Attractions
The Merrion’s location in the heart of Georgian Dublin, on the south-side of Dublin city-centre, is ideal for exploring everything that Dublin has to offer.
Situated on Merrion Street, opposite Government Buildings and a short distance from The National Gallery, this luxurious five-star hotel is a leisurely stroll away from the Dublin’s bustling commercial and shopping districts.
The Merrion is within a short walk of numerous shops, bars and restaurants, and offers easy access to the capital’s best museums, art galleries and visitor attractions.
The Concierge Team at The Merrion is on hand to suggest suitable itineraries, make reservations and handle transfers for our guests.
Dublin Attractions
Book of Kells
Tel: +353 1 896 1000
Email: bookofkells@tcd.ie
Web: www.tcd.ie/visitors/book-of-kells/
The Book of Kells is an illuminated manuscript Gospel book in Latin, containing the four Gospels of the New Testament together with various prefatory texts and tables. The magnificent Book of Kells is the centrepiece of Trinity College’s Old Library & Long Room tour, a must see for anyone visiting Dublin, Ireland’s capital.
Croke Park Skyline Tour
Tel: + 353 1 819 2323
Email: gaamuseum@crokepark.ie
Web: www.crokepark.ie
Are you ready for a 17-storey high? Then bring your adventurous spirit (and your camera!) to Croke Park’s Skyline. Located right in the heart of the city, this thrilling rooftop walkway is actually Dublin’s highest open-viewing platform and offers breathtaking panoramic views of Ireland’s vibrant capital from the mountains to the sea.
This Dublin City tour highlights all of the capital’s main landmarks while giving you an insight into its heartfelt history, told in a uniquely charming way by the charismatic Tour Guides. Then of course there’s the sporting highlight – the incredible view from the platform that’s suspended over the Croke Park pitch itself.
Dublin City Kayaking
Tel: + 353 85 866 7787
Email: info@citykayaking.com
Web: www.citykayaking.com
A kayak experience thorough Dublin City centre with local guides and off you go to explore the Liffey. The experience takes about 2 hours of which of 90 minutes on the water. Launching base is located just beside the Jeanie Jonhston Tall Ship, between the Samuel Beckett Bridge (the iconic harp shaped bridge) and the Sean O’ Casey pedestrian’s bridge. From here you’ll start paddling towards the heart of the city, going under some of Dublin’s most famous bridges and past well known landmarks
Dublin Bay Cruises
Tel: + 353 1 9011757
Email: booking@dublinbaycruises.com
Web: www.dublinbaycruises.com
Why not take a trip on Dublin’s beautiful living bay and enjoy the city from a truly unique perspective. Dublin Bay Cruises is a family owned business operating cruises between Dun Laoghaire, Dublin Port and Howth Harbours. The service provides passengers with a unique opportunity to see Dublin from a different perspective as they take in the panoramic views and discover the wonderful wildlife reserves that string the bay from north to south of Dublin’s coastline.
Eco Wellness Consulting – Forest Bathing Experiences
Tel: + 353 87 932 0914
Email: shirley_gleeson@hotmail.com
Web: www.ecowellnessconsulting.com
Forest Bathing/ Shinrin-Yoku experiences in parks, gardens and forests; nationally and internationally for private groups. These are bespoke tailored packages that include half day, full day and two day nature immersive experiences. These are gentle guided walks that enhance well being through sensory connection in nature. Private and Group Tours available with pre-booking essential.
Guinness Storehouse
Tel: +3531 408 4800
Email: www.guinness-storehouse.com/en/contact-us
Web: www.guinness-storehouse.com/en
Immerse yourself in 7 floors of fun and excitement as you explore the story of Ireland’s most iconic beer. Enjoy the panoramic views from the famous Gravity Bar, dive into the history of Guinness in Dublin and experience the unique taste of Guinness. With over 20 million visitors, we are Ireland’s number one attraction.
