This list of museums in Republic of Ireland contains museums which are defined for this context as institutions (including nonprofit organizations, government entities, and private businesses) that collect and care for objects of cultural, artistic, scientific, or historical interest and make their collections or related exhibits available for public viewing. Also included are non-profit art galleries and university art galleries. Museums that exist only in cyberspace (i.e., virtual museums) are not included. Many other small historical displays are located in the country's stately homes, including those run by the National Trust.
| Name | Image | Town/city | County | Province | Region | Type | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Local | website, local history, culture | ||||||
| Mining | website, over 3500 years of area copper mining | ||||||
| Historic house | information | ||||||
| Postal service in the Republic of Ireland, Irish stamps | |||||||
| Local | website, island fishing, culture, history | ||||||
| Historic house | |||||||
| Industry | website, local tweed industry, local cultural centre | ||||||
| Historic house | 18th-century country house and park | ||||||
| Mining | coal-mining and underground tour | ||||||
| Maritime | website, Maritime artefacts, shipbuilders' models, half models, plans, art | ||||||
| Historic house | |||||||
| Historic house | website, medieval castle | ||||||
| Multiple | website, medieval and local history, arts centre | ||||||
| Historic house | Medieval tower house remains | ||||||
| Historic house | |||||||
| Art | website, multidisciplinary arts centre with gallery | ||||||
| Religious | Medieval royal abbey still in use, part in ruins | ||||||
| Agriculture | website, traditional farm and museum of rural life | ||||||
| Local | information, local history, operated by the Bantry Historical Society | ||||||
| Historic house | 18th-century mansion featuring fine furnishings and decorations, gardens | ||||||
| Historic house | Tours of the restored 16th-century castle | ||||||
| Military | information, history of the Battle of Aughrim in 1691 | ||||||
| Battle of the Boyne Interpretative Centre | Historic house and battle field | website, history of the Battle of the Boyne fought in 1690 | |||||
| Historic house | Manor house dating from 1710 and car museum | ||||||
| Local | information, reconstructed 19th-century cottage with displays on local history | ||||||
| Art | Multidisciplinary arts centre with gallery | ||||||
| Historic house and school | School museum documenting past pupils of Belvedere College and school history contained in Belvedere House | ||||||
| Historic house | Georgian estate and gardens | ||||||
| Toy | information, 18th- and 19th-century toys, costumes, toy carriages, embroidered textiles and rare dolls | ||||||
| Biographical | information, life and artefact of Bishop Daniel Delany | ||||||
| Cork | South-West | Munster | Science | Observatory with space and science exhibits, tours of the castle and dungeon | |||
| Mill | Restored 19th-century windmill with exhibits on the mill, Irish emigration, area natural history | ||||||
| Religious | Medieval abbey ruins and exhibition about its history in the restored gatehouse | ||||||
| Local | information, local history | ||||||
| History | website, Celtic Ireland, life of Irish king Brian Boru | ||||||
| Open air | Medieval fortress with period furnishings and artefacts, 19th-century living village | ||||||
| Natural history | website, natural history, megalithic tombs and monuments of The Burren | ||||||
| Historic house | Medieval fortress castle | ||||||
| Local | website, local history, culture | ||||||
| Historic house | website, 18th-century Georgian mansion | ||||||
| Local | Local history and archaeology. Free admission | ||||||
| Art | website, traditional baskets in rod, rush and straw | ||||||
| Archaeology | Visitor centre and cemetery of megalithic tombs | ||||||
| Historic house | website, early Georgian Palladian mansion built on the grounds of a ruined 16th-century castle | ||||||
| Railway | website, also known as Hells Kitchen Museum, railway memorabilia including a restored A55 diesel locomotive, bells, lamps, shunting poles, signal equipment, staffs, station boards and more | ||||||
| Historic house | 18th-century Palladian country house | ||||||
| Railway | Heritage narrow-gauge railway and museum | ||||||
| Local | Local history, culture, archaeology, Celtic heritage, rural life, costumes, art exhibits | ||||||
| Historic house | website, 17th-century plantation house, ancestral family ties to U.S. President James K. Polk, features historic furniture, art exhibits | ||||||
| Archaeology | Visitor centre and Stone Age monument consisting of field systems, dwelling areas and megalithic tombs | ||||||
