The National Gallery of Ireland is one of the country’s most popular visitor attractions. It houses the nation’s collection of European and Irish art from about 1300 to the present day, and an extensive library and archive.
Entry to the permanent collection, and many temporary exhibitions, is free for all. Open seven days a week, the Gallery is conveniently located in Dublin City centre, a short stroll from Trinity College and Merrion Square.
Free guided tours are available at weekends. Family packs and drawing and creative writing kits are available to borrow for free. Facilities include a shop, café, and wheelchair access to all levels.
Some temporary exhibitions need to be booked in advance and have an admission charge, but there are discounts and special offers available.
Take a look at the Gallery website in advance of your visit for full details.
- AIB Portrait Prize and Young Prize
WinterAIB Portrait Prize and Young Prize The AIB Portrait Prize and AIB Young Portrait Prize competitions will showcase contemporary portraiture and invites submissions from artists working in all media across the island of Ireland, and from Irish artists living abroad.
- Ludovico Mazzolino: The Crossing of the Red Sea
SpringLudovico Mazzolino: The Crossing of the Red Sea An exhibition showcasing extensive scientific and conservation work on a sixteenth century masterpiece at the National Gallery of Ireland.
- Mainie Jellett and Evie Hone. The Art of Friendship
SpringMainie Jellett and Evie Hone. The Art of Friendship The second major exhibition of 2025 is dedicated to the pioneering Irish modernists Mainie Jellett and Evie Hone, and will bring together 90 of their works of art.
- An Artist's Presence
SummerAn Artist's Presence An Artist’s Presence explores how artists, consciously or unconsciously, have placed themselves in their work through drawings and paintings from the Gallery’s permanent collection.
Call into Sweny's Pharmacy in Lincoln Place immortalised in James Joyce’s Ulysses, still selling the famous lemon soap as bought by Leopold Bloom in chapter five of Ulysses.
