Irish Jewish Museum, Dublin

The Irish Jewish Museum is a small museum sited in the once highly Jewish populated area of Portobello, and dedicated to the history of the Irish Jewish community.

The museum was opened in June 1985 by Chaim Herzog who was then president of Israel and was born in Ireland. The museum is in a former Synagogue built in 1917 in two adjoining terraced house on Walworth Road, off the South Circular Road. The surrounding area, known as Portobello, was previously a Jewish area, however, the large scale emigration that affected Ireland in the 1950s had a particularly strong effect on the Jewish population; there was also a migration to the suburbs and Dublin's main synagogue is now in Terenure. The synagogue is preserved, there are also artifacts on display and the museum houses genealogical records. The material relates to the last 150 years and is associated with the communities of Belfast, Cork, Derry, Drogheda, Dublin, Limerick and Waterford.

The Museum is divided into several areas. In the entrance area and corridors there is a display of photographs, paintings, certificates and testimonials. The ground floor contains a general display relating to the commercial and social life of the Jewish community. A special feature adjoining the area is the kitchen depicting a typical Sabbath/Festival meal setting in a Jewish home in the late 19th/early 20th century in the neighbourhood. Upstairs, the original Synagogue, with all its ritual fittings, is on view and also the Harold Smerling gallery containing Jewish religious objects.

Opening Times

1 May to 30 September: Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday - 11.00 am to 3.30 pm
1 October to 30 April: Sunday only - 10.30 am to 2.30 pm

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Ticket Prices

Free, but donations gratefully accepted.

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Disabled Facilities

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More Information

Telephone: 00 353 (0) 1 4531797
Email: museum@jewishireland.org

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