| Local | information, local history, artefacts of rural life | ||||||
| History | information, traces cultural, historical and spiritual roots in Ireland over 5,000 years, rural life | ||||||
| Multiple | Exhibits of manuscripts, miniature paintings, prints, drawings, rare books and some decorative arts from the Islamic, East Asian and Western collections | ||||||
| Archaeology | Located at Dysert O’Dea Castle, area artefacts and trail of ruins | ||||||
| Local | website, local history, culture, emigration to other countries | ||||||
| Local | website, local history, culture, geology, agriculture, influence of Christianity, River Shannon and maritime heritage, West Clare Railway | ||||||
| Industry | website, craft workshop for making clay pipes, display of historic designs and history of the village's clay pipe industry | ||||||
| Local | information, local history, culture | ||||||
| Natural history | Exhibits on the ocean, weather, climate, geology, wildlife, local history and culture | ||||||
| Historic house | information, constructed 19th-century-period thatched cottage, outdoor display of farm machinery, working forge | ||||||
| Historic house | Late-19th-century mansion | ||||||
| History | Life in Ireland through the 18th and 19th centuries, the mass emigration, the Great Famine, how criminals were transported to Australia | ||||||
| Religious | website, life of 6th-century Saint Colmcille, one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland | ||||||
| West | Open air | Includes restored prefamine early-19th-century cottage and farm, reconstructions of a crannóg, ring fort and a clochaun | |||||
| Food | website, dairy culture in Ireland and the butter trade | ||||||
| Prison | website, late-19th- to early-20th-century-period prison scenes with wax figures | ||||||
| Multiple | website, city history, archaeology, trades and crafts, lace, military, ethnographic artefacts, costumes | ||||||
| Multiple | website, changing exhibits of culture, art, local history, photography | ||||||
| Military | website | ||||||
| Local | website, also known as Louth County Museum, local history, culture, archaeology, social history, agriculture, industry | ||||||
| Open air | Interprets Ireland’s pre-historic and early Christian eras, includes Craggaunowen Castle | ||||||
| Art | Collection includes European and Irish art, casts of classical Greek and Roman statues | ||||||
| Multiple | Archaeology, natural history and religious significance of the mountain and pilgrimage site | ||||||
| West | Archaeology | website, archaeology, mythology, and history of the Celtic Royal Sites at Rathcroghan mound and the medieval village of Tulsk | |||||
| Multiple | website, Irish horses, Connemara Ponies and Irish dogs, country life, vintage cars | ||||||
| Biographical | information, life of former President of Ireland Éamon de Valera, local history | ||||||
| History | website, farm and folk life in Ireland from the 18th to the 20th century | ||||||
| Historic house | |||||||
| Border | History | Website History, social, culture, archaeology, geology. | |||||
| Open air | website, island village tours depicting life in the area from the 1840s Famine through to the late 20th century | ||||||
| History | website, life in the workhouse, also agriculture | ||||||
| Historic house | Furnished 15th- to 17th-century castle | ||||||
| Local | website, includes a heritage exhibition about Ramelton's history and culture, also a genealogy centre | ||||||
| Local | Local history, culture, archaeology, social history and folklife | ||||||
| Railway | Heritage railway and museum | ||||||
| Biographical | website, life of Douglas Hyde, scholar of the Irish language who served as the first President of Ireland from 1938 to 1945 | ||||||
| Art | Contemporary art | ||||||
| Historic house | Medieval fortress now used for state occasions, tours of the state apartments, undercroft, Chapel Royal, craft shop, heritage centre | ||||||
| Art | Municipal gallery of contemporary Irish art, formerly the Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery | ||||||
| Literary | Irish writings and literature | ||||||
| Maritime | Replica 19th-century sailing ship with exhibits about Irish emigrants | ||||||
| Military | website, star-shaped 16th-century fort used to house prisoners from the Irish Rebellion of 1798, also features a maritime museum, children's museum and art gallery | ||||||
| Multiple | website, local history and culture, the Great Famine, life in the workhouse, art exhibits | ||||||
| Military | website, medieval castle keep with 18th-century military barracks | ||||||
| West | Historic house | 16th-century castle | |||||
| Historic house | website, includes historic tweed weaver's cottage | ||||||
| Historic house | 15th-century castle | ||||||
