The National Museum of Ireland is delighted to launch its latest programme of guided tours, workshops and resources for primary and post primary schools for the spring term.
Available from January 2024, the programme has a diverse range of virtual and onsite activities, designed to complement the primary and post primary curricula. All activities are offered free of charge to schools.
The schools programme is available at four Museum sites in Dublin and Co Mayo. Each site focuses on a different part of the National Collections and the schools programme reflects the collection on display at that particular location. Select a location below to browse the school programme for a Museum site.
- Decorative Arts & History, Collins Barracks, Dublin 7
- Country Life, Turlough Park, Castlebar, Co Mayo
- Archaeology, Kildare Street, Dublin 2
- Natural History, Merrion Street, Dublin 2
Some highlights for PRIMARY LEVEL include:
GUIDED TOUR: The Vikings in Ireland
(Archaeology – Kildare Street, Dublin 2)
The Vikings in Ireland session explores the three main activities of the Vikings in Ireland - Raiding, Trading and Settling - using the Museum’s unique collection of artefacts. Pupils will explore how these artefacts can tell us about Viking burial customs and beliefs, their society and politics, and the new inventions and materials that they brought to Ireland through travel and trade across Europe and the Middle East. FIND OUT MORE
GUIDED TOUR: Get Stuffed!
(Natural History – Merrion Street, Dublin 2)
This is a new specifically designed session for junior primary audiences. Make some new friends as we visit the furry deer, feathery puffins, and scaly turtles in the Museum on a guided tour led by a Museum Educator. FIND OUT MORE
GUIDED TOUR: The Dead Zoo
(Natural History – Merrion Street, Dublin 2)
Join this new introductory tour of ‘the Dead Zoo’ to discover some of the unique stories behind a selection of 3,000 animals and fossils on display. Students will see up-close zoological and geological examples of the natural world that have been on display since we opened our doors over 166 years ago. This tour includes curriculum linked themes such as biodiversity, ecology, endangerment and extinction. FIND OUT MORE
TURAS AR AN LÁTHAIR: An Zú Marbh
(Stair an Dúlra – Sráid Mhuirfean, Baile Átha Cliath 2)
Bí linn ar an turas speisialta Gaeilge seo! Cuir eolas ar na scéalta ar leith laistiar de chuid den 3,000 ainmhí agus iontais atá ar taispeáint. Feicfidh daltaí samplaí zó-eolaíochta agus geolaíochta den domhan nádúrtha, atá ar taispeáint anseo ó d’osclaíomar doirse an mhúsaeim os cionn 166 bliain ó shin. Luafar sa turas téamaí na bithéagsúlachta, na héiceolaíochta, ainmhithe atá i mbaol agus ainmhithe díothaithe – téamaí atá nasctha leis an gcuraclam. LEIGH NIOS MO
GUIDED TOUR: The Top 10 Tour
(Country Life - Turlough Park, Castlebar, Co Mayo)
Join a Museum guide to discover Ireland’s National Folklife Collection at Turlough Park. Learn how our ancestors lived in this interactive and informative tour told through stories about key objects in the Museums' collection. FIND OUT MORE
GUIDED TOUR: A Taste of the Past - The History of Food and Drink
(Decorative Arts & History – Collins Barracks, Dublin 7)
This interactive tour will give students a flavour of the wealth of artefacts on display in the Museum that show the continuity and change of food preparation over time and the fascinating insights dining can give us into life, society and culture in Ireland. Students will discover the many different ways people used dining to express themselves and the hidden stories and values attributed to everyday domestic objects. FIND OUT MORE
Guided Tour: Prehistoric Ireland - Stone Age and Bronze Age peoples
(Archaeology - Kildare Street, Dublin 2)
The Prehistoric Ireland guided tour explores the jobs of the archaeologist and historian and the role of the National Museum of Ireland - Archaeology. Strongly linked to the National Curriculum, this tour focuses on Stone Age and Bronze Age peoples. Pupils will engage with artefacts from Mesolithic fish traps to Bronze Age swords and shields, using key objects from the Museum’s handling collection for a hands-on learning experience. FIND OUT MORE
GUIDED TOUR: Game, Set, Match- The History of Sports in Irish Society
(Decorative Arts & History – Collins Barracks, Dublin 7)
From hair hurling balls dating from the 1500s to ladies camogie dresses from the 1960s, join Museum Guides on an engaging and interactive tour focuses on the development and evolution of Ireland's social and sporting past. This tour will explore the development of a variety of sports in Ireland, including Gaelic games, soccer, rugby, cricket and horse racing. It will also place the evlolution of these sports in a wider societal context, such as the concept of domestic and garrison games, social class, nationalism and independence, and gender. FIND OUT MORE
