Dublin's history is layered in stone: a Viking trading post on the Liffey, a medieval walled town, a Georgian colonial capital, then the crucible of 1916. Three days trace it from Wood Quay's Norse foundations to Kilmainham's execution yard.
Built into the Synod Hall beside Christ Church, Dublinia reconstructs the Viking longphort of 841 AD and the medieval town, with real Wood Quay excavation finds. Open 10:00–17:30 daily; adult €14.50, family €42. Includes the covered bridge into the cathedral.
Founded around 1030 by Sitric Silkenbeard, the Norse king of Dublin, rebuilt in stone by Strongbow from 1172. The 12th-century crypt is the largest in Britain or Ireland and holds the mummified cat and rat found in the organ pipes. €11 adult.
Ireland's largest church, begun 1220 on the site where Patrick reputedly baptised converts. Jonathan Swift was dean here 1713–1745 and is buried in the nave beside Stella, his epitaph on the wall. The door of reconciliation from 1492 gave English its 'chancing your arm'.
Opened 1707 as the first public library in Ireland and almost unaltered since — dark oak bookcases, and three wired cages where readers were locked in with rare volumes. Bram Stoker and Swift both read here; bullet holes from the 1916 Rising still mark the books.
Opened 1796, closed 1924. Fourteen leaders of the 1916 Rising were shot in the stonebreakers' yard here, including James Connolly, tied to a chair because his ankle was shattered. Guided tour only, €8 adult, and it must be booked online well in advance.
Lutyens designed these sunken rose gardens for the 49,400 Irish soldiers killed in the First World War — a commemoration long left deliberately neglected by the young state. Granite bookrooms hold the illuminated names. Free, open daily.
The 1818 Post Office where Pearse read the Proclamation on Easter Monday 1916 and which burned out under British shelling that week. The interactive museum tells the Rising hour by hour; the portico columns still carry bullet scars. €15 adult.
Opened in 1966 for the fiftieth anniversary of the Rising, dedicated to all who died for Irish freedom. Oisín Kelly's Children of Lir bronze stands over a cruciform pool set with broken weapons, marking the Celtic custom of throwing arms into water after battle.
Opened 1832 by Daniel O'Connell so Catholics could be buried with dignity; 1.5 million people lie here, including Parnell, Collins, de Valera and Constance Markievicz. The costumed history tour runs daily; €16 including museum and O'Connell Tower.
One Georgian mansion, built 1740s for the aristocracy, subdivided by 1911 into 17 flats housing over 100 people. The museum tells Dublin's tenement century through the families who lived in these rooms until 1979. Guided tour €10, booking essential.
The Ór gold hoards from the Bronze Age, the Ardagh Chalice, the Tara Brooch and four Iron Age bog bodies preserved to the fingerprint. The Viking Ireland gallery displays the Wood Quay finds. Free entry, closed Mondays.
Licensed since 1198 on the site of the Norse ford crossing, Ireland's oldest pub. Robert Emmet planned his 1803 rising in an upstairs room; Wolfe Tone and the United Irishmen met in the courtyard. Low ceilings, sawdust-era snugs, coal fires.