Kilmainham Gaol tickets: €8, guided tours only, released 28 days ahead at midnight

💡 The Short Version: Kilmainham Gaol is €8, by one-hour guided tour only, and tickets are booked online only, on the Office of Public Works’ own site. A select number of tours are released 28 days ahead, at midnight Irish time. Extra and cancelled tickets are released online from 9:15 each day. The OPW says tickets from any other site are not valid and the holders are refused entry. Allow 90 minutes, arrive 15 minutes before the tour, and dress warmly: the gaol is very cold in winter. It is closed 24 to 27 December.

Tickets and prices

The Office of Public Works (OPW) runs Kilmainham Gaol and sells tickets only at kilmainhamgaolmuseum.ie, with the same booking reached from Heritage Ireland. The OPW warns of look-alike websites with similar addresses that have no connection to it, and tickets bought from them cannot be honoured.

The front of Kilmainham Gaol. Photo: Sonse, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.

• The 28-day window. A select number of tours are released 28 days ahead and can be booked from midnight, Irish time.
• Same-day tickets. If your date or time is full, additional tickets and cancellations are released online from 9:15 on the day, and the FAQ puts the release between 9:15 and 9:30.
• No door sales. The visit page says tickets must be pre-booked online.
• Changes. Tickets are non-transferable and non-refundable. If you book the wrong day or time, email within one hour of booking and the OPW can refund your card.
• Heritage Card holders book a free ticket online under the Heritage Card link and show the card on arrival. Cards are sold at any OPW site, including Kilmainham.
• Students show a valid student card on arrival. Visitors under 18 must be with an adult.
• Groups of 10 or more book by emailing the OPW, and are allocated first come first served.

The guided tour

The €8 ticket is the tour: there is no way into the gaol without one, and no tour sold elsewhere that gets you in. Tours run in English and Irish, and a leaflet is available in English, Irish, Spanish, Italian, German and French. Tickets are one product, so the only choice is the time.

The East Wing hall at Kilmainham Gaol. Photo: Nol Aders, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

• Which tour to pick. The last two tours of the day let you see the museum first, so arrive 30 to 40 minutes early for those.
• What it costs in time. The tour is one hour and the museum adds 30 to 45 minutes.
• The cold. Part of the tour is outdoors, and in winter the inside of the gaol is very cold.

What to see

The tour is the way round, and the museum follows it.

1. The Courthouse Visitor Centre. Arrive 15 minutes before the tour. If you cannot print your ticket, the desk prints it from your booking reference. The café, Brambles, is on the first floor and the shop on the ground floor, and neither needs a ticket.
2. The guided tour. One hour round the gaol, with an audio-visual presentation. Kilmainham opened in 1796 as Dublin’s county gaol and closed in 1924. It held leaders of the rebellions of 1798, 1803, 1848, 1867 and 1916, among them Robert Emmet, Anne Devlin, Charles Stewart Parnell and Countess Markievicz, as well as ordinary prisoners, including children.
3. The Stonebreakers’ Yard. The OPW says 14 leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising were executed here by firing squad. The Rising itself is in the 1916 page.
4. The museum. Open from 10:30 and reached after the tour, with the permanent collection and temporary exhibitions. Allow 30 to 45 minutes.

The Stonebreakers’ Yard at Kilmainham Gaol. Photo: Eweht, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

What to skip: nothing. The tour has no optional parts, and the café and shop can wait until afterwards.

Practical information

• Hours: the Courthouse Visitor Centre is open 9:30 to 17:15 (16:15 on 23 December) and the museum 10:30 to 17:15 (16:45 on 23 December). Closed 24 to 27 December.
• Where: Inchicore Road, Kilmainham, Dublin 8, 3.5 km from the centre. Dublin Bus 60 runs from Wellington Quay or Heuston Station, and the G1 and G2 from Spencer Dock or Wellington Quay. The Luas Red Line stop is Suir Road. There is no car park, and the nearest is at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, a five-minute walk away.
• Bags: there are no lockers. Large items can be left in a space in the entrance hall under CCTV, and the OPW takes no responsibility for loss. Buggies, wheelie bags and large luggage are not allowed on the tour.
• Children: not recommended under 6.
• Accessibility: the building has uneven walkways and a hand rail to hold. Wheelchair users should email the OPW before booking, and a ground-floor tour can be arranged.
• Nearby: the Irish Museum of Modern Art in the Royal Hospital Kilmainham is free and closed on Mondays: see museums in Dublin.

What to book before you go to Dublin has the closed days for every sight, and the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin puts Kilmainham in order with the GPO and Glasnevin. Dublin Pass: is it worth it? explains why the pass does not cover the gaol. Dublin public transport has the Luas and bus fares, and free things to do in Dublin lists what costs nothing. 3 days in Dublin builds the plan round the bookings. Where to stay in Dublin compares the areas.