EPIC Ireland | Sightseeing Dublin

I’ll admit, I was skeptical at first… but EPIC Ireland is: well, Epic!

Let’s back up a little bit: what is EPIC Ireland?

Epic Ireland is an incredible 21st century emigration museum that tells the story of the diaspora on the Irish people.

The museum, touted as Dublin’s biggest new tourist attraction, was officially launched by Ireland’s former President Mary Robinson, and opened to the public in the Spring of 2016.

Located in the gorgeous CHQ building at Custom House Quay, EPIC leaves absolutely nothing to be desired.

Upon first entering the CHQ building and making our way to the EPIC Ireland check-in desk, we were greeted by an incredibly sweet EPIC team-member who checked us in and instructed us to head downstairs where we could pick up our EPIC Passports and get started on our journey.

As she led us to the stairs, she had us look up where we saw a gorgeous chandelier that, it was explained, Mary Robinson ceremoniously turned on when the Museum was first opened. The light (which you can see through the glass on the main floor of the CHQ building) stays on 24/7 in honor, and remembrance, of each of the Irish people around the world. Hearing the symbology of this gorgeous light fixture was simply the perfect way to start our EPIC journey.

We walked downstairs, contemplating the amazing symbolism that was just explained to us, and were greeted by another EPIC teammate who kindly handed us our EPIC passports and self-guided audio tours. Two things to highlight here: (1) the passports are an awesome touch and super fun. They're a great keepsake that you can stamp after leaving each of the exhibit rooms in the museum. Stamping them is great fun (this is one of those things that you may just have to experience to understand) and it's the type of keepsake that you actually will want to hold on to; (2) highly recommend using the audio-tour.

After popping our headphones on, and with passports in tow, our journey through EPIC began in a sensorially exciting room depicting the varied types of Irish terrain: from the mountains to the countryside to the seaside, and introduced the story of the Irish diaspora--touching on each of the reasons over the centuries that have caused the Irish people to leave this beautiful island (as well as their methods of travel), and to in-turn incredibly change and impact the world.

From Europe to South Africa to Russia to the Americas and beyond … countless Irish people have brought their culture, passion, knowledge, compassion and enduring positive spirit across the globe (as well as some unsavory characters, themselves mentioned within one of the exhibits)--truly changing the world around us.

The whole museum is an absolutely amazing, massive, immersive experience.

The technology leveraged within each of the exhibits is extraordinary (we kept thinking of it as almost “Bourne Identity”/”Minority Report” status) and is just a fantastic time.

There is so much to learn at EPIC Ireland and so much to enjoy and interact with!

As a bonus (although at a slightly incremental price point) after going through the tour, you can discover your own Irish roots by heading over to the Irish Family History Centre where you can chat with genealogy expert and take a fun quiz to test your recently acquired knowledge of Ireland.

Suffice it to say: definitely make your way to the EPIC Ireland Emigration Museum. It’s absolutely amazing and incredibly interesting! Great activity with the family, with friends, or even if you finds yourself on your lonesome for a few hours.