WORKSHOP: Make your own St Brigid's Cross
(Country Life - Turlough Park, Castlebar, Co Mayo)
Find out about the history of St. Brigid’s Day and discover the customs and traditions involved. View our collection of different types of crosses from around the country and afterwards have a go at making a St. Brigid's Cross with the Education Team. FIND OUT MORE
WORKSHOP: Fashion Detectives
(Decorative Arts & History – Collins Barracks, Dublin 7)
This workshop is set in ‘The way We Wore: 250 years of Irish Clothing and Jewellery’ exhibition. Using their detective skills, students will uncover how clothing and fashion accessories convey information about the men, women and children who wore them, and about the society in which they lived. A selection of objects from the Museum's handling collection will challenge children to think more deeply about themes such a rich and poor and the changing roles of woman in the past. FIND OUT MORE
WORKSHOP: From Farm to Food
(Country Life - Turlough Park, Castlebar, Co Mayo)
Learn about science in everyday life, both past and present with an interactive tour and a hands-on workshop. Pupils will gain an understanding of the requirements for plant growth, how they grow and some ways in which plants reproduce. The workshop also looks at the importance of plants for food and nutrition. FIND OUT MORE
WORKSHOP: If Things Could Talk
(Decorative Arts & History, Collins Barracks, Dublin 7)
Explore the power of objects to tell stories about Ireland’s rich history. Working in small groups, students will develop their historical enquiry and communication skills, through hands-on, object based learning. Engaging with a selection of objects from the Museum's handling collection, students will take on the role of historians and curators to explore the different meanings that we invest in objects. FIND OUT MORE
VIRTUAL SESSION: The Vikings in Ireland
(Online session delivered from Archaeology – Kildare Street, Dublin 2)
Discover the amazing history of the Vikings in Ireland in this live virtual session. Museum Educators will share videos and use objects from the Museum’s handling collection to shed light on this fascinating period in Irish history. FIND OUT MORE
VIRTUAL SESSION: Go Extinct!
(Online session delivered from Natural History – Merrion Street, Dublin 2)
Discover the amazing extinct animals of the Museum in this live virtual session, led by a Museum Educator and beamed straight to your classroom. Your class will be virtually welcomed, and guided through some of the rarest museum specimens, all of which have one thing in common – they are extinct! FIND OUT MORE
VIRTUAL WORKSHOP: Engineer's Week - Make a Town
(Online session delivered from Country Life – Turlough Park, Castlebar, Co Mayo)
This Engineer's Week, design, make and keep your own classroom town! Construct buildings, make roads and paths, cut, colour and create each building and put them into your town layout! Participants may like to decorate with Matchbox cars, figurines and can work from their classroom to expand, make further buildings and perhaps even a whole city with Makermeet! FIND OUT MORE
Some highlights for POST PRIMARY LEVEL include:
(Archaeology – Kildare Street, Dublin 2)
This tour for Junior Cycle and Transition Year History focuses on the work of the archaeologist and the discipline of archaeology, through the lens of the Vikings in Ireland. This tour will support students in acquiring historical skills, conceptual understanding, and historical consciousness, as part of their curriculum requirements. Students will learn about the role of the National Museum of Ireland - Archaeology and how archaeologists study the past, through artefacts within the Museum's collection. During this tour, students will get the opportunity to engage with the Museum’s teaching collection and explore how archaeology helps us understand the past. FIND OUT MORE
GUIDED TOUR: Leaving Certificate History of Art
(Archaeology – Kildare Street, Dublin 2)
Trace the developments of art in Ireland from the Neolithic Period to the 12th century. Take a closer look at how passage tombs were constructed and decorated in the Stone Age and how some of Ireland’s gold objects were made and used in the Bronze Age right up to the creation and design of Early Christian treasures, including the ‘Tara’ Brooch and the Ardagh Chalice. This tour is specifically designed to cover key objects that appear on the History of Art Leaving Certificate specification and can be tailored to focus on Pre-Christian Art (c. 4,000BCE - 500 CE) including objects such as the Knowth Macehead and Broighter Hoard, or Insular Art (c.500 - 1100s) including such objects as the Derrynaflan Paten and Saint Patrick's Bell Shrine. FIND OUT MORE
