Dublin Museums: The Best Free and Paid Museums, and Which Are Closed

Dublin’s best museums are mostly free: the National Museum of Archaeology (gold, Vikings and bog bodies), the National Gallery, Collins Barracks and IMMA all cost nothing. The best paid ones are EPIC, the Little Museum of Dublin, MoLI, the GPO Museum and Dublinia, at €15 to €22 for an adult. Several big names are closed right now, including the Natural History Museum, the Hugh Lane Gallery and the Chester Beatty.

It’s also a city where museums close for “refurbishment” and stay closed long enough for a child to grow up. So this is the honest list: what’s open, what it costs, and what’s shut, so you don’t walk across town to a locked door. Prices and hours were checked on each museum’s official website in November 2026.

Dublin museums at a glance

The free ones

National Museum of Ireland – Archaeology (Kildare Street)

Gold. Bog bodies. Vikings. The Ardagh Chalice and the Tara Brooch. If you only do one free museum in Dublin, do this one. The Iron Age bog bodies are unforgettable, in the sense that you will try to forget them and fail.

Free. Tuesday to Saturday 10am–5pm, Sunday and Monday 1pm–5pm. Closed Christmas Day, St Stephen’s Day and Good Friday.

National Museum of Ireland – Decorative Arts & History (Collins Barracks)

A huge former army barracks west of the centre, full of silver, furniture, costume, and the story of Ireland’s 20th-century conflicts. It’s also where the Dead Zoo Lab is: about 1,300 objects from the Natural History Museum on display while their usual home is being rebuilt. Free. Luas Red Line to Museum.

The Dead Zoo (Natural History Museum, Merrion Street): closed

The famous Victorian “Dead Zoo” has been closed since September 2024 for a major refurbishment, and there’s no confirmed reopening date. We’ve written about why it’s so loved in the Dead Zoo. Until it reopens, go to the Dead Zoo Lab at Collins Barracks instead.

National Gallery of Ireland (Merrion Square)

Caravaggio, Vermeer, Jack B. Yeats, and a superb Irish collection. Entry to the permanent collection is free; some temporary exhibitions charge. Closed 24–26 December and Good Friday.

Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA, Kilmainham)

Modern art in the Royal Hospital Kilmainham, a magnificent 17th-century building with formal gardens. Admission is free, as are most exhibitions, and there’s a free drop-in tour daily at 4pm. Right beside Kilmainham Gaol.

Chester Beatty (Dublin Castle): closed until January 2027

Normally free and one of the finest small museums in Europe, but closed to the public from 15 June 2026, with reopening expected in January 2027. See our Dublin Castle guide.

James Joyce Tower (Sandycove)

The Martello tower where Joyce stayed for six nights in 1904, and where Ulysses begins. Run by volunteers. Free, walk-ins welcome; it’s normally open 10am–4pm and closed Mondays. Take the DART to Sandycove & Glasthule. Not wheelchair accessible. More in James Joyce for people who’ll never read Joyce.

The paid ones worth paying for

The Little Museum of Dublin (St Stephen’s Green)

The story of 20th-century Dublin, told in a Georgian house through objects donated by Dubliners, with a lively guided tour of about half an hour. It’s also now home to Tara’s Palace, one of the world’s great dolls’ houses. €18 adult, €16 seniors and students, €45 family. Free on Wednesday mornings thanks to Dublin Port, if you book. Open daily 9:30am–5pm.

EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum (Docklands)

The story of the ten million people who left Ireland and what they did next. Clever, interactive and moving. From €22 adult online, €11 child, €19 senior; free return visit within 10 days. Open daily 10am–6:45pm. Combo tickets with Dublinia and the Jeanie Johnston famine ship are available.

MoLI, the Museum of Literature Ireland (St Stephen’s Green)

Joyce, Wilde, Beckett, Heaney and the rest, in a beautiful house on the Green, with a lovely garden café behind. €18 self-guided or guided. Open daily 10am–5pm. Free late opening 6–9pm on the first Friday of the month. This is where to go now that the Writers Museum has closed.

GPO Museum (O’Connell Street)

The 1916 Rising in the building where it happened. €15 online. Closed Sundays. Full guide: GPO Museum.

Dublinia (Christ Church)

Viking and medieval Dublin, great for families. €16 online. Full guide: Dublinia.

