National Museum of Natural History

I’ve been to the Museum of Natural History plenty of times and I still enjoy coming here.
There is a really impressive collection of stuffed animals: insects, fish, mammals, literally any animal you can think of.
Although in need of some maintenance work, the building itself is really lovely and it’s probably one of the things I enjoy the most about coming here: with the wooden floors, the glass cabinets, it really feels like stepping back in time.
One of my favourite things about it it’s also the huge Basking Shark. who knew there were sharks this big in Ireland?
Visiting is also free (although they accept donations), which I think it’s pretty cool for such a lovely historic museum.
Perfect place to spend few hours on a Sunday.

Leaving aside the school tours I have been here twice over the last 2 years. Recent visit with some friends and their kids. As you walk in you are probably a little underwhelmed but as you start to take it all in and appreciate the history then it becomes fascinating.
There was a kids tour in progress so we jumped in and the guide was excellent and held the attention of the group for the duration which isn’t easy given the age demographic.
The top two floors were closed they day we were there and it is evident that the building is in need of some work especially the roof which was leaking and I can imagine that left unchecked this will have a detrimental impact on the exhibits.
Its free and I would recommend, sure beats a shopping center !!!

Absolutely loved it! What a fabulous museum, AKA the dead zoo.
As a bird lover, this place made my day!

Definitely worth a visit if you’re up in the Merrion Square area (but not on a Monday when its closed). You can take it as quick or slow as you like, depending on what you’re you’re looking to get out of it. If its a couple of hours entertainment for the kids in your life be sure to pick up an activity pack at the door and read EVERYTHING: D
The charm of the place is its age and that can be seen in the closed off balcony areas (due to fancy new ‘safety’ regulations) and some of the worse for ware exhibits, but it really is like stepping back in time. Great fun.

So many memories!!! The place is years old and you can hear the creaking in the wooden floors above (supposed to be getting fixed about 8 years ha).but as I said. ive so many memories here! I brought my little one to give her the same experiences ive had here and she loved it. Every animal/​insect you could think of in one building. even gigantic fish & crabs from the ocean :) and on top of that its free! I always buy a little soulvenier in hopes off this place never shutting down ha! :)

Unreal how amazing this place is.

I come from the north east, Harvard university has a magnificent natural history museum and I found myself comparing it to that… it doesn’t stand up obviously. But having said that it’s free admission and the first floor is dedicated to irish animals which we thought was really cool. We loved seeing the different sea animals and land mammals of Ireland. The second floor was early disappointing for us, it felt to cramped and was overwhelming and the condition of the animals appeared to be less quality. It’s probably worth the visit on a rainy day especially with interested children.

Free History! 2 floors full of stuffed animals which have been persevered for your viewing pleasure. The 1^st floor is reserved for animals which one (or currently) roam Ireland. From the Drinker butterfly to the large wild moose like creature (sorry, I didn’t snap a picture of its name), this floor is pretty cool and can be examined in less than a half hour. Unfortunately, they are strict about closing time and I wasn’t able to make it passed the first row of animals on the 2^nd floor. I recommend taking a look, and even though it is free, I also recommend you bring a few euros!

It’s free and right next to another museum so might as well check it out but wow, there is quite a fierce smell to this place that I can’t really describe. Sort of dried fishy dust smell?

Aw well this place is only gawjus! Having not been here since I was a nipper, I was a little worried that maybe my memories wouldn’t stand up to reality. What I remembered was something akin to that movie with Ben Stiller — A Night At The Museum. (
). I.e. a giant museum full of all sorts of curios and monsters and characters, looming over me, dead but completely alive. So, I was a little apprehensive stepping back into the setting of my childhood daydreams, in case it didn’t live up to expectations.
Guess what? It totally did! As many reviewers before me have stated, this place hasn’t been touched in years. Which is what makes it so magical. There is a full section on Irish natural history when you enter, which is actually pretty cool in it’s own right, then, you enter the wonder that is the world section. Stunning architecture and amazing creatures looking at you from all angles!
There are a few downsides to this old museum. Unfortunately none of the balcony levels are accessible due to fire regulations. The poor rhino had his horn cut off and not replaced, which all looked a bit odd, and there’s lots of bits falling off here and rusting over there.
I believe they are actually dude to upgrade the museum by building along the north wall and adding a shop (another thing lacking) and more facilities. Hopefully they still retain the character and charm of the current building.
If you’ve never been, or not since you were a childer, definitely check it out!

Great place to spend a few hours on a weekend! Entry is on a donation basis so it’s good if you’re looking to do something on the cheap.
I guess the most blunt description is that it’s a LOT of stuffed animals (not in a creepy way). Lots of fossils and skeletons and insects too.
I laughed for a while at a sign saying «fishes» until I found out that actually it’s a word when referring to different species — so can’t say I didn’t learn anything!

