Dear Teacher,
This May, the National Museum of Ireland invites primary and post-primary schools to explore, create and discover through a wide range of guided tours, hands‑on workshops and free learning resources. From travelling through ancient Ireland and uncovering museum treasures, to celebrating seasonal traditions, listening to birdsong and getting creative with art and design, our programme offers something for every class—onsite, online and in the classroom. Engage pupils with inspiring experiences that bring history, culture, nature and creativity to life.
Don’t miss out—start planning your museum adventure today!
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What's on for Primary Schools at the National Museum of Ireland
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What's on for Post Primary Schools at the National Museum of Ireland
BOOKINGS & ENQUIRIES:
We are delighted to announce our new booking system! Teachers can now make a booking request directly through the webpage of their preferred tour or event.
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If you have any queries for the Dublin sites, please contact the Bookings Office at bookings@museum.ie
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For the National Museum of Ireland at Turlough Park, please email BookingsCountryLife@museum.ie or call (094) 90 31751.
See the full schools programme for the NATIONAL MUSEUM OF IRELAND at:
Some highlights for PRIMARY LEVEL include:
MEET & GREET: Dead Zoo Lab Explorers
10:30 & 11.45, Thursdays & Fridays - May & June slots now available
(The Dead Zoo Lab at Collins Barracks, Benburb Street, Dublin 7)
Teachers, have you ever wondered what it’s like to stand face-to-face with a dodo skeleton or examine the fossil bones of the giant Irish deer? Your class are about to find out! Begin your visit to the Dead Zoo Lab at Collins Barracks with a Meet & Greet with a Museum Educator. Book now to avoid disappointment!
SELF-GUIDED VISIT: Resources at the Dead Zoo Lab
Museum opening hours - limited availability!
(The Dead Zoo Lab at Collins Barracks, Benburb Street, Dublin 7)
Let the Museum and its collections capture the imagination of your pupils with a self-guided visit to the Dead Zoo Lab. Activity sheets are a great way to learn, explore and enjoy the objects and themes of the collections. Describe your favourite animal and become a wild life champion with a curriculum-linked activity sheet.
ORIENTEERING on the grounds of Turlough Park
10am to 11:00am | 12.00noon to 1pm | 1.30pm to 2:30pm | Wednesday, May 20 & Thursday, May 21
(National Museum of Ireland, Turlough Park, Castlebar, Co Mayo)
Learn some basic map reading and navigation skills and complete an orienteering course around the grounds of The National Museum at Turlough Park House. This work in the Museum will be supported by staff and students from ATU’s Mayo campus, Mayo Sports Partnership and will coincide with World Orienteering day.
WORKSHOP: Buttermaking
10:00 to 11.20 | Every Thursday in May
(National Museum of Ireland, Turlough Park, Castlebar, Co Mayo)
Learn about traditional customs through discussion, demonstration, observation and creative exploration. Discover the tradition of butter making and how to make your own butter in this hands-on workshop.
TOUR: Seasonal Nature Tours
10:00 and 11:30, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays
(National Museum of Ireland, Turlough Park, Castlebar, Co Mayo)
Tour the grounds of Turlough Park with an experienced Museum Guide. Find out about nature and biodiversity on a seasonal woodland walk. Discover what trees are on site and how to identify them at different times of the year and then figure out what animals and plants are here and what we can do to protect them.
GUIDED TOUR: Game, Set, Match: The History of Sports in Irish Society
Selected times & dates throughout May & June
(National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks, Benburb Street, Dublin 7)
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.
GUIDED TOUR BUNDLE: Continuity & Change Over the Centuries
Selected times & dates throughout May & June
(National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks, Benburb Street, Dublin 7)
This tour bundle offer is specially designed for larger classes. On this interactive social history tour, students explore how fashions in clothing and food have developed over time, revealing the fascinating insights that objects can teach us about everyday life and culture in 18th and 19th century Irish society.
GUIDED TOUR: Prehistoric Ireland - Stone Age and Bronze Age peoples
Tuesday 10:00, 11:00 and 12:00, Wednesday 10:00, 11:00 and 12:00, Thursday 10:00, 11:00 and 12:00
(National Museum of Ireland, 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 – Kildare Street. 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.
