The National Leprechaun Museum, is an unusual and novel museum that centres around Ireland’s folklore and mythology. It is located in the city centre of Dublin and claims to be the first leprechaun museum in the world, opening in March 2010. Irish people have told stories about leprechauns for more than a thousand years so they play an important role in Ireland’s storytelling.
The first sighting of a leprechaun dates back to the eighth century. The museum also covers modern day representations of the leprechaun in film and popular culture.
This family friendly museum allows visitors to enter an alternative world, where guests will discover the sounds, sights, stories and magic of mythical Ireland. It involves a guided tour that incorporates interactive exhibits that narrate stories about these mythical creatures that are native to Ireland, visitors are taken back through the ages to Celtic culture to find out the origins of the tales associated with leprechauns, rainbows and pots of gold, with lots of adventures in between. The guides are enthusiastic and entertaining and genuinely enhance a visit. A tour lasts about forty five minutes to an hour.
The museum is more of a story-telling attraction and is designed like a story, it involves several rooms that are leprechaun themed, and has twelve sections, each one taking visitors back in time to the heart of Irish culture and imagination. Each area relates to a part of Irish mythological history, explaining the basics of leprechaun folklore or establishing an experience that is normally associated with leprechauns. Together they create a sequence of intriguing, interactive experiences.
Areas of interest are the room where items of furniture have been super-sized allowing visitors to experience what it is like to be small in size, great for photo opportunities, a tunnel full of optical illusions, a wooden replica of the Giant’s Causeway and much more.
A visit to the Irish Leprechaun Museum is a fun, captivating and interactive experience that transports visitors to the heart of fascinating folklore, mythology and enchanting stories. It is an attraction that will appeal to visitors of all ages and makes for a fun family day out.
As with all attractions it ends in a gift shop where visitors can purchase goods relating to leprechauns such as mugs, t-shirts, magnets and umbrellas.
The National Leprechaun Museum is open every day with additional shows, known as Dark Land, on a Friday and Saturday night that are aimed at adults only.