GUIDED TOUR: The Top 10 Tour
(Country Life - Turlough Park, Castlebar, Co Mayo)
Join a Museum guide to discover Ireland’s National Folklife Collection at Turlough Park. Learn how our ancestors lived in this interactive and informative tour told through stories about key objects in the Museums' collection. FIND OUT MORE
GUIDED TOUR: The Way We Wore - Representations of Social Change through Clothing
(Decorative Arts & History - Collins Barracks, Dublin 7)
This interactive tour focuses on the history of clothing in Ireland, and in particular, how clothing can be seen as a representation of social change for women in Ireland. Students will explore examples of clothing that highlight how women were expected to dress, and how clothing could be used to show status in communities. Students will hear stories of individuals in Ireland whose clothing give us an insight into restrictions which may have been placed on them, as well as how their clothing could be a symbol of personal freedom and activism. FIND OUT MORE
GUIDED TOUR: Game, Set, Match: The History of Sports in Irish Society
(Decorative Arts & History - Collins Barracks, Dublin 7)
From hair hurling balls dating from the 1500s to ladies camogie dresses from the 1960s, join Museum Guides on an engaging and interactive tour focuses on the development and evolution of Ireland's societal and sporting past. This tour will explore the development of a variety of sports in Ireland, including Gaelic games, soccer, rugby, cricket and horse racing. It will also place the evolution of these sports in a wider societal context, such as the concept of domestic and garrison games, social class, nationalism and independence, and gender. FIND OUT MORE
GUIDED TOUR: Ireland then and now: Exploring Symbols of Ireland in the National Museum
(Decorative Arts & History - Collins Barracks, Dublin 7)
The harp is one of the most common symbols of Ireland, which we see on everyday objects such as coins, and the shamrock is synonymous with St Patrick’s Day, but did you know that there are lots of other symbols that designers and artists have used over the centuries to express Irish culture and history? This tour will allow students to explore a range of fascinating Irish symbols through artefacts on display in the Museum. Students will also visit the new ‘We Make Our Own Histories’ exhibition to explore modern Irish symbolism through a series of artworks created by various communities in Ireland, including primary and post-primary students, commissioned by the National Museum of Ireland. FIND OUT MORE
SELF-GUIDED TOUR: Visit ‘The Dead Zoo’
(Natural History – Merrion Street, Dublin 2)
Let the Museum and its collections capture the imagination of your students with a self-guided visit. Activity sheets are a great way to learn, explore and enjoy the objects and themes of the collections. Discover more about biodiversity, ecology and conservation with the curriculum-linked activity sheet ‘Everything Counts’. FIND OUT MORE
WORKSHOP: Make your own St Brigid’s Cross
(Country Life - Turlough Park, Castlebar, Co Mayo)
Find out about the history of St. Brigid’s Day and discover the customs and traditions associated with this feast day. View our collection of different types of crosses from around the country and afterwards have a go at making a St Brigid's Cross with the Education Team. FIND OUT MORE
CLASSROOM RESOURCE: Extinction Stories with ISL
(Natural History – Merrion Street, Dublin 2)
Discover stories of extinction in the collections of the Museum from the comfort of the classroom.
Watch curriculum-linked videos that include Irish Sign Language (ISL), and discover how animals like the giant deer, dodo and thylacine disappeared from this world. Download Teacher Notes to explore accompanying classroom activities to complement the learning outcomes. FIND OUT MORE
CLASSROOM RESOURCE: ‘Proclaiming a Republic’ virtual tour
(Decorative Arts & History, Collins Barracks, Dublin 7)
Join Museum guides, educators and curators for an engaging, informative and thought-provoking look at a significant period in Irish history, through the Museum’s recent ‘Proclaiming a Republic’ exhibition. In this virtual tour, the speakers will focus on personal stories, in particular those of the lesser-known participants and civilians who were involved in Easter Week, as well as examining why the rebellion happened, and the immediate aftermath. Included on this page are Teachers Notes, which will guide your class through the film. FIND OUT MORE
See the full schools programme for the NATIONAL MUSEUM OF IRELAND at:
- Decorative Arts & History, Collins Barracks, Dublin 7
- Country Life, Turlough Park, Castlebar, Co Mayo
- Archaeology, Kildare Street, Dublin 2
- Natural History, Merrion Street, Dublin 2
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