The Little Museum of Dublin Review. It is Superb!
Is the Little Museum of Dublin Worth It?
Absolutely! The Little Museum has quickly shot to the top of my favorite museums in Dublin.
I've walked past the Little Museum of Dublin so many times and kept meaning to go in. Yesterday, I had a break between my walking tours and did a tour. Wow, was I so happy that I did.
A fabulous visit that is part museum, part performance, part comedy, part history, part house tour, all fun. It's a museum for people who don't like boring museums but want to learn about Dublin & Ireland in a fun way.
Score 9/10
What Is The Little Museum of Dublin?
It is a quirky (in a very good way) museum this is located in a gorgeous 250 year old townhome overlooking St Stephen's Green. In 29 somewhat frantic minutes, a guide, dressed in period clothes, runs you the entire history of Dublin. But there's more to the museum than just this, there's a library where you can sit and read, Ireland's last working telephone box, the most amazing doll's house you've ever seen and maybe Dublin's best U2 exhibition.
Little Museum of Dublin Opening Hours
It is open 7 days a week from 9:30-5pm at 15 St Stephen's Green, Dublin 2, D02 Y066. Across from where the Afternoon Tea Tour buses are parked.
Admission is by guided tour only so be sure to book ahead for your time slot.
How long do you spend here? Plan on at least one hour in the Little Museum. I spent 75 minutes.
Tickets
You have a few options
- Get your Little Museum of Dublin ticket here.
- Or save money with the Dublin Pass that gets you into Dublin's top 40 attractions for one flat price. It pays for itself after just the Little Museum, Guinness Storehouse and Hop-on Bus. Everything else is free after that, places like Jameson, EPIC, Dublin Castle.
The Little Museum Tour
Entrance
You walk down the stairs into the museum. The very friendly Fionn & Seán welcomed me in. They were dressed in period clothing, as all staff were. The shop was so well curated that I would go back just for the shop alone. It was small, but they had a superb collection of Dublin books and if you are a U2 fan, definitely stop by because they had an excellent collection of U2 memorabilia.
Meet Molly Malone & Francis Heuston
The tour starts with a very funny 5 minutes film narrated by the infamous Molly Malone and the posh Francis Heuston. I really enjoyed it, especially the bit about Stephen's Green being the Tinder of Victorian times. I'm definitely stealing this one for my own Dublin Jet Lag Tour.
The Library
From there, you go upstairs to the library. All the books were donated by the people of Dublin following an appeal for books. It is one of the best collections of books about Dublin and you're welcome to sit down and read them.
The Last Phone Box
On a small patio outside is the last working phone box in Ireland. Even better, you can make a free call from it!
The Female System Rockers of Ireland
As you walk up the stunning staircase, you'll meet some of the women who made Ireland what it is today. Constance Markievicz's quote got a dark humour chuckle of out me.
The 29 Minute History of Dublin
We entered the most beautiful room where the main tour took place. Just look up at the ornate ceiling. The brilliant Mark was our tour guide and he could have been a stage actor in the past. He breathtakingly took us from Dublin 5000 years ago, through the Vikings, the Normans, our failed rebellions and the 1916 rebellion that led to our independence. It was fantastic! Informative, but in a very funny way.
Mark led us into the adjoining room which was more about the last 50 years of Dublin. I remember quite a lot of this stuff myself, so it was very nostalgic for me. Mark was so impressive with the speed that he talked with clarity.
There was 25 of us in the group and we were all laughing along. Not easy to do as a tour guide I can tell you. Hugely entertaining.
Three More Exhibits
After Mark's part ended, there was still another floor of the house with four more exhibits
The U2 Exhibit
I'm a huge U2 fan, so I spent a lot of time here. It was brilliant. There's a model Trabant and a rather scary statue of Bono. Dublin is short on U2 exhibits.
I don't how U2 do not have their own museum yet. If you're a fan, this tour is worth doing just for the this room and what's for sale in the shop.
Funnily, I passed both The Edge & Bono's house just after my visit to the Little Museum because I was leading one of my Vista Tours which passes their houses.
The Irish Times Room
I imagine it was the editor's room. I want one of those typewriters for my house. Way cooler than my laptop!
The Bernardo O'Higgins Gallery
The gallery had prints of Dublin from Mick Brown. I recognized a lot of them and had to laugh at the photo of Holy Mary. She was a lady who could be seen on O'Connell Street most days. I walked that street going to school and saw her all the time!
The Dolls' House
This absolutely incredible, a dolls house based on Ireland's most famous Georgian houses that took up an entire room. You walk around it and look into every room in unreal detail. I am not a doll house person, but I spent 10 minutes marveling at this.
Animals of Dublin
I'll be honest, I ran out of time to spend much time in this room. I hadn't expected that there was so much to see at the Little Museum of Dublin and had to leave to go to meet some guests for a walking tour.
Read Next
Here's my reviews of the best museums in Dublin.
Ireland by Locals
