibits change; we really liked one on the ways Irish writers interacted with cities outside of Ireland (Edinburgh, London, etc.) and one featuring young adult literature. There’s also a ‘Writer’s Room’ that writers can apply to use, and a series of interviews with Irish writers about the writing process.
And – as is regularly the case in Dublin – there’s a splendid little garden in the back where you are encouraged to sit and read. The house itself was formerly part of University College Dublin, and there’s an ash tree famous from James Joyce’s graduation photograph. The staff are knowledgeable and wildly friendly, and quick to offer up a book recommendation!
Hugh Lane Gallery
For us, the big attraction at this modern art museum was the chance to have a look at the recreated (piece by piece!) London studio of Francis Bacon. And that was worth it on its own. There were also a number of paintings by Jack Yeats, and lots of stuff from the period of Irish independence. The surprise was how much we loved the contemporary stained glass (see featured image). Plus, we are suckers for a good museum shop, and this one is top-notch!
National Museum of Ireland (Archaeology)
We’ve mentioned the archaeology museum in our post on early Irish history – it’s where the Brooch of Tara and that cool longboat live. There are also some other great treasures, like gold hoards and bog people (Clonycavan man, or half of him, complete with fancy French hair gel!). If you have even a little interest in history, this museum is well worth it. And the building is spectacular.
There are three other parts to the National Museum: Decorative Arts, Natural History, and Country Life. The last one is out of town, so we didn’t make it there. The other two are well worth a visit; they didn’t capture us in quite the way the archaeology museum did, though.
National Print Museum
You probably have to really like printing to enjoy this museum, since it’s devoted to the physical process of printing from start to finish. Turns out, we do! The ground floor is arranged in such a way that you progress through the various stages. You begin with typesetting, where you can see numerous cases of metal type in various fonts. Then there’s the printing itself, represented by several kinds of printing presses, including the Linotype. There’s even a wooden press of the Gutenberg variety. And then finally you come to finishing, where the pages are cut and the book is bound. There are other things to see as well, including an original of the 1916 proclamation of Irish freedom. It’s a compact museum but they pack a lot in. On the first floor there is a nice library of books about printers and printing. The museum regularly hosts hands-on workshops for adults and children. A niche museum indeed, but it happens to be our niche!
Jeannie Johnston
We have already talked about this ‘famine ship’ museum in our post on Irish emigration, but it’s worth reminding you that we think this is one of the best Dublin has to offer.
National Gallery of Ireland
This museum is free too! We’ve been there a number of times, exploring the old masters a (small but brilliant collection, with less-famous works by Murillo, Titian, Vermeer, Turner, Rembrandt, Caravaggio and more!), modern greats (Monet, Picasso, Degas, Morisot) and Irish artists (with more by Jack Yeats). If you are an art person, it’s certainly worth stopping by.
Chester Beatty
Last but not least, our old friend Chester Beatty, whom we mentioned in a post on our favourite libraries in Dublin. It’s also free, and this gives us a chance to show more pictures of his amazing collection! Chester Beatty is located in Dublin Castle, right near the garden, which is beautiful. And the café is not to be missed.
There are, in fact, loads more Dublin museums. But these are the ones we especially liked.
