National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks

Collins Barracks in Dublin City, named after famed Michael Collins, could be said to be the National Museum of Ireland's largest artefact, having had a unique history all of its own in another life. It housed both British Armed Forces and Irish army garrisons over three centuries. Built in 1702, the complex's main buildings are Neoclassical in style. Collins Barracks has been completely renovated and restored to become the National Museum of Decorative Arts and History, charting Ireland's economic, social, political and military progress through the ages. Exhibits: Irish Wars 1917 to 1923 and the 1916 Rising; Soldiers & Chiefs - Irish at war from 1550 to present day; Photography of the revolutionary era in Ireland; 1000 years of Irish coin and currency; Irish country furniture and four centuries of furnishing; The Way We Were - antique clothing and crafts; Sacred Art of Ireland 1600 to 1750; Irish silver exhibition; Eileen Gray exhibition; A Dubliner's Collection of Asian Art - Albert Bender Collection; 21st century Irish Craft; Ib Jorgensen Fashion Retrospective; the Asgard, a restored sailboat with pivotal role in the 1914 Howth gun running story; and more. Artefacts on display range from silver, ceramic and glassware pieces to weaponry, furniture, examples of folk life and costume. All of these are displayed with imagination in innovative and contemporary galleries, which entice you to go further, look harder and examine more closely.

Dublin