GUIDED TOUR: The Vikings in Ireland
Tuesday 10:00, 11:00 and 12:00, Wednesday 10:00, 11:00 and 12:00, Thursday 10:00, 11:00 and 12:00
(National Museum of Ireland, 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.
SELF GUIDED TOURS at Kildare Street
(National Museum of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin 2)
Book a self-guided on-site visit for your class and capture the imagination of your students, make learning fun, and discover what your class can learn from the Museum.
Some highlights for POST PRIMARY LEVEL include:
SELF GUIDED VISIT: Dead Zoo Lab
Tuesday and Wednesday Mornings at 10:00, 11:00 and 12:00.
(Dead Zoo Lab, Collins Barracks, Benburb Street, Dublin 7)
Discover the Dead Zoo Lab at the National Museum of Ireland at Collins Barracks with your students in a self-guided visit. Self-guided visits are a great way for students to engage with the Museum's Natural History collections. As part of Science Week 2025 and in partnership with the Midlands Science Festival, we welcomed Transition Year students from St Mary’s Secondary School, Edenderry, to work with us and develop a new resource for exploring the Dead Zoo Lab. With the Museum's science educators and graphic designers they tested and workshopped with us on the creation of this new journal for students to use when exploring the natural history collections.
RESOURCE: What are Natural History Scientific Collections
(Natural History online)
Discover the scientific collections of the National Museum of Ireland at Merrion Street and go behind the scenes of the Museum with talks from our Tales from the Decant Series.
ORIENTEERING on the grounds of Turlough Park
10am to 11:30am | 12.00 to 13:30 | Wednesday, 20 May and Thursday, 21 May
(National Museum of Ireland, Turlough Park, Castlebar, Co Mayo)
Learn some basic map reading and navigation skills and complete an orienteering course around the grounds of The National Museum at Turlough Park House. This work in the Museum will be supported by staff and students from ATU’s Mayo campus, Mayo Sports Partnership and will coincide with World Orienteering day.
WORKSHOP: Traditional Buttermaking
10:00 or 11:30 - Every Thursday in May 2026
(National Museum of Ireland, Turlough Park, Castlebar, Co Mayo)
Join museum educator Fiona Deacy as she discusses the origins of buttermaking in Ireland and explores the science, history, and cultural significance of dairy production. Students will get the chance to churn cream into butter using traditional methods and also gain insight into the processes our ancestors relied on.
GUIDED TOUR: Top 10 Tour: Highlights of the National Folklife Collection
10am or 11:30am, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays
(National Museum of Ireland, Turlough Park, Castlebar, Co Mayo)
Learn and develop an understanding about traditional lifestyles including trades, customs, life in the home, clothing, farming and fishing. Gain a fresh perspective on society, economy, culture and politics in Ireland from 1850 to 1950 by examining the various objects on display in the National Museum of Ireland at Turlough Park.
GUIDED TOUR: Recovered Voices: Stories and Experiences of the Irish during World War One
Selected times & dates throughout May & June
(National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks, Benburb Street, Dublin 7)
This tour focuses on the people involved in World War One and how the War impacted their lives. It seeks to demonstrate the all-encompassing nature of the First World War and includes stories of nurses, doctors, prisoners of war and ordinary soldiers.
GUIDED TOUR: Game, Set, Match: The History of Sports in Irish Society
Selected times & dates throughout May & June
(National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks, Benburb Street, Dublin 7)
This tour will explore the development of a variety of sports in Ireland, including Gaelic games, soccer, rugby 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.
GUIDED TOUR: Leaving Certificate History of Art
Tuesday 10:00, 11:00 and 12:00, Wednesday 10:00, 11:00 and 12:00, Thursday 10:00, 11:00 and 12:00.
(National Museum of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin 2)
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.
GUIDED TOUR: The Work of the Archaeologist
Tuesday 10:00, 11:00 and 12:00, Wednesday 10:00, 11:00 and 12:00, Thursday 10:00, 11:00 and 12:00.
(National Museum of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin 2)
This tour, for Junior Cycle and Transition Year History, will focus 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.
SELF GUIDED TOURS at Kildare Street
(National Museum of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin 2)
Book a self-guided on-site visit for your class and capture the imagination of your students, make learning fun, and discover what your class can learn from the Museum.
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