Natural History Museum

Ireland’s Natural History Museum is located on Merrion Square West in Dublin. It is situated next to the National Gallery and is easy to find.

The museum opens 6 days a week (excluding Monday) and has restricted hours on Sunday, opening in mid afternoon only.

What to see

In keeping with Irelands other national museums, the history museum tries to feature Irish nature wherever and whenever possible. This sees a special area, the Irish room, dedicated to Irish wildlife and there are some large national highlights in the form of the now extinct Irish Elks that adorn entrance to this zone.

Despite a natural tendency to show off the indigenous species of this island nation, this museum has many great display and they range from the small, in the form of insects and miniature marine life, to the massive, like the skeleton of a humpback whale found stranded off the Irish coast.

In addition to skeletons and exhibits saved through taxidermy, there are models and educational examples of many species, of which the aquatic creatures are a prime example.

The museum is also "stuffed" with birds and mammals and the mounted insects always arouse a reaction of some kind.

One of the highlights of the museum is the skeleton of a Dodo, but there is something to capture the interest of all visitors from adults to children. This is a good visitor attraction to see on a day restricted by inclement weather, or if the younger children in a family become restless.