National Museum of Ireland – Archaeology

The National Museum of Ireland on Kildare Street holds the country's archaeological treasures and is free to visit. It opened in 1890 in a Victorian Palladian building designed by Thomas Newenham Deane and his son Thomas Manly Deane. The domed entrance rotunda, ringed with columns of Irish marble, mirrors the rotunda of the National Library on the other side of Leinster House, the seat of the Irish parliament.

The headline galleries are permanent. The Treasury displays early medieval metalwork, including the Ardagh Chalice, made in the eighth or ninth century, and the Tara Brooch from the early eighth century, often described as the outstanding piece of secular metalwork of its period. Ór, Ireland's Gold, is a permanent gallery devoted to the country's ancient gold. Viking Ireland is another permanent gallery. A newer exhibition on Glendalough looks at the monastic site in the Wicklow Mountains. The museum also holds several bog bodies, such as Clonycavan Man and Old Croghan Man, preserved in peat.

The building is compact enough to see the highlights in about an hour and a half, but history enthusiasts can easily spend a morning. Because entry is free you can also split a visit into two shorter trips. Families find the gold and the Viking material the easiest way in for younger children, while the bog bodies may not suit everyone.

Opening hours are 10:00 to 17:00 from Tuesday to Saturday and 13:00 to 17:00 on Sunday and Monday, so plan mornings elsewhere at the start of the week. Check the museum's visitor information page for current access details before you go, as the website does not set out full physical access arrangements on the main page.

The museum sits on Kildare Street between St Stephen's Green and Trinity College. The National Gallery is around the corner on Merrion Square, so it fits easily into a day of museums on the south side of the centre.

Admission is free at all of the National Museum of Ireland's museums. For a first visit, start in the Treasury, then see Ór and the Viking galleries, and finish with the Glendalough exhibition if you plan to visit the monastic site itself later in your trip. The museum shop is a good place for books on Irish history and archaeology.