| Cork | Cork | South-West | Munster | Military | 17th century star-shaped fort used for military and law enforcement purposes | ||
| Mill | information, restored 18th-century windmill, also Mill Cottage Agricultural Museum | ||||||
| EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum | Dublin | Dublin | Leinster | Dublin | Multiple | Dedicated to Irish emigration, housed in the restored vaults of a 19th-century warehouse in Dublin's Docklands | |
| Historic house | Late-18th-century mansion and gardens | ||||||
| Art | website, contemporary figurative art and gardens | ||||||
| History | website, scene of the Young Irelander Rebellion of 1848 | ||||||
| Historic house | Official Irish State Guest House, 19th-century mansion and gardens open for tours | ||||||
| Multiple | information, information, household items, vehicles, farm tools and equipment, folk life exhibits | ||||||
| Military | Mostly 19th-century fort with military memorabilia and displays | ||||||
| Industry | information, includes tours of the operating mill, art galleries | ||||||
| Open air | website, thatched rural cottage village with replica furnished cottages from the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries | ||||||
| Agriculture | website, restored 19th-century farmyard, earlier home of Father John Murphy, one of the leaders of the Irish Rebellion of 1798 | ||||||
| Religious | information, life and apostolic works of Reverend Father Patrick Peyton | ||||||
| History | website, evolution and development of household conveniences and appliances used in the home from the 1850s to the 1950s | ||||||
| Railway | Located in Malahide Castle, collection of handmade models of Irish trains | ||||||
| Sports | Located at Croke Park, history and contributions of the Gaelic Athletic Association | ||||||
| West | Local | City's history, culture, trade, industry, military | |||||
| History | Social, historical, political and artistic development of modern Ireland through the lives of the generations buried in Glasnevin Cemetery | ||||||
| Art | website, early-19th-century Regency House decorated with William Morris textiles, Islamic and Japanese art, features the Derek Hill collection of works by leading 20th-century artists | ||||||
| Mining | website, 19th-century silver and lead mine | ||||||
| Historic house | 19th-century castle and gardens | ||||||
| History | website, agriculture equipment and machinery, recreated shops and a pub, household artefacts | ||||||
| History | information, life of 16th-century pirate queen Gráinne O'Malley, exhibits about the Great Famine in County Mayo | ||||||
| Agriculture | website, working family farm, a barn museum with historic farming tools and equipment, a bottle museum with antique 19th- and early-20th-century Irish bottles, jars and vessels, and a 16th–17th-century-period farmhouse | ||||||
| Food | Brewing ingredients, process, brand history, memorabilia | ||||||
| History | information, rural life artefacts | ||||||
| Local | website, information, heritage of life of the Mayo area, farming, home, jobs and work, culture | ||||||
| History | information, household artifacts and vintage farm machinery | ||||||
| Maritime | Visitor centre and guided tours of the lighthouse tower | ||||||
| Art | Fine art and antiquities dating from the Neolithic to the 20th century | ||||||
| Local | information, also known as Eachléim Heritage Centre, local folklore, archaeology, history rural life, currach fishing, construction of old houses | ||||||
| Children's | website | ||||||
| Maritime | website, lifesaving, Malin Head Radio Station, fishing, seafaring, lighthouses, shipwrecks, naval history, planetarium | ||||||
| History | Links between Ireland and the wine trade | ||||||
| Science | Located at Birr Castle, Ireland's historic scientists and their contributions to astronomy and botany | ||||||
| Agriculture | Farming, famine and country life | ||||||
| Sports | information, information, vintage rods, reels, guns, tackle, tools and specimens of birds and fish | ||||||
| Ethnic | Located in a former synagogue, history and culture of Ireland's Jewish communities | ||||||
| Art | Modern and contemporary art, located at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham | ||||||
| Open air | Recreated homesteads, places of ritual, burial modes and remains | ||||||
| Sports | Includes the Horse Museum about horse racing in Ireland, Japanese gardens | ||||||
| Irish Rock N Roll Museum | Dublin | Dublin | Leinster | Music | website, Irish musical icons and their recordings, vintage guitars and amplifiers, Thin Lizzy band | ||
| Library | website, under development, exhibits from its document collections of over 400 years of Irish history | ||||||
| Literary | Life and works of author James Joyce | ||||||
| Literary | Life and works of author James Joyce | ||||||