Custom House Visitor Centre (Custom House Quay)

The building, burning and restoration of Gandon’s great riverside masterpiece. €6 self-guided, €8 guided. More in our quays and Docklands walk.

GAA Museum and Croke Park Stadium Tour

Hurling and Gaelic football explained, with a stadium tour that takes you through the players’ tunnel and pitchside. Museum only €10; stadium tour (museum included) €18 adult. Allow two hours for the tour and the museum.

Irish Jewish Museum (Portobello)

A small, volunteer-run museum in a former synagogue in what was once Dublin’s “Little Jerusalem”, the Dublin of Leopold Bloom. Open Sundays 10:30am–2:30pm, €10.

Glasnevin, Kilmainham, Guinness and Jameson

These have their own guides: Glasnevin Cemetery, Kilmainham Gaol, Guinness Storehouse and Jameson Distillery. The Book of Kells is covered in our Trinity College guide, and the Irish Whiskey Museum opposite Trinity is in our whiskey guide.

The fun ones

• The National Wax Museum Plus on Westmoreland Street: wax figures, Irish icons, a horror section and a Father Ted room. Ticketed; good on a wet afternoon with children.
• The National Leprechaun Museum on Mary’s Abbey, Dublin 7: a guided storytelling tour of Irish folklore, better than its name. Tickets range from €13 to €18; suitable for ages 6 and up.
• The Casino Model Railway Museum in Malahide: Cyril Fry’s handmade model trains and trams, beside Malahide Castle.

Closed, gone or on hold

A lot of old guidebooks, including the old version of this website, still list these. Save yourself the walk:

• Dublin Writers Museum, Parnell Square: closed in 2020 and did not reopen. Go to MoLI.
• Hugh Lane Gallery, Parnell Square: closed since 28 September 2025 for a refurbishment expected to take at least three years.
• Shaw Birthplace, Synge Street: closed as a museum since 2012.
• Number Twenty Nine Georgian House Museum, Fitzwilliam Street: closed. You can still take a virtual tour online.
• Dublin Civic Museum, South William Street: long gone. Its famous exhibit, the stone head of Nelson from Nelson’s Pillar, has its own story in our post about the Spire.
• Natural History Museum (the Dead Zoo): closed for refurbishment; see above.
• Chester Beatty: closed until January 2027, along with Dublin Castle.

Tips for museum days

• Kildare Street, Merrion Square and the Green are a cluster. The National Museum of Archaeology, the National Gallery, the Little Museum and MoLI are all within ten minutes’ walk of each other.
• The National Museum on Kildare Street doesn’t open until 1pm on Sundays and Mondays. Plan your mornings accordingly.
• Dublin Passes like Go City cover several paid attractions. They’re worth it only if you’re doing three or four paid places a day; with this many free museums, many visitors won’t be.

Plan your museum days

• Rainy day? See our things to do in Dublin when it rains.
• With children? Dublinia, EPIC, Collins Barracks and the Little Museum work best. More in Dublin with kids.
• Doing lots of paid ones? Check whether the Dublin Pass is worth it for your plans.
• Short trip? See two days in Dublin and three days in Dublin.
• Staying central? The Kildare Street museum cluster is a short walk from the hotels in our St Stephen’s Green and Grafton Street guide.

Frequently asked questions

Are Dublin’s museums free?

Many of the best ones are. The National Museum of Ireland (Archaeology on Kildare Street and Collins Barracks), the National Gallery’s permanent collection, IMMA and the James Joyce Tower are all free.

What is the best museum in Dublin?

For a first visit, the National Museum of Archaeology on Kildare Street: it’s free and has Ireland’s ancient gold, the Ardagh Chalice and the bog bodies. The best paid one is EPIC, or the Little Museum of Dublin for a guided tour of the city’s recent history.

Is the Natural History Museum (the Dead Zoo) open?

No. It has been closed since September 2024 for refurbishment, with no confirmed reopening date. Part of the collection is on show in the Dead Zoo Lab at Collins Barracks.

Is the Chester Beatty open?

No. It closed on 15 June 2026, with reopening expected in January 2027.

When is the National Museum on Kildare Street open?

Tuesday to Saturday 10am to 5pm, and Sunday and Monday 1pm to 5pm. It’s free.

Prices and hours checked on each museum’s official website, November 2026.

See the rest of the city in our guide to things to do in Dublin.