Architectural Dublin / 19th Century / National Museum of Ireland

Architect: Thomas Newenham Deane & Thomas Manley Deane
Interior Access Museum Hours Only

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Designed as part of the same scheme as the National Library, the building has recently being undergoing complete restoration inside and out. The elevation to Kildare Street is now cleaned and repaired showing the brilliance of the sandstone detailing. A much bigger building than the Library, its vast street frontage has a rhythm of large round headed windows illuminated the exhibit areas. The building suffers from having its secondary entrance and facade on Kildare Place obscured by a partition wall to the rear of Government Buildings. Like the Library, the corners of the building are expressed using pavilions to frame the composition.

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The interior of the building is very impressive with a large entrance hall rotunda and a magnificent central exhibition hall with decorative ironwork and impressive majolica dorr surrounds. The central gallery has a balconey level and impressive staircases. Originally the south facade onto Kildare Place was designed in the basis that Kildare Place would be eventually a larger public space.