Dear Teacher,
With St Patrick’s break behind us and Easter approaching, now is the ideal time to plan meaningful learning experiences. The National Museum of Ireland’s primary and post-primary schools programme offers hands-on workshops and immersive tours—from Easter crafting to to exploring the Early Medieveal Irelad to learning about the history of Irish sport, or discovering more about the Museum’s Natural History collections. Across our Dublin and Mayo sites, each experience is designed to nurture curiosity, spark creativity, and build strong connections to the curriculum.
Don’t miss out—start planning your museum adventure today!
-
What's on for Primary Schools at the National Museum of Ireland
-
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.
-
If you have any queries for the Dublin sites, please contact the Bookings Office at bookings@museum.ie
-
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:
Easter Art Workshops with artist Carmel Balfe
10:00 - 11.00 or 11:30 - 12.30, Thursday, 25 March & Thursday 26 March
(National Museum of Ireland, Turlough Park, Castlebar, Co Mayo)
Find out about the customs and traditions that took place around Easter time. Afterwards, have a go at making your own Easter decoration or card with artist Carmel Balfe.
WORKSHOP: Biodiversity in Turlough Park
10am to 11am or 11.30am to 12.30pm, Thursday 30 April
(National Museum of Ireland, Turlough Park, Castlebar, Co Mayo)
Come explore biodiversity on the grounds of the National Museum of Ireland – Turlough Park. This workshop is an outdoor, hands-on, full of fun activities investigating minibeasts and wildflowers with Dr. Karina Dingerkus and the Education team.
TOUR:Seasonal Nature Tours
10:00 and to 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.
ONSITE WORKSHOP: Safari in Silver
12:00 on Thursday 23 April
(National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks, Benburb Street, Dublin 7)
In this sensory creative art & drama workshop students will be introduced to the Museum's Irish Silver collection and learn about mythical creatures of the past. After some object handling and discovering all the different animals hidden in the gallery, students will be challenged to design and create their own imaginary animal.
GUIDED TOUR: Recovered Voices: Stories and Experiences of the Irish during World War One
(National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks, Benburb Street, Dublin 7)
Join an experienced Museum guide for this interactive tour that focuses on the people involved in World War One and how the War impacted their lives. This tour 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: Guided Tour: Game, Set, Match: The History of Sports in Irish Society
(National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks, Benburb Street, 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 sociatal and sporting 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.
CLASSROOM ACTIVITY: Early Medieval Ireland
(National Museum of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin 2)
Learn more about Ogham stones, and how to write your own message in Ogham in our activity sheet. Many of these monuments date to Early Medieval Ireland, when many of Ireland’s early saints were teaching the Irish people about Christianity. See if you can find the names of these saints in our word search and learn more about the objects connected to them.
CLASSROOM ACTIVITY: Ancient Egyptians
(National Museum of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin 2)
Discover how the Ancient Egyptians used hieroglyphs, a series of pictures and symbols to write, and learn how to write your own name inside a cartouche, just like a Pharaoh. Find the names of the Ancient Egyptian gods and goddesses in our word search and learn more about how the gods were connected to certain animals.
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.
Gníomhaíochtaí Seomra Ranga: Cuardach Focal Séasúracha
Cuir eolas ar bhailiúcháin Ard-Mhúsaem na hÉireann – Saol an Dúlra trínár mbileoga nua gníomhaíochta as Gaeilge. Iarr ar do dhaltaí triail a bhaint as na cuardaigh seo d'fhocail shéasúracha chun cur lena gcuid foclóra, agus an litriú agus an cumas díriú ar an obair a fheabhsú, agus iad ag cur eolais ar an dúlra sa Mhúsaem.
Some highlights for POST PRIMARY LEVEL include:
WORKSHOP: Introduction to Smart Phone Photography
10am to 12noon or 12.30 to 2.30pm, Tuesday 28th April
(National Museum of Ireland, Turlough Park, Castlebar, Co Mayo)
Discover the art of capturing moments through the lens in this hands-on workshop at the National Museum of Ireland – Turlough Park. Designed for schools, this engaging session introduces students to the fundamentals of photography, including composition, lighting and storytelling through images.
WORKSHOP: Traditional Buttermaking
10:00 or 11:00 - 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 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: Sliotars, Sashes and Symbols: Shaping Irish Identity
Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 10:30, 11:30, 13:30, 14:30, Thursdays 13:30, 14:30
(National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks, Benburb Street, Dublin 7)
On this tour we look at how the meaning of ‘being Irish’ has evolved since 1900 through the new Changing Ireland galleries. We examine how Irish governments, organisations and ordinary people have attempted to shape national identity through language, culture, sports, and religion. Looking at how Ireland presented itself as an independent nation on the world stage, we explore how Irish identity was seen abroad. We address how issues of identity and belonging have had serious implications at home, focusing on the conflict in Northern Ireland in the second half of the 20th century. Finally, we look at what it means to be Irish today, in all its complexity.
GUIDED TOUR: Game, Set, Match: The History of Sports in Irish Society
Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 10:30, 11:30, 13:30, 14:30, Thursdays 13:30, 14:30
(National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks, Benburb Street, 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 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.
GUIDED TOUR: 1913 - 1923, A Decade of Military History
Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 10:30, 11:30, 13:30, 14:30, Thursdays 13:30, 14:30
(National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks, Benburb Street, Dublin 7)
Students are introduced to the experiences of ordinary Irishmen and women involved in World War I, the 1916 Rebellion, the War of Independence and Irish Civil War, and how all these events affected combatants and civilians alike.
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.
RESOURCE: Leaving Certificate Art History Presentation
(National Museum of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin 2)
Use our presentation to explore the artefacts on display at the Museum that are part of the History of Art section of the Leaving Certificate Art curriculum.
RESOURCE: Glendalough: Artefacts, Archaeology and Early Christianity
(National Museum of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin 2)
Join Museum staff, archaeologists and scientists, in exhibitions, laboratories, and at archaeological sites and monuments, to discover what archaeologists and museums do, and the archaeology and objects of Early Christian Ireland.
SELF GUIDED VISIT: Dead Zoo Lab
Tuesday and Wednesday Mornings at 10am, 11am and 12 noon.
(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.
Subscribe to our Teachers’ Newsletter to receive regular updates direct to your inbox from the National Museum of Ireland with our latest events, resources and activities for schools