One cannot visit Ireland without visiting the wonderful and historic museums that are housed there. Strangely, when we think of European museums, many of us think of the Louvre in Paris, the Prado in Madrid, or maybe the Vatican Museums. We just would not ordinarily think of the museums in Dublin when thinking of museums in Europe, yet Dublin offers many fine museums that can compete quite well with other European museums.

The National Museum of Ireland houses the country’s treasures. It is most famous for its exhibition of the Tara Brooch, an 8th century piece of jewelry that was found in Meath County.

The National Gallery has a substantial selection of paintings from the 14th to the 20th centuries. These exhibits include all of the major Continental Schools.

The Natural History Museum has been a part of Dublin since it opened in 1857 and has changed very little in that time. Certainly, it is old and cluttered, but this adds an aura of distinctive charm to it that doesn’t exist in most museums.

The Joyce Museum is in Mortello Tower, where Joyce lived for a short time and where the beginning of his book, Ulysses is set. The museum is a focal point of interest to anyone who is interested in celebrating the achievements of Joyce.

This is by no means the entire list of museums that are housed in Dublin, but just a sampling to show the potential visitor to Dublin how much art, history, and culture in housed in Dublin’s museum.