| Natural history | website, part of Galway's University, rocks, minerals and fossils | ||||||
| Maritime | Replica of a 19th-century three-masted barque of the same name, exhibits about the Great Famine and immigration | ||||||
| Historic house | website, birthplace of President John F. Kennedy's great-grandfather Patrick Kennedy | ||||||
| historic houses | website, historic houses/village and some animals | ||||||
| Local | County history, culture, archaeology, explorer Tom Crean, medieval founding and life | ||||||
| Prison | Historic former prison | ||||||
| Maritime | information, housed on board the lightship Guillemot | ||||||
| Biographical | website, life of Isabella Augusta, Lady Gregory, local history | ||||||
| Local | Local history and culture, located in a former railway station | ||||||
| West | Historic house | website, early-18th-century Georgian mansion with audio-visual dioramas of local history | |||||
| Historic house | 16th-century fortress | ||||||
| Historic house | Medieval tower house and gardens | ||||||
| Religious | Major Roman Catholic pilgrimage site with museum about the Knock Apparition of 1879 | ||||||
| Historic house | information, restored traditional Irish cottage, open by appointment | ||||||
| Sports | website history of gaelic games | ||||||
| Art | Part of University College Cork | ||||||
| Technology | Former steam-powered waterworks, exhibits on water, waste, energy and nature | ||||||
| Prison | website, 18th- and 19th-century life in the courthouse and prison | ||||||
| Art | Contemporary Irish art | ||||||
| Local | Also known as Jim Kemmy Municipal Museum, city history, culture, industry | ||||||
| Art | Includes Lismore Castle Arts Gallery, gardens with contemporary sculpture | ||||||
| Local | website, local history, culture | ||||||
| Historic house | 19th-century Regency-style house and gardens | ||||||
| Historic Building, History | A history of Dublin through artefacts, housed in a restored Georgian building on St. Stephen's Green | ||||||
| Industry | Small pot still whiskey distillery | ||||||
| Archaeology | Pre-Celtic Stone age site with artefacts and replica dwellings | ||||||
| Historic house | |||||||
| Library | Exhibits from its collections of 16th- to 18th-century medicine, law, science, travel, navigation, mathematics, music, surveying and classical literature | ||||||
| Multiple | website, includes the Irish Heritage Centre Museum with local farm and household artefacts (also known as Enniscoe Museum), a family history research centre, and a forge and craft training centre | ||||||
| Biographical | website, life and times of Michael Collins, leader of the IRA and later the Free State movement | ||||||
| Biographical | information, life of 19th-century political leader Michael Davitt | ||||||
| Mill | information, preserved corn mill and miller's house | ||||||
| Art | Contemporary arts centre | ||||||
| Local | County history, art, culture | ||||||
| Local | website, town's Quaker heritage, Mountmellick embroidery | ||||||
| Toy | Located in Powerscourt House, 22 room doll's palace, collection of historic dolls houses | ||||||
| Open air | Includes the 19th-century Victorian-period mansion, 1930–40s-period heritage farms, Victorian garden | ||||||
| History | Rural way of life of the Irish people between 1850 and 1950; part of the National Museum of Ireland | ||||||
| Museum of Literature Ireland (MoLi) | Dublin | Dublin | Leinster | Dublin | Irish Literature | Museum Website, Exhibitions on Irish writing | |
| Industry | website, saddle and harness-making | ||||||
| Newbridge | Kildare | Leinster | Mid-East | Irish Literature | Clothing and other memoribilia associated with Hollywood stars and other celebrities | ||
| History | website, history and aftermath of the Irish Rebellion of 1798 | ||||||
| Art | Irish and European art | ||||||
| Natural history | Victorian-period cases of Irish mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, invertebrates and microbes; part of the National Museum of Ireland | ||||||
| Culture | Irish folklore, mythology and story-telling, featuring not only the leprechaun, but many Irish characters and heroes from Irish culture. | ||||||
| Library | Exhibits from its collections of historic documents | ||||||
| Maritime | Ireland's maritime heritage | ||||||
| Archaeology | Prehistoric Ireland, church treasures, Viking and medieval periods, items from Egypt, Cyprus, and the Roman world; part of the National Museum of Ireland | ||||||
| Multiple | Weaponry, furniture, silver, ceramics, glassware, folk artefacts, coins and currency, costumes; part of the National Museum of Ireland | ||||||
| Library | Exhibits of photography from its collections | ||||||
| Art | Exhibits of contemporary and history printed art and documents, features historic printing presses | ||||||
