Kilmainham Gaol Museum
Kilmainham Gaol Museum
4.5
About
This bleak old jail was notorious in the 19th century for its harsh treatment of prisoners.
Suggest edits to improve what we show.
Improve this listingTours & experiences
Explore different ways to experience this place.
Full view
What is Travelers’ Choice Best of the Best?
This award is our highest recognition and is presented annually to those businesses that are the Best of the Best on Tripadvisor, those that earn excellent reviews from travelers and are ranked in the top 1% of properties worldwide.
Plan your visit
The area
Address
Neighborhood: Kilmainham
How to get there
- Suir Road • 8 min walk
Best nearby
Restaurants
1,982 within 3 miles
La Dolce Vita
561
418 ft$$ - $$$ • Italian • Pizza • European
BRÚ House Kilmainham
589
0.2 mi$$ - $$$ • Irish • European • Contemporary
The Patriots Inn
442
387 ft$$ - $$$ • Irish • Bar • Pub
Hilton Dublin Kilmainham Restaurant
133
0.2 mi$$ - $$$ • Irish • Bar • Pub
The Officers Mess Cafe
20
0.2 mi$$ - $$$ • Cafe
The Glen of Aherlow - Donoghue's
14
491 ft$ • Pub
Broyage Bar & Bistro
45
312 ft$$ - $$$ • Irish • Bar • Pub
Newland Chinese
14
0.1 miChinese • Fast Food • Asian
Brambles Cafe - Kilmainham Gaol
2
0.2 mi$$ - $$$ • Irish
Four Star Pizza
6
0.1 mi
Attractions
632 within 6 miles
The Proclamation Sculpture
7
111 ftPoints of Interest & Landmarks
War Memorial Gardens
228
0.3 miGardens
Kilmainham Goal
1
0.2 miPoints of Interest & Landmarks
St. Michael's Church
2
0.2 miPoints of Interest & Landmarks • Churches & Cathedrals
St. Jude's Church of Ireland Tower
1
0.2 miAncient Ruins • Points of Interest & Landmarks
Pearse Lyons Distillery
515
0.8 miDistilleries
Guinness Storehouse
47,567
0.9 miSpeciality Museums • Historic Sites
Roe & Co Distillery
297
1 miDistilleries
Royal Hospital Kilmainham
118
0.4 miHistoric Sites • Architectural Buildings
The Little Museum of Dublin
12,591
2.1 miSpeciality Museums • History Museums
Contribute
Detailed Reviews: Reviews order informed by descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as cleanliness, atmosphere, general tips and location information.
Popular mentions
4.5
27,088 reviews
Excellent
19,455
Very good
5,915
Average
1,224
Poor
259
Terrible
234
.Z.
Los Angeles, CA103 contributions
Loved this tour. I recommend going earlier in the day, as the tour is an hour long but there is a museum you can walk around that could take another hour or more, depending how in depth you want to explore the artifacts. Last tour is at 5pm we did the 4pm, but if I were to go again, I would do it earlier and have more time in the museum!
Written August 30, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
ACF
Lisbon, Portugal6 contributions
Friends
Adam deserves his own netflix prison stories show.
Honestly one of the best tours I ever did. Adam, the guide, was brilliant. He made Irish history (that I did not know about) seem super interesting. He made us (a group of 20/30 years old women) become very invested in the prison stories.
1h tour costs 8€ (may 2022)
Honestly one of the best tours I ever did. Adam, the guide, was brilliant. He made Irish history (that I did not know about) seem super interesting. He made us (a group of 20/30 years old women) become very invested in the prison stories.
1h tour costs 8€ (may 2022)
Written May 28, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Rusmir
Dublin, Ireland174 contributions
Couples
Brilliant way to end your Easter Rising tour, as Kilmainham Gaol is the place where Conolly and others were executed. Museum/Jail is located in center city north-west side, the best way of getting there from city centre is by using a tram - red luas line, direction from Abbey street / Jervis towards Tallaght. Tour lasts between 45 mins and 1 hour and it's telling sad, brave and heartbreaking story in regards to Easter Rising. I will highly recommend to book tickets online, because attraction is very popular and all the times fully booked, so you won't be dissapointed if you just walk in and they refuse you, because all the tours for a day are being sold out. For a longer stay 7+ days this is a must see spot.
Written September 19, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Erin D
1 contribution
Friends
Well worth the visit for those interested in In Irish history and those who don’t know so much. Our tour guide Adam was brilliant, he told the history of the Gaol in an engaging and passionate way and at no point was anyone in our group bored.
Be sure to book in advance as tickets for sell out fast , but this is a must see if you are visiting Dublin!
If you are interested in the rising I recommend also visiting Arbour Hill the cemetery where leaders of the rising were buried and saint Endas park which is home to the school Padraic Pearse set up- this has now been turned into a free museum!
Buy the Dublin leap card at the airport , or Dublin bus office for transport around the city
Be sure to book in advance as tickets for sell out fast , but this is a must see if you are visiting Dublin!
