Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
SIGHTS
PARK
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF IRELAND - ARCHAEOLOGY
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MUSEUM
NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM
weird and utterly compelling, this window into Victorian times has barely changed since
Scottish explorer Dr David Livingstone opened it in 1857 - before disappearing into the
African jungle for a meeting with Henry Stanley. Which was perfectly fine until July 2007
when a large section of the original stone staircase collapsed, injuring 10 people and for-
cing the closure of one of the city's most beloved museums for a major restoration. It re-
opened in 2010, once again allowing us into explore its (slightly less) creaking interior
crammed with some two million stuffed animals, skeletons and other specimens from
around the world, ranging from West African apes to pickled insects in jars. Some are free-
standing, others behind glass, but everywhere you turn the animals of the 'dead zoo' are
still and staring.
Compared to the multimedia this and interactive that of virtually every modern museum,
this is a beautifully preserved example of Victorian charm and scientific wonderment. It is
usually full of fascinated kids, but it's the adults who seem to make the most noise as they
ricochet like pinballs between displays. The
Irish Room
on the ground floor is filled with
mammals, sea creatures, birds and some butterflies all found in Ireland at some point, in-
cluding the skeletons of three 10,000-year-old Irish elk that greet you as you enter. The
World Animals Collection
, spread across three levels, has as its centrepiece the skeleton of a
20m-long fin whale found beached in County Sligo. Evolutionists will love the line-up of
orang-utan, chimpanzee, gorilla and human skeletons on the 1st floor. A new addition here
is the
Discovery Zone
, where visitors can do some first-hand exploring of their own, handling
taxidermy and opening drawers. Other notables include the Tasmanian tiger (an extinct
Australian marsupial, mislabelled as a Tasmanian wolf), a giant panda from China, and
several African and Asian rhinoceroses. The wonderful
Blaschka Collection
comprises finely
detailed glass models of marine creatures whose zoological accuracy is incomparable.
MUSEUM
