Dublin Attractions - Museums and Art Galleries in Dublin

The Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) has been opened in 1991 and is dedicated to modern Irish and international art from the 20th century onwards.

This might not be an essential museum to visit when in Dublin, but it is one of the best. Maybe the best if you are interested in sacred texts, the Orient or simply art.

Depending on your mental picture of a "castle", Dalkey might confuse you - instead of mighty battlements and moats you will encounter an almost square and fairly squat tower. On the other hand ... Goat Castle is the only fortified town house in an urban setting actually open to visitors.

If you are into James Joyce and especially his epic "Ulysses" this is heaven ... several dozen biographies of characters from the book are illustrated, all were based on real Dubliners. The house itself was used by Professor Dennis J Maginni, the dance instructor.

The James Joyce Tower at Sandycove - ultimately this is just another Martello Tower on Ireland's coast, stout fortresses built for defense against Napoleon's fleet. Today the tower holds a museum dedicated to all things Joycean.

A Revenue Museum can be found within the grounds of Dublin Castle - small, but somehow quirky ... and free.

Kilmainham Gaol? Why should a place of suffering, despair and ultimately death be on the list of the top ten sights of Dublin? The blood of martyrs made Kilmainham Gaol hallowed ground to the Republic of Ireland ever since 1916.

The combination of William Butler Yeats' often mystical poetry with cutting-edge multimedia seems bound for disaster. But at the National Library of Ireland it actually works, impresses and manages to make a tourist attraction out of the National Library.

The National Gallery of Ireland is situated at Merrion Square and not too out of the way for a quick visit. And the small but exquisite collection of renowned masterpieces, including a only recently discovered Caravaggio, make it definitely worth the while.

While the National Museum in Kildare Street is a definitive "must see" the museum in the Collins Barracks could be omitted from a Dublin visit if one is pressed for time. Exhibitions focus on decorative arts, scientific instruments and military as well as revolutionary history.

One of the real "must see" museums in all Ireland for anybody interested in history at all. Finds from all periods up to and including the middle ages are arranged in self-contained exhibitions - not only from Ireland. Especially exciting: The exhibition of four "bog bodies" preserved over millennia.

Dubliners call the Natural History Museum "The Dead Zoo", a fitting description. If you love animals, you might want to avoid hundreds of corpses, albeit conserved by taxidermists.

Without doubt this varied collection of cars, trucks, vans, trams, ambulances, fire engines and military vehicles is well worth a visit. Some exhibits are rare, others are unique. But the actual layout of the museum makes enjoyment difficult.