Ireland has a long and often tragic history and there are countless stories to be told in the country’s capital city.
Below is a list of five must-visit destinations for anyone who wants to learn more about some of the key eras in Ireland’s history.
Kilmainham Gaol
Kilmainham Gaol has a huge amount of significance in Irish history. Several of the Easter Rising leaders were incarcerated in the aftermath of the Rising and many were executed in the yard.
Joseph Plunkett married wife Grace Gifford at the jail just minutes before he was led away to be killed for his role in the Rising.
Click here for more about Kilmainham Gaol
Irish Famine Museum/Exhibition
The Irish Famine Museum tells the harrowing story of the most tragic chapter in Ireland’s history.
Ireland’s population halved between the years 1845 and 1852 as millions of people starved and died, while millions more emigrated following successive years of failed potato crops. The population has never recovered.
While this was happening, British politicians made sure food was shipped out of Ireland as they felt it was more important to keep the economy in good health than provide help to Ireland’s starving population – who were still British citizens at the time.
The Irish Famine Museum/Exhibition features photographs, witness accounts, contemporary sketches and displays which provide statistical information and maps.
Click here for more about the Irish Famine Museum
Trinity College – Book of Kells
Trinity College is the place where some of Ireland’s greatest minds were educated including Jonathan Swift, Bram Stoker and Samuel Beckett.
It is also home to the Book of Kells, which is the magnificent and world-renowned illuminated manuscript which was painstakingly created by Celtic monks 1,200 years ago.
Click here for more on the Book of Kells
Glasnevin Cemetery
Some of the most famous Irishmen and women of all time are buried in Dublin’s Glasnevin Cemetery.
There are so many stories that are vital to Irish history to be told about many people buried in the cemetery.
It is the final resting place of activists, politicians entertainers and more. Famous people buried there includeMichael Collins, Éamon de Valera, Daniel O’Connell, Maud Gonne, Brendan Behan, Luke Kelly.
Click here for more about Glasnevin Cemetery
National Museum of Ireland
The National Museum of Ireland is housed in four separate sites – three of which are in Dublin. The museum is packed full of fascinating artefacts from various eras – such as prehistoric, iron age, the Vikings and the Normans – that tell their own part of the story of Ireland’s history.
The exhibitions in the three Dublin sites relate to natural history, art and archaeology.
Click here for more about the National Museum of Ireland
Written by Michael Kehoe @michaelcalling