If you are interested in the rising I recommend also visiting Arbour Hill the cemetery where leaders of the rising were buried and saint Endas park which is home to the school Padraic Pearse set up- this has now been turned into a free museum!
Buy the Dublin leap card at the airport , or Dublin bus office for transport around the city
Written March 8, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Blair T
15 contributions
My wife and I have spent a week in Dublin, this was by far the most informative and interesting thing we’ve done so far.
The Gaol was a working jail for over a century, but it’s most known for being a seminal location in Irish history due to its involvement with the Easter Uprising in 1916.
Our tour guide, Anthony, was both informative and very passionate about the history of the facility and the Irish independence movement, which made for a very engaging tour. There is a lot of great information in the exhibits you see after the tour, but the perspective you get from the guided tour adds so much value that I wouldn’t recommend going here without doing the tour.
The Gaol was a working jail for over a century, but it’s most known for being a seminal location in Irish history due to its involvement with the Easter Uprising in 1916.
Our tour guide, Anthony, was both informative and very passionate about the history of the facility and the Irish independence movement, which made for a very engaging tour. There is a lot of great information in the exhibits you see after the tour, but the perspective you get from the guided tour adds so much value that I wouldn’t recommend going here without doing the tour.
Written September 21, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
John
22 contributions
Couples
Kilmainham Gaol I’d an awesome tour the guide tells you all the history not only of the prison but the politics surrounding Ireland and the prison.
This was also the site to the bridger scenes for the original Italian job which I’m sure people will recognise.
Our guide today was a lovely young lady with a wealth of knowledge, when in Dublin I’d highly recommend going there it’s only €8 (2022)
This was also the site to the bridger scenes for the original Italian job which I’m sure people will recognise.
Our guide today was a lovely young lady with a wealth of knowledge, when in Dublin I’d highly recommend going there it’s only €8 (2022)
Written September 3, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Meghan
Harlow, UK15 contributions
Having been recommended the tour by loads of people previously I'd excitedly tried to book our tickets in advance but the dates we were in Dublin were showing as sold out. When I emailed to enquire about the availability as there was a notice saying there was work being done on the site around those dates, I had a copied and pasted response from the website. I then replied to ask a more specific question which was just completely ignored. That said, about a week before we were due to arrive, tickets strangely became available for the date we wanted but this was only found through checking the site every morning, NOT through any kind of helpful communication.
When we arrived for our tour, which admittedly we were running 5 minutes late for, we were asked if we wanted to go for the slightly later tour instead which worked perfectly as we had a nice coffee and cake in the cafe while we waited. Our tour guide had a lot of information but unfortunately she recited it in a robotic and clearly scripted way that left everyone on the tour bored and unimpressed.
Having been looking forward to this tour and been recommended it, I was left hugely disappointed and to be honest, no more educated on the integral part of Irish history that the museum holds. For a nation known for their passionate ability to tell a story, I can't help but feel our guide for the day really let the whole experience down.
When we arrived for our tour, which admittedly we were running 5 minutes late for, we were asked if we wanted to go for the slightly later tour instead which worked perfectly as we had a nice coffee and cake in the cafe while we waited. Our tour guide had a lot of information but unfortunately she recited it in a robotic and clearly scripted way that left everyone on the tour bored and unimpressed.
Having been looking forward to this tour and been recommended it, I was left hugely disappointed and to be honest, no more educated on the integral part of Irish history that the museum holds. For a nation known for their passionate ability to tell a story, I can't help but feel our guide for the day really let the whole experience down.
Written February 21, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
AnnMayTravelling
Baden-Württemberg, Germany336 contributions
Solo
I really enjoyed the visit to the museum a lot and the guided tour was worth every cent! I bought my ticket in advance and when I was in the booking process (about 1 week before my visit) there were free spaces, but they were already quite busy and not all the tours were available. Therefore, if you have a tight schedule, make sure to book well in advance so you get your preferred time slot. I arrived a little early at the museum and had to wait for my tour. You are only allowed access at your allocated time. But the staff was really friendly and they let me into the museum (originally at the end of the tour) as it was raining. So I made use of the waiting time and could already inform myself about the prison before the tour. Therefore again a big thank you to the team, as it was raining that day and waiting inside was a lot better than outside. The tour itself started perfectly on time, so make sure you are not late in order to not miss your tour. It was very well narrated and our guide had many interesting information and also fun facts to share with us. I absolutely enjoyed it and would recommend visiting Kilmainham Gaol to anyone who is visiting Dublin!
Written May 28, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Si'
Leicester, UK767 contributions
This was one of the places that i wanted to visit during my short 3 day stay in Dublin, an i wasn't disappointed.
Located to the west of the city on Inchicore Road, Kilmainham Gaol is a definite must to go an visit.
I went here on a cold, rainy, dark all round miserable day in January after walking the distance from Parnell Square to here, so was happy when i finally arrived. I got here at around 11.48am, an luckily enough i was able to get on the next tour which started at 12.15pm, the tour lasts for 30 minutes.
I was fortunate as i am guessing that come the warmer months this Gaol would be very busy with tourists, so you might need to book rather than just turn up.
