Kilmainham was a functioning prison from 1796 - 1924 and is most famous for holding the leaders of the 1916 rising, who were executed in Stonebreakers Yard in the prison. Today it houses three separate exhibitions, exploring the concept of imprisonment, the historical role of the Gaol, and its restoration.
Now housed in Dublin Castle, the Chester Beatty Library can boast an unrivalled collection of Early Christian, Islamic and East Asian manuscripts, paintings, prints, icons and books. The collection was put together by the American mining engineer Sir Alfred Chester Beatty and bequeathed to Ireland upon his death in 1968.
The Jewish Museum contains a significant collection of memorabilia relating to Ireland's Jewish communities including photographs, paintings, and other displays. A feature of particular interest is a kitchen depicting a typical Sabbath/Festival meal setting in a Jewish home at the turn of the last century. The building was once a Synagogue and can be viewed in its original state upstairs.
While Paris is famous for its painting, Dublin is equally famous for its literature. So its only natural that there would be a writer's museum in Dublin dedicated to the wonderful writer's Ireland has produced. You'll encounter the works of such writers as Wilde, Yeats, Swift and Shaw.
Run by the descendants of Joyce, the center is dedicated to the promotion of the works and life of James Joyce and contains exhibits relating to Joyce's writing and the Guinness reference library.
Most famous for housing the "Book of Kells", Trinity College Library is also home to Ireland's largest collection of books and manuscripts. It is one of the oldest research libraries in the world. Some 200,000 of the university's most precious volumes are held in the beautiful Long Room, which was built between 1712 and 1732. Another interesting exhibit is the oldest fiddle in Ireland. The college grounds are also worth a stroll.
Located next to Christ Church Cathedral, Dublinia is an exhibition that aims to recreate the atmosphere of the city in the years between the arrival of the Anglo-Normans in 1170 to the closure of the monasteries in the 1500s. There are fascinating scale models of the city in those times together with life-size reconstructions of the 13th century dockside at Wood Quay and a 15th century merchant's house.
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