Though it may be a museum of decorative arts, there’s nothing beautiful in the bloodshed recounted within its corridors through impermanent objects stashed beneath a concrete roof against time. The National Museum of Ireland (Decorative Arts and History) is located within the compounds of the Collins’ Barracks, one of the largest soldiers’ barracks in Europe that sheltered 85 officers, 1969 soldiers and 412 horses at the height of the conflicts. The history of this site has shaped the slant of this museum’s exhibits as well, which place particular emphasis on the civil and military troubles which have troubled this small outcrop of land in Western Europe. Your museum experience might start with a random activity booklet plucked off the shelf or the selection of one of many available self-directed trails as you go about on a game of bingo at the museum. Split into 13 themed permanent exhibits, the areas covered by the museum are vast.

To learn more of the life and likings of the people of past, enter The Way We Wore gallery. The evolution of a simple skirt or bell bottom jeans can be a statement of the rights accorded to women, of the expectations of a commoner and the wealth of a community. Ceremonial maces worked in metal and smelted coins bearing common insignia offer an insight into the early beginnings of trade in the land at the Irish Silver Exhibit. A gleaming white yacht with its ropes and masts secured proudly displays its name of Asgard yet this innocent vessel was a harbinger of doom carrying arms from Germany against the British invaders. Furniture, letters, ephemera and more are all that remain to chronicle the tales of war and celebration that resonated throughout the lands. The museum of Decorative Arts and History is a key haven against fickle memory, shedding light on the country’s heritage and history for all to see.