| National Science Museum at Maynooth | Maynooth | County Kildare | Leinster | Mid-East Region, Ireland | Displays of Scientific instruments. http://museum.maynoothcollege.ie | ||
| Transportation | Public service and commercial road transport vehicles | ||||||
| Wax | Irish history and cultural figures | ||||||
| Historic house | website, 19th-century country house and gardens, art gallery | ||||||
| Agriculture | Working watermill | ||||||
| West | Historic house | website, information, late-19th- to early-20th-century cottage family home of Nora Barnacle, wife of author James Joyce | |||||
| Historic house | website, late-18th-century Georgian era house | ||||||
| Historic house | Tudor manor house | ||||||
| Historic house | Restored early-17th-century plantation castle | ||||||
| Literary | Life and works of poet Patrick Kavanagh | ||||||
| Biographical | website, restored summer residence and school of Patrick Pearse, leader of the 1916 Easter Rising | ||||||
| Historic house | information, 17th-century house, farm and gardens | ||||||
| Natural history | Irish plants and animals, educators and naturalists Patrick Pearse and his brother, William | ||||||
| Local | |||||||
| Art | website, contemporary photography | ||||||
| Historic house | information, information | ||||||
| Historic house | 17th-century house under restoration, features the Wild Geese Heritage Museum about the 17th century Flight of the Wild Geese | ||||||
| Leinster | Art | Multidisciplinary contemporary arts centre | |||||
| Media | information, replica of the 1920s period cottage in the 1952 movie The Quiet Man, memorabilia of the filming of the movie | ||||||
| Technology | website, located in the Cork City Gaol, historic radio equipment, restored 6CK Radio Broadcasting Studio, history of Guglielmo Marconi and his Irish connections | ||||||
| Historic house | 16th-century castle | ||||||
| Historic house | Medieval tower castle house | ||||||
| Historic house | Medieval fortress castle and cathedral remains | ||||||
| Local | Local history and culture | ||||||
| Historic house | Medieval Chieftain's stronghold | ||||||
| Local | Geology, archaeology, history of Kilkenny, operated by Kilkenny Archaeological Society | ||||||
| Art | Exhibits of contemporary art | ||||||
| Historic house | Large 18th-century house with fine art collection, fine furniture, tapestries, carpets, porcelain, silver | ||||||
| Science | Part of Trinity College | ||||||
| West | Industry | website, local textile industry, spinning, weaving, sheep raising | |||||
| Local | website, local history, impact of the Great Famine, natural history of Lough Hyne | ||||||
| Religious | Ruins of a medieval abbey | ||||||
| Local | County history and culture | ||||||
| Open air | website, rural history and agricultural artefacts, 19th-century-period house, recreated village streetscape with shops and services | ||||||
| South Tipperary County Museum | Multiple | website, art exhibits, county history, culture, natural history, archaeology | |||||
| Local | Local history and culture, the Great Famine, prison cells of the late-19th-century courthouse, artefacts of the County Donegal Railways Joint Committee | ||||||
| Religious | information, life, work, martyrdom and cult of Saint Kilian, a 7th-century saint born in Mullagh | ||||||
| Local | website, local history | ||||||
| Transport | website, steam, fire and farm engines | ||||||
| Historic house | Restored 18th-century mansion, museum commemorating the Great Famine of 1845, walled garden | ||||||
| Historic house | Early-19th-century thatched ornamental cottage | ||||||
| Multiple | website, historic Claddagh rings, photographs of local history | ||||||
| Literary | Norman tower summer home of author W. B. Yeats | ||||||
| Multiple | website Great Famine, war | ||||||
| Local | Also known as the Maher Farm Machinery Museum. Contains exhibits and artifacts covering Irish countryside life from the latter half of the 19th Century up to the late 20th Century. Indoor and outdoor display areas. Officially opened on the 7th of July, 2013. Museum Facebook page is here. Website here. | ||||||
| Local | website, local history | ||||||
| Local | website, local history, culture | ||||||
| Local | City history, culture, archaeology, Viking and medieval heritage, ethnic, cultural and religious diversity | ||||||
| Maritime | website, heritage of Ireland's waterways | ||||||
| Local | information, local history | ||||||
| Historic house | 18th-century stately home with original contents, gardens | ||||||
| Local | information, located in Enniscorthy Castle, county history and culture | ||||||
| Prison | website, 18th-century prison | ||||||
| Technology | website, vintage radios, musicboxes, gramophones and other related items | ||||||
| Biographical | website, exhibition on poet W. B. Yeats | ||||||