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The interiors of Dublin Castle are currently closed, but the grounds remain open. Please check our online activities.

Welcome to Dublin Castle

Erected in the early thirteenth century on the site of a Viking settlement, Dublin Castle served for centuries as the headquarters of English, and later British, administration in Ireland. In 1922, following Ireland’s independence, Dublin Castle was handed over to the new Irish government. It is now a major government complex and a key tourist attraction. We hope you enjoy your visit.

It’s been 99 years...

Join us this Saturday 23 Jan 21!

Open Daily

We’re open seven days a week from 9:45 to 17:45 (last admission at 17:15). Tickets can be purchased on site at the Castle’s visitor reception desk in the State Apartments (upper courtyard) or can be booked online by clicking here.

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Book Online!

Click here to book your tickets online for a self-guiding visit of the State Apartments.

What’s On.

History Unlocked @ The Archives

Oct 2 2020 – Jan 31 2021 all-day

12:00 am

Tickets

To mark the centenary of the local elections of 1920, the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, in collaboration with the Local Government Archivists and Records Managers, has recently published this booklet, available to[...]

102 Years of Women in Politics and Public Life @ anywhere and everywhere online

Oct 8 2020 – May 31 2021 all-day

12:00 am

Tickets

This Pop-Up Museum explores 100 + years of women’s participation in politics and public life in Ireland, but also their international influence. The exhibition and its associated activities shine a spotlight on the stories of[...]

Culture Unlocked @ contemporary art galleries

Oct 22 2020 – Feb 28 2021 all-day

12:00 am

Tickets

Have you ever wondered where our contemporary art comes from? There is a wealth of galleries in Dublin and all over Ireland, many of which are now O P E N and eager to welcome[...]

Do you think that’s simple? Try to describe it!

Nov 6 2020 – Apr 21 2021 all-day

12:00 am

Tickets

Enter the descriptath(l)on Have you ever considered describing paintings to people who can only see them partially or not see them at all? Start with this one by Dublin artist John Fitzsimons (acquired in 2012[...]

Enter the descriptath(l)on @ Dublin Castle and anywhere in the world

Nov 6 2020 – Apr 21 2021 all-day

12:00 am

Tickets

Have you ever considered describing artworks, museum objects or buildings to people who can’t see them? Choose a work from our collection or one of our buildings and enter the descriptath(l)on, i.e. the marathon (or[...]

Join the descriptath(l)on @ Dublin Castle and anywhere in the world

Nov 6 2020 – Apr 21 2021 all-day

12:00 am

Tickets

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to describe old photographs for blind people? Contribute your description of this photograph to enter the descriptath(l)on, i.e. the marathon (or decathlon) of descriptions that we are launching[...]

Join the descriptath(l)on with Vulcan @ Dublin Castle and anywhere in the world

Nov 6 2020 – Apr 21 2021 all-day

12:00 am

Tickets

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to describe old paintings for blind people? Contribute your description of this painting, now hanging at the drawing room of the castle’s State Apartments, to enter the descriptath(l)on,[...]

Let’s listen to visual art

Nov 19 2020 – Apr 30 2021 all-day

12:00 am

Tickets

Have you ever considered describing works for viewers with a visual impairment? That’s what our #descriptathlon is all about. Geraldine O’Neil, Goldfish From the state art collection. http://www.geraldineoneill.ie/still-life-stilled-birds https://www.kevinkavanagh.ie/artists/26-geraldine-o-neill/overview/

Dementia-friendly sessions @ at home

Dec 1 2020 – Jun 30 2021 all-day

12:00 am

Tickets

While we couldn’t offer the dementia-inclusive session that we had planned at the Coach House for our 100+ Years of Women in Politics exhibition, now running on line, we invite you to enjoy it at[...]

History Unlocked: McKee, Clune and Clancy – Friday 27 Nov at 7pm

Jan 4 – Apr 23 all-day

12:00 am

Tickets

For the centenary of “Bloody Sunday”, historian James Curry discusses the three republican prisoners who were killed at Dublin Castle during the height of the Irish War of Independence. Watch or listen here on Friday[...]

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Nollaig na mBan @ at home

Jan 6 – Jan 31 all-day

12:00 am

Tickets

Happy Nollaig na mBan with Irish Sign Language and revolutionary spirit from Audrey Mac Cready’s ‘The Land League Ladies: Three Women and my radical roots’. Alvean Jones, who signed the 1916 Proclamation of the Irish[...]

October 2020 – January 2021 Oct 2020 – Jan 2021

The Castle Blog

Read the latest posts below, and click through to the full Castle Blog for all news updates.

A Prisoner’s Christmas at Dublin Castle, 1920

Dec 23, 2020

One hundred years ago this month, as the War of Independence continued to unfold across the island of Ireland, Christmas approached. It may seem strange to consider Christmas during a time of conflict, not least an historic one that has left such bitterness behind it,...

21 November 1920 – Bloody Sunday

Nov 18, 2020

By William Derham, Collections, Research & Interpretation It can be hard to gain a good picture of Dublin Castle sometimes. Metaphorically speaking, it looms large in the story of Ireland’s struggle for independence and yet relatively little has been written about...

A Bag From 100 Years Ago

Nov 12, 2020

For persons with dementia, their families, friends and carers. Countess Markievicz’s despatch bag – Engaging people with dementia An object that speaks volumes, in more ways than one… This object, the first in our on-line series of engagement for persons with...