The National Museum of Ireland – Natural History is one of the three branches of the National Museum in Dublin and you will find it in Merrion Square.

This branch of the museum was built in 1856 to house some of the collection from the Royal Dublin Society. The museum has over 2 million specimens spread out in several galleries. On the ground floor you will see Irish animals – stuffed mammals including badgers, foxes and hares. Fish and birds are also represented and there is a collection of dried insects.

On the 1st floor in the Lower Gallery there are animals from all round the world, including some extinct species such as the quagga (a sort of zebra) and a skeleton of a Dodo, as well as endangered species like the pygmy hippopotamus.

In the other galleries you can admire birds, fish, reptiles, invertebrates and microbes. There is a rather fine display of butterflies from tropical countries and Europe. The skeleton of a Humpback whale is suspended from the ceiling.

This is an interesting museum, but sadly it hasn’t changed much since Victorian times. The exhibits are a little worse for wear and the taxidermy isn’t what it should be. The specimens are kept under glass or inside glass-fronted wooden cases. The locals refer to the museum as the “Dead Zoo”.

The National Museum of Ireland – Archaeology is to be found on Kildare Street in a lovely building modelled after the Roman Pantheon, which is as interesting as the exhibitions it houses. The museum opened in 1890.

This is truly a wonderful museum, filled with treasures that date back to 7000BC. Although the main exhibits deal with Ireland, there is a permanent exhibition of ancient Egyptian objects, Cyprian ceramics and glassware and Roman relics.

The Treasury Room houses Hiberno-Saxon metalwork including the beautiful 8th century Ardagh Chalice, which forms a part of the Ardagh Hoard discovered in the 19th century. You can also admire the 5 liturgical vessels from the 8th century Derrynaflan Hoard. There is an extensive collection of Pre-historic golden objects including the Broighter Hoard which dates back to the 1st century BC and the Mooghaun Hoard which is dated at 800BC.

Another section of the museum displays artefacts from settlements in Pre-historic Ireland to the end of the Viking age. These exhibits include tools, weapons, coins and cooking utensils. Medieval Ireland deals with life in the country from the Anglo-Norman invasion in the 12th century to the Reformation. This section is divided into three galleries named “Power”, “Prayer” and “Work”.

The latest permanent exhibition is called Kingship and Sacrifice. It displays several Iron Age “bog bodies” and other bog objects. It is believed that “kings” would make human sacrifices and but the bodies into the bogs that limited their “kingdom”, as a sort of boundary claim. The bog objects include horse trappings, ritual tools, utensils and weapons.

The museum has a very good café, a gift shop where you can buy books, souvenirs, postcards and gift items. There is an audio-visual presentation that explains the purpose of the museum and about how and where the fine exhibits on display were found.

This building is the symbol of Ireland’s independence from Great Britain. It has been known as the Irish Parliament House, but today is known as the Bank of Ireland, College Green because it is used as a branch of the National Irish Bank. The Bank of Ireland is the world's first two chamber parliament house. Many important events in modern Irish history have taken place here.

The National Wax Museum is a privately owned waxworks museum in Dublin, Ireland. On October 7, 2009, the museum officially re-opened (although it had been open to the public a number of weeks prior) following extensive renovation at its new location in the left flank of the Irish Houses of Parliament, at Foster Place. New features include scenes of Ireland through time from a mythology section to the 1916 Rising, a smaller but more updated Chamber of Horrors bearing a more "mature" range of figures, a science department, a music recording studio that allows visitors to interact with a mixing console, and a YouTube music video recording studio titled "The Wax Factor" so visitors can sing along with their favourite tracks, star in their favourite music videos and upload them to YouTube.

A visit to Dublin Castle, just off Dame Street, should be only everyone’s “must see” list. It is used for state functions, including the inauguration of the Irish President. It also houses the Revenue Commissioners, offices of the Public Works and certain sections of the Garda Siochana.

The castle was first built in 1204, 35 years after the Norman invasion of Ireland. King John of England ordered its construction as a defence measure for the population and also to protect the King’s Treasury. A typical Norman construction, it consisted of a central courtyard, surrounded by high walls with four towers at each corner.

The River Poddle formed a natural defence on two sides of the castle, which was part of the outer perimeter of the city, facing the south-east side of Norman Dublin. The water was diverted into the city by archways at the points where the city walls joined the castle. Today the only remains above ground are the Record Tower and one of the arches.

Inside, the castle courtyard contained several wooden buildings, until the Great Hall was added in the Middle Ages. The hall was built of stone and wood and was used for banquets, a court room and sometimes as the Parliament house. It was demolished in 1673 after suffering extensive fire damage.

