EPIC THE IRISH EMIGRATION MUSEUM
Since opening its doors in 2016, the award-winning EPIC: The Irish Emigration Museum has quickly become one of the most popular visitor attractions in the capital – a must-visit for tourists and locals alike. Looking to discover what it is to be truly Irish? Look no further.
The museum’s state-of-the-art, fully interactive exhibitions explore the stories of adventure and tragedy that have shaped the narrative of Irish emigration. EPIC is also the rst digital-only museum in the world. Its hi-tech exhibits, the most advanced use of technology in a museum setting in Ireland, provide a thoroughly immersive and wonderfully enjoyable look into Irish history.
Over the centuries, an estimated 10 million-plus people have left Ireland’s shores. Some left as a result of famine, others religious persecution, and more again as economic migrants. Many departed from the banks of the River Liffey at Custom House Quay just outside the museum. EPIC preserves these stories and traces the in uence and far-reaching impact that the Irish diaspora has subsequently exerted on the world beyond the Emerald Isle.
“EPIC’s purpose is to tell untold, epic stories in a unique, highly entertaining and informative way,” EPIC’s Managing Director, Mervyn Greene, says. “It provides the opportunity to celebrate and enhance the connectivity between Ireland and those who left, but bene tted from being Irish. It also enables those with no connection to Ireland or its diaspora to have the opportunity to understand the story of the Irish people, and why emigration looms so large in the Irish consciousness, both in the past and today.”
Inside the museum, 20 interactive galleries guide you through 1,500 years of Irish history. Here you will learn about the extraordinary in uence of the Irish
abroad in politics, business, science, sport and the arts; how the technology of today has completely changed the emigrant experience; and how the legacy of Irish emigration has helped spread and shape Irish culture and traditions not just in other countries and societies but also back in Ireland.
Visitors can interact and engage with the museum’s touch screen technology, gaining wonderful insights into the experience of Irish emigrants through the remarkable medium of the letters they sent home. You can also nd out how Irish music has in uenced everything from pop to rock, while putting your feet to work, following in the steps of the world-famous Riverdance.
Other highlights include the Rogue’s Gallery of the good, the bad and the infamous; and the Whispering Library, wherein you can listen out for some words of wisdom from Ireland’s most famous authors. The museum also houses the
Irish Family History Centre, with a team of geneaology experts ready and willing to help visitors explore their roots.
EPIC provides a great family experience, with frequent events for young children and talking points for curious teenagers. It is fully accessible throughout. Multilanguage audio guides are available in French, German, Irish, Italian, Mandarin, Polish and Spanish, and the free audio app can be downloaded from the App Store or Google Play.
There are guided tours for groups, and throughout the museum, friendly
EPIC guides are on hand to bring the stories to life and explain their historical signi cance. Topping it all off, there are also excellent gifts and souvenirs available for purchase.
Quite simply, EPIC is a brilliant experience not to be missed.