I should qualify this review by saying that I am an animal-​loving vegan and thus you’d probably expect me to be disgusted and repulsed by taxidermy. Not so; I actually find old taxidermy specimens quite captivating, particularly those that are half-​disintegrated and comical of expression and pose. I certainly don’t condone the killing of animals to stuff them and stick them in a museum these days, but I cannot criticise those who did so a century ago as part of their scientific research.
That said, if an afternoon spent with loads of long-​dead animals doesn’t sound like your personal idea of fun, I’d suggest you give this one a miss; the Natural History section of Ireland’s National Museum is mostly stuffed (pun intended) with moth-​eaten taxidermy specimens dating from 100+ years ago… again, this is not a criticism as I personally find such antiquated curios rather fascinating, but if you’re used to modern museums of the kind you’d normally expect to find in capital cities, you may find this a more limited and specialised kind of experience!
This is definitely one of the most old school museums I’ve ever been in; it really feels like you’ve stepped back in time once you’re inside. It seems no attempt to modernise it has been made in at least half a century, bar the small gift shop at the start of the ground floor. The rest of the lower gallery plays host to a collection of animals mostly native to Ireland itself, with the imposing giant deer skeletons being of particular interest. The generally more impressive upper level features walls studded with all manner of exotic trophy animal heads on plaques and full-​scale taxidermy specimens of everything from grizzly bears and rhinos to tiny mice and moles.
The whole place is sad, fascinating, disturbing, comic and freakishly beautiful by turns.
I also forgot to mention that it has that all-​pervasive and strangely satisfying odour of mothballs and ancient leather that you only find in very old museums and eccentric gentlemen’s studies.
Finally, I like the fact that if I click on the pin of my check-​in on Facebook, it simply says ‘Dead Zoo’.
If you and your significant other/​friends/​children fancy the idea of spending an afternoon pointing and laughing at all manner of bizarre specimens from a bygone era, this is the place for you; it’s free entry and is right next to the (also free) National Gallery and peaceful Merrion Square Park, which are both definitely worth checking out whilst you’re in the area.

Not bad for a free museum. We saw several different types of stuffed birds, insects, bears, lions, etc.
2 floors of stuffed animals and fossils. Very simple layout. There was even story time for kids.
Worth a visit.

Free always good. Very nice exhibit lots of animals to see. Another great value from dublin. family friendly

One of the three branches (Natural history, Archeology and Arts and History), built in 1856 It is a beautiful Victorian building. It has the largest collection of animals I have ever seen in my life. We are talking about over 10,000 zoological collection of animals around the world and you get to see the art of taxidermy at its finest.

Also called the dead zoo, This museum is free admission and would be well worth paying a few euros to get in, there are animals here I’d never heard of or seen before, whilst we were there, there were some live exhibits you could touch and handle, snakes, tarantulas, lizards etc, well worth a visit

This is a museum of a museum, I’m pretty sure it has not changed in well over a hundred years — they still have full sized hippo, rhino and elephants all covered in tar to preserve them, it s topped up on occasion and the smell lasts for months.
Unfortunately the building is beginning to show its age and there are fears that the upper balconies are not stable, so you can’t go past the 1^st floor any more — there are plans to fix it up and modernise it (which is a shame on so many levels) but it would be nice to get up to the top levels again.
We go regularly, the kids love it; truth be told I love it too
This is an absolute must for everyone to visit at least once and perfect for a rainy day.
Admission is free but if you have a few Euro to spare there is a collection box for the places upkeep near the entrance.

I’m not sure why there is a page for the Archeology Museum but not the Natural History. The building may be right next to each other but they are separate and the entrances are on the opposite sides of each other and on different streets. Anyways so here goes…
This has to be one of the FREAKIEST Museums I’ve ever been too. The stuff of nightmares I tell you! Eyes that follow you everywhere. When they said Natural I was thinking plant and animal life of something but when I walked in my mouth hit the floor. The very first display is a huge glass case filled with more then a dozen stuff monkeys. They are all staring right at you or showing you their bum (which is equally disturbing). The rest follows suit, cases and cases of taxidermied animals. Some are so life like I saw a couple of kids turn only to come face to face with one and they screamed so loud I’m surprised the animal didn’t come back to life. Ok, fine it was me but those Hedgehogs are freaky as hell. I swear it looked like it was about to pounce! Plus I think it winked at me as I was leaving. It’s really unbelievable how many animals they have in there. Just when you think you’ve had enough… There is another floor! This floor is filled with fish and all sorts of water based animals.
Just like all the of Museums it’s FREE, super clean, and the staff is uh… manageable. Pictures can be taken just no flash. I highly recommend this one, it is something to see.

Loved this museum!
There were so many displays, and even though I had been to Natural History displays (Cambridge for example), this one was really something else.
There were so many varieties of animal in there that I lost count, and the best part for me was one of the final rooms showing some of the largest animals such as the Elephant, Lions, Zebra and Rhino etc.
Fantastic to see and really educational!

This museum is full antique glass cabinets containing stuffed animals from around the world.
Two million species, half of them insects, have been collected from around the world by explorers and scientists. About 10,000 of them are up on display.
I think the Highlightsfor me are the Irish Room, with Basking Sharks, and The Lower Gallery, which shows the evolution of vertebrates, such as fish, reptiles and birds. Look out for the legendary Dodo in the collection of birds that, my favourite highlight so watch out for it.