Jameson Distillery Bow Street Experience
Tel: +3531 807 2355
Email: https://www.jamesonwhiskey.com/en-IE/contact-us
Web: https://www.jamesonwhiskey.com/en-IE/visit-us/jameson-distillery-bow-st
At Bow St. enjoy a tour or tasting, learn how to blend your own whiskey, master the craft of cocktail making or draw whiskey straight from a cask in Dublin’s only Maturation Warehouse.
Museums & Galleries
The Merrion is located in the heart of Dublin’s city centre, within walking distance of some of Ireland’s most popular museums and galleries.
National Gallery of Ireland
Tel: + 353 1 661 5133
Email: info@ngi.ie
Web: www.nationalgallery.ie
The National Gallery of Ireland was established by an Act of Parliament in 1854 and first opened its doors to the public in January 1864.
Today the collection boasts some 2,500 paintings and approximately 10,000 other works in different media including watercolours, drawings, prints and sculpture.
Every major European School of painting is extensively represented. It also houses a renowned collection of Irish paintings, the majority of which are on permanent display.
There is a Yeats Museum with works by Jack B Yeats, his father John Butler, and other members of this artistic family.
The National Library of Ireland
Tel: +353 1 603 0200
Email: info@nli.ie
www.nli.ie
The mission of the Library is to collect, preserve, promote, and make accessible the documentary and intellectual record of the life of Ireland and to contribute to the provision of access to the larger universe of recorded knowledge.
The National Library is open, free of charge, to all those who wish to consult the collections for material not otherwise available through the public library service or an academic library. A Reader’s Ticket is necessary in order to consult most categories of material.
The Library does not lend books and reading is done in the various reading rooms. There is also a copying service and it is possible to get photocopies, photographs, slides, or microfilm of most items in the collections. The Library has an ongoing programme of exhibitions.
The Genealogical Office, the Office of the Chief Herald in Kildare Street, and the National Photographic Archive in Temple Bar are all part of the National Library.
National Museum of Ireland
Tel: + 353 1 6777 444
Email: marketing@museum.ie
Web: www.museum.ie
The National Museum of Ireland officially opened its doors to the public on Kildare Street in August 1890. It is the national repository for all archaeological objects found in Ireland, and the portable archaeological heritage of Ireland, and houses over 2,000,000 artifacts, which range in date from 7000BC and the late medieval period. In addition to the archaeological collections, the museum also houses substantial Ethnographical, Classical and Egyptian collections.
Museum of Literature in Ireland, ‘MOLI’
Tel: + 353 1 477 9811
Email: bureau@moli.ie
Web:www.moli.ie
The museum is a partnership between the National Library of Ireland and University College Dublin. It is located in UCD’s Newman House on St Stephen’s Green. The Moli is Dublin’s newest museum and celebrates Ireland’s greatest writers.
Douglas Hyde Gallery at Trinity College
Tel: + 353 1 896 1116
Email: dhgallery@tcd.ie
Web: www.douglashydegallery.com
The Douglas Hyde Gallery, founded in 1978, became independent of Trinity College in 1984, and for some years afterwards was the only publicly-funded gallery in Ireland that regularly exhibited contemporary art.
The Douglas Hyde’s exhibition programme was wide-ranging and eclectic, including shows by major international artists as well as by emerging Irish artists. More recently, the development of contemporary art exhibition programmes by other galleries and museums in Dublin has meant that the Douglas Hyde Gallery’s role has changed. While the general direction remains the same, and the gallery still hold exhibitions by major figures in the contemporary art world, the programme has become more focused than before, frequently engaging with art that has been marginalised, and with artists, both from Ireland and abroad, who have not yet become well-known or who have been overlooked. The gallery also holds small exhibitions of ethnographic and craft artefacts in Gallery 2.
The Douglas Hyde Gallery publishes small books and catalogues that are known and distributed all over the world, and occasionally hosts musical events.
