National Gallery of Ireland

The National Gallery of Ireland holds the national collection of Irish and European art and is free to enter for the permanent collection. It was founded in 1854 and opened in 1864 in what is now the Dargan Wing, designed by Francis Fowke on Merrion Square. It has expanded several times since: the Milltown Wing was added at the start of the twentieth century to house a major gift from Russborough House, the Beit Wing followed in the 1960s, and the Millennium Wing, by Benson and Forsyth, opened in 2002 with a striking atrium. A long refurbishment of the historic wings was completed in 2017.

The collection spans European painting from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century, with particular strength in Irish art. The most famous single work is Caravaggio's The Taking of Christ of 1602, a lost painting that was rediscovered in a Jesuit house on Leeson Street in Dublin in the 1990s. Other highlights include Vermeer's Lady Writing a Letter with her Maid and a dedicated Yeats collection centred on the paintings and sketchbooks of Jack B. Yeats.

George Bernard Shaw spent many hours here as a young man and later left the gallery a third of the royalties from his estate, a gift that has helped fund acquisitions ever since. That story is a good example of the gallery's close relationship with the city, and free entry makes it easy to drop in for half an hour.

The gallery is open seven days a week, but opening times vary by day, so check the official website before you go. Temporary exhibitions sometimes carry a charge. Allow two hours to see the main rooms without rushing. It suits a rainy afternoon well.

The gallery faces Merrion Square, one of Dublin's best-preserved Georgian squares. The National Museum of Archaeology, Leinster House and Trinity College are all a few minutes' walk away, so it fits easily into a day around the south Georgian quarter.

If your time is limited, head first for The Taking of Christ and the Vermeer, then explore the Yeats collection. The gallery also highlights works such as Ludovico Mazzolino's The Crossing of the Red Sea on its website, a reminder of the breadth of its European holdings beyond the famous names.