The castle was rebuilt and extended between the 17th and 20th centuries and today the main complex comprises the State Apartments, made up of St Patrick’s Hall, the State Dining Room, the State Drawing Room, the State Corridor and the Throne Room, which was once the Battleaxe Hall. These rooms along with the Undercroft, the Heritage Centre, the Chapel Royal, the Craft Shop and the castle restaurant are open daily to visitors.

The Dublin Writers Museum was opened in November 1991 at No 18, Parnell Square, Dublin, Ireland. The museum occupies an original 18th-century house, which accommodates the museum rooms, library, gallery and administration area. The annexe behind it has a coffee shop and bookshop on the ground floor and exhibition and lecture rooms on the floors above. The Irish Writers' Centre, next door in No 19, contains the meeting rooms and offices of the Irish Writers’ Union, the Society of Irish Playwrights, the Irish Children's Book Trust and the Irish Translators' & Interpreters' Association. The basement beneath both houses is occupied by the Chapter One restaurant.

Irish history was made in pubs with a glass of beer and a shot of Old Jameson. This most famous Irish label of whiskey is made in Dublin. The Old Jameson Distillery has succeeded in keeping its recipe secret throughout centuries. Today, it is also a museum where Dublin's history can be revealed through a glass of good old whiskey. Open 7 days a week all year round, the distillery greets visitors with an audio-visual introduction followed by a tour of its recreated facilities, culminating in the Jameson Discovery Bar with a free glass of Jameson and an opportunity to qualify as an Irish Whiskey Taster. Afterwards, you can have a delicious lunch at the on-site restaurant or browse the distillery shop, which sells unique Jameson gifts, to make your visit truly complete.

The National Museum of Ireland – Decorative Arts and History is the third Dublin branch of Ireland’s wonderful National Museum. It is housed on three floors in the restored Collins Barracks.

The museum displays an extensive collection of arts and crafts dating back over 2000 years. It also hosts interesting lectures, workshops and has state-of-the-art interactive multimedia displays.

The exhibits are separated into eleven sections on three floors and a 12th exhibition across the courtyard, where you will also find the reception area, the museum café, two bookshops and the rest-rooms.

Airgead has a collection of over 1000 years of Irish coinage and currency, including the first paper money in the 18th century to present day credit cards. In Irish Silver you will follow over 300 years of the silversmith’s craft with details about mining and the evolution of design fashion. You will admire one of the largest collections of silver items in the world. Out of Storage contains interactive multimedia kiosks where you can see objects kept in storage and brought out for temporary exhibitions.

The Curator’s Choice Gallery displays 25 items that the museum’s curators choose to put on show, so the exhibits change regularly, except for three items: the Fonthill Vase – the earliest recorded piece of Chinese porcelain in Europe, a 2000 year-old Japanese ceremonial bell and the gauntlets that King William wore in 1690 during the Battle of the Boyne.

On the 2nd and 3rd floors you can admire 400 years of furniture in the Irish Furniture Gallery and the Irish Country Furniture Gallery; clothing and jewellery from 1760 to 1960 in The Way We Wore Gallery; the history of Eileen Gray in a room dedicated to her life and work.

There is a gallery devoted to the History of Ireland between 1916 to 1923 – Easter Rising: Understanding 1916, which explains the social and political causes behind the Easter Rising, through the War of Independence and the subsequent Civil War. The new Soldiers and Chiefs exhibition takes you through the history of Irish soldiers at war at home and abroad from 1550 to the present day.

To fully understand the pride and tenacity that led the Irish people to rebellion, war and finally independence, you should visit Kilmainham Gaol located to the west of the city centre, on the south bank of the River Liffey.
The prison was built in 1796 and used by the British as a holding place for rebellions before their public execution in front of the building. Children were also held here for crimes of petty theft. The women’s quarters were less “comfortable” than the men’s quarters; while the latter had iron cots to sleep on, the women slept on straw pallets on the floor. A lot of the adult prisoners were transported to Australia from here.
The last “rebels” to be held and executed in the prison were the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising. When the rebellions surrendered, 90 people were tried and sentenced to death. Fifteen of them were executed by firing squad, including the seven chief leaders of the rising. James Connolly, who was injured and unable to stand, was strapped into a chair and shot as he sat.
The prison was decommissioned in 1924, but not demolished because the costs were too high. The idea to restore it as a museum of Irish Nationalism and a memorial of the Easter Rising began in the late nineteen thirties, but restoration only began in 1960.
The prison opened to the public in 1971. During the visit you will see the cells where the most famous of the Easter Rising heroes were held, walk in the stone breakers yard and see the chapel where the prisoners received the Last Rites before being taken out of the door beside the altar to be executed in the courtyard.
In some of the cells there are drawings and paintings on the walls, done by the prisoners, the most notable is the wall painting of a Madonna and child carried out by one of the last women prisoners in 1920. On the top floor is an art gallery filled with jewellery items, paintings and sculptures executed by prisoners in prisons all over Ireland.