Museums in Dublin: what is free, what charges, and what is closed

💡 The Short Version: Free: the National Museum of Ireland (Kildare Street and Collins Barracks), the National Gallery’s permanent collection and the Irish Museum of Modern Art. Charging: 14 Henrietta Street, €12, by guided tour, closed on Monday and Tuesday; the Little Museum of Dublin, €18, by 29-minute tour; and the Museum of Literature Ireland, from €16.50, closed on 17 March. Closed: the Hugh Lane Gallery (since 28 September 2025, for at least three years), the Natural History Museum on Merrion Street, the Chester Beatty (until the end of December 2026) and Dublin Castle (until January 2027). Or book a tour: a DoDublin hop-on hop-off ticketad from €28.90 includes a free visit to the Little Museum.

Free museums and galleries

The rotunda of the National Museum of Ireland on Kildare Street. Photo: Holger Uwe Schmitt, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

• National Museum. Closed on Christmas Day, St Stephen’s Day and Good Friday. On the last Thursday of the month the Kildare Street museum stays open for evening events.
• National Gallery. Closed 24 to 26 December and Good Friday. The galleries begin to close at 16:50, and at 19:50 on Thursdays. Hilma af Klint: Artist and Visionary runs from 15 October 2026 to 7 February 2027.
• IMMA. Last admission to a gallery is 17:15.
• The National Library’s exhibitions on Kildare Street, Westmoreland Street and in Temple Bar are also free: see free things to do in Dublin.

The National Library of Ireland on Kildare Street. Photo: Sheila1988, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Museums that charge

Closed

Tours worth paying for

A hop-on hop-off ticket can fold in a museum. Prices are GetYourGuide’s lowest “from” prices, per person.

DoDublin hop-on hop-off bus

From €28.90 · 3,503 reviews

Dublin: The Original Hop-on Hop-off Bus Tour LIVE COMMENTARYad is run by DoDublin. Its ticket includes a free visit to the Little Museum of Dublin, worth €18: you redeem the receipt for a physical ticket at the museum, and the museum has a stop across the road. DoDublin’s own price is from €34, so GetYourGuide’s is €5.10 lower. Hop-on hop-off buses in Dublin compares the operators.

What to see

14 Henrietta Street

€12 · 75 minutes · Wednesday to Sunday on the hour

A social history museum in one building, from its Georgian beginnings as a grand townhouse to its tenement years. The guided tour follows the people who lived there over 300 years. Pre-booking is advised because capacity is limited. Some floors and steps are uneven, and a lift is available. The museum says it won the Silletto Prize at the European Museum of the Year Awards 2020. 14henriettastreet.ie takes cash and card on site.

A furnished room at 14 Henrietta Street. Photo: さえぼー, Wikimedia Commons, CC0.

The Little Museum of Dublin

€18 · 29-minute tour · 15 St Stephen’s Green

A museum of the city in the twentieth century, given by the people of Dublin. The guided tour runs through the permanent collection, and the museum also shows an exhibition on the 1790s views of Dublin by the draughtsman James Malton, an Irish Times editor’s room from Bertie Smyllie’s years from 1934 to 1954, and U2: Made in Dublin. Last entry is 16:30. Book at littlemuseum.ie.

Museum of Literature Ireland

From €16.50 · 1 to 2 hours · 86 St Stephen’s Green

MoLI is in Newman House, with a Georgian setting, gardens and a café. It shows Copy No. 1 of James Joyce’s Ulysses and installations on Irish writing, from Oscar Wilde’s De Profundis to the way writers have seen Dublin. The guided tour and the Historic House Tour are €18 and take an hour. The Luas stop at St Stephen’s Green is two minutes’ walk. Book at moli.ie.

What to skip: MoLI’s guided tours, if you are short of time. The self-guided ticket is cheaper and lets you leave when you like, and the Little Museum’s 29 minutes is the quickest paid museum to fit in.

Practical information

• Monday: 14 Henrietta Street and the Irish Museum of Modern Art are shut, Marsh’s Library is open Tuesday to Saturday only, and the National Museum opens at 13:00. The National Gallery, the Little Museum and MoLI are open.
• Sunday: the GPO Museum and Marsh’s Library are shut. The National Museum opens at 13:00.
• 17 March: MoLI is shut.
• Go City. The Go City Dublin Pass includes the Little Museum, MoLI, 14 Henrietta Street, EPIC, Dublinia and the GPO Museum on its Explorer and All-Inclusive passes. See Dublin Pass: is it worth it?.

What to book before you go to Dublin has the closed days for every sight. Free things to do in Dublin gathers what costs nothing. Book of Kells tickets covers Trinity’s Old Library. 3 days in Dublin builds the plan round the closed days. Where to stay in Dublin compares the areas.