I was expecting to pay 8 Euro, but the admission was only 3 Euro due to current renovations on the West wing of the jail, which we were not able to see due to this.
As i had some time to kill, i was advised to go an look in the museum, which i did, an even that was interesting with old letters, newspapers from years gone by, old items from prisoners etc. Set across 3 floors it is very easy to spend a fair bit of time in this museum if this kind of thing is of interest to you.
The tour started in the courtroom, with a nice tour guide by the name of Dave, who knew his stuff and was very knowledgeable on the prisons past.
Along with the history of the prison, he told us the history of some of the prisoners, including those who were housed there during the very infamous Easter Uprising which took place in April 1916. Along with the prison cells, which you can go into, you also spend some time in the courtyard where, said members of the Easter Uprising were shot dead by a firing squad for what took place in April 1916.
It is an interesting insight into the history of what happened in Dublin at that time, an certainly makes you think.
Along with all this, the architecture of this building is stunning bearing in mind it was built in 1796.
When i go back to Dublin, i will go back here, hopefully by that time the West wing will be open. It was an absolute bargain for only 3 Euro, an to be honest, i would of easily have been happy paying 8 Euro.
Located to the west of the city on Inchicore Road, Kilmainham Gaol is a definite must to go an visit.
I went here on a cold, rainy, dark all round miserable day in January after walking the distance from Parnell Square to here, so was happy when i finally arrived. I got here at around 11.48am, an luckily enough i was able to get on the next tour which started at 12.15pm, the tour lasts for 30 minutes.
I was fortunate as i am guessing that come the warmer months this Gaol would be very busy with tourists, so you might need to book rather than just turn up.
I was expecting to pay 8 Euro, but the admission was only 3 Euro due to current renovations on the West wing of the jail, which we were not able to see due to this.
As i had some time to kill, i was advised to go an look in the museum, which i did, an even that was interesting with old letters, newspapers from years gone by, old items from prisoners etc. Set across 3 floors it is very easy to spend a fair bit of time in this museum if this kind of thing is of interest to you.
The tour started in the courtroom, with a nice tour guide by the name of Dave, who knew his stuff and was very knowledgeable on the prisons past.
Along with the history of the prison, he told us the history of some of the prisoners, including those who were housed there during the very infamous Easter Uprising which took place in April 1916. Along with the prison cells, which you can go into, you also spend some time in the courtyard where, said members of the Easter Uprising were shot dead by a firing squad for what took place in April 1916.
It is an interesting insight into the history of what happened in Dublin at that time, an certainly makes you think.
Along with all this, the architecture of this building is stunning bearing in mind it was built in 1796.
When i go back to Dublin, i will go back here, hopefully by that time the West wing will be open. It was an absolute bargain for only 3 Euro, an to be honest, i would of easily have been happy paying 8 Euro.
Written January 23, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Jim C.
Argyle, TX8 contributions
I heard so many great things about this tour. Maybe it was built up too much by others because as a whole I felt the whole experience was average. If you a history buff and find prisons interesting and the history of England rule over Ireland then you may rate this higher than I would. I will say for the price it is a real good value but if you have limited time in Dublin there may be better picks in how to spend your time.
Written June 16, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
The online form keeps rejecting my information? Is it the phone number? Help!
Andy B
24 contributions
Are you using Google chrome as it rejected mine on that? It worked fine with safari
I will be doing both Guinness Brewery tour and Kilmainham tour on the same day. With only half an hour between them.
I know my Brewery tour ticket includes a free beer. If I consume the beer, I doubt I will become tipsy, but people might smell the alchohol in my breath. Will they allow me into Kilmainham after I drink a beer?
Maija E
Langley, WA73 contributions
In Ireland no one would care if your breath smells of beer!
can u book and pay when u visit
Juan Poz
2 contributions
No, you previously have to book it on-line. You can do it there, of course, but you're exposed to find the day, as it was our case, not available.
do u have to pay when u book. or can pay on the day
Blanca G
Barcelona, Spain66 contributions
I think it's better if you book!
chrillla
Euskirchen, Germany
Eine online Buchung klappt irgendwie nicht. Hat da jmd Erfahrungen?
2013Iain2013
Ireland131 contributions
Wir haben letzten Sommer damit keine Probleme gehabt. Vielleicht noch einmal probieren..?
Midlandsfamily50
12 contributions
Hi, how long are the restricted access free COVID tours?
2013Iain2013
Ireland131 contributions
About half an hour then as long as you wish in the museum at the end of the tour.
lishaobrien
Horncastle, UK4 contributions
how long are the tours?
Suzannemichelle
Kelowna, Canada38 contributions
It was an hour and a half.
E M
Glasgow, UK35 contributions
Hi
Been looking daily to buy tickets , can anyone advise what time of day the advance online tickets are released? Many thanks
Natasha D
Burnley, UK90 contributions
at the moment they are doing renovations so only doing half hour tours at the moment we just turned up on the day it was 3 euros and brilliant can not wait to return and do the full tour