Irish Museum of Modern Art
Tel: +353 1 6129900
Email: info@imma.ie
Web: www.imma.ie
The Irish Museum of Modern Art is housed in the Royal Hospital Kilmainham, the finest 17th-century building in Ireland. The Government of Ireland established The Irish Museum of Modern Art in 1990 as Ireland’s first national institution for the presentation and collection of modern and contemporary art. The Museum hosts regular exhibitions and helps artists to develop their work practice through its Arts Residency Programme.
Dublin Writers Museum
Tel: 00 353 1 872 2077
Email: writers@dublintourism.ie
Web: www.writersmuseum.com
The Dublin Writers’ Museum opened in November 1991, at No. 18 Parnell Sq. The Irish Writers’ Centre, next door in No 19, contains the meeting rooms and offices of the Irish Writers’ Union, the Society of Irish Playwrights, the Irish Children’s Book Trust and the Translators’ Association of Ireland. The Museum was established to promote interest, through its collection, displays and activities, in Irish literature as a whole, and in the lives and works of individual Irish writers. Through its association with the Irish Writers’ Centre it provides a link with living writers and the international literary scene.
House No. 29 – Georgian Museum
Tel: + 353 1 702 6165
Web: www.esb.ie/main/about-esb/numbertwentynine
In partnership with The National Museum of Ireland, the Museum highlights life in Georgian Dublin in the period 1790 until 1820. The displays throughout the Museum are supplemented with story boards, which provide information on each room and explain the operation of a townhouse lived in by an upper middle class family in the Georgian period. The house is principally self-guided, with a limited number of guided tours each day.
Dublin City Gallery – The Hugh Lane
Tel: + 353 1 222 5550
Email: info.hughlane@dublincity.ie
Web: www.hughlane.ie
Located in Dublin’s city centre, Dublin City Gallery: The Hugh Lane, (formerly The Municipal Gallery of Modern Art), houses one of Ireland’s foremost collections of modern and contemporary art. The original collection, donated by the Gallery’s founder, Sir Hugh Lane, in 1908, has now grown to include over 2000 artworks, ranging from the Impressionist masterpieces of Manet, Monet, Renoir and Degas, to works by leading national and international contemporary artists. The Gallery presents dynamic schedules of temporary exhibitions, seminars and public lectures, publications and educational projects.
The Hugh Lane’s role as a leading museum of modern and contemporary art was enhanced with the acquisition of the entire contents of Francis Bacon’s Studio, donated by Bacon’s sole heir John Edwards. The studio, located at 7 Reece Mews, London, was relocated to Dublin in 1998 and opened to the public on 23 May 2001. It provides invaluable insight into the artist’s life, inspirations, unusual techniques and working methods. Never before has an artist’s studio been so thoroughly catalogued and reconstructed.
The Gallery’s wide range of activities both within and outside the Gallery includes an annual series of lectures by artists, philosophers and art historians. A lively education and outreach programme has forged strong links with local school and community groups with activities ranging from Kids’ Club workshops, adult education courses and the ever-popular Sunday lecture series.
Little Museum of Dublin
Tel: +353 1 661 1000
Email: bureau@littlemuseum.ie
Website: www.littlemuseum.ie
The Little Museum tells the remarkable story of Dublin in the 20th Century. The museum was launched in 2011 with a public appeal for historic objects. These items are used to tell the social, cultural and political history of Dublin in the 20th century. The museum also has a number of permanent exhibitions, including U2 and The Irish Times.
The Museum is open 9.30am to 5pm, Monday to Sunday, with late opening on Thursdays until 8pm.
Admission to the museum’s main collection is by guided tour, which are on the hour evey hour.
EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum
Tel: +353 1 906 0861
Email: info@epicchq.com
Website: Click here.
EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum is a state-of-the-art interactive experience located in the beautiful vaults of The chq Building in Dublin’s Docklands, the original departure point for so many of Ireland’s emigrants. It will inspire and guide you on a journey to discover the stories of Irish emigration around the world, from early times to the modern day.