The National museum of Ireland - Archaeology had been recommended to us by our guide at Newgrange who told us we should see the amazing gold artefacts displayed there. We were not disappointed. The Bronze Age torcs were stunning, but there were so many other wonderful things to see, including the ‘bog bodies’ from the Iron Age, and exhibitions on Prehistoric Ireland, Medieval Ireland, and Viking Ireland. We spent several hours in the museum - the cafe was available for drinks, snacks and meals throughout the day.

We arrived first thing on a Friday morning, pouring rain and umbrellas blown to bits by the wind so we were soaked. But we cancelled our outdoor activities because of the rain and decided wisely to tour this FREE museum. I would recommend the guided tour, our guide is a trained and degreed archaeologist who has worked in Ireland for 17 years and she is incredibly knowledgeable. I was very pleased with the tour, but could have easily spent the whole day instead of a quick 45 minutes for the tour. I have to say, the museum artefacts and their presentation and history are just simply fantastic. There are many displays of artefacts that are from recent finds in Ireland - I went for the Broighter Boat but also saw amazing torques and brooches and reliquaries that are works of fine artistry from early Irish history.

We really enjoyed our visit to this museum. Originally lured the male members of our party into going to the museum by telling them they could see Iron & Bronze age old "bog bodies" but it wasn't long before everyone was amazed at the beautiful old pottery & gold artifacts, preserved textiles & tools. The building itself is quite lovely, with open spaces, its intricately tiled mosaic floors, intricately carved wooden doors, stone pillars & other details.