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    Chester Beatty Library

    4.6 (70 reviews)
    Closed 9:30 am - 5:30 pm

    Chester Beatty Library Photos

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    Doug L.

    This was a very worthwhile library to visit that surprised us. Located within a few minutes walk from Dublin Castle it was easy to reach but wasn't very crowded at all. In front of the library was an expansive lawn and garden with lots of seating areas to relax. Inside the museum was a small gift shop, cafe and two floors of exhibits. Admission was free. A video played on the ground floor that was a very good introduction to Chester Beatty, formerly from the US, and how his collection grew and his eventual donation of it to Ireland. Lockers were required to be used for any backpacks or large bags. Just remember your selected combination. Our favorite was the Art of the Books with many richly detailed examples on display in particular those from the Middle East. The calligraphy was amazing. The second floor contained books and other artifacts under the Sacred Traditions gallery. His collection was so varied and represented historical ages from around the world. Quite impressive and a gem to visit.

    Jonathan S.

    A free museum in Dublin. Located in the courtyard behind Dublin Castle. The 0 floor is the gift shop, cafe and toilets. Floors 1 and 2 are the main museum exhibits and floor 3 is the rooftop gardens where you can relax and capture a nice view of Dublin Castle and the courtyard. There are lots of great historical exhibits here and is a must visit if you like museums and history. There are lots of ancient Asian artifacts/writings and Christian artifacts/writings. Plan on spending a 1-2 hours here.

    Jade book
    Dan P.

    One of the world's best museums, and admission is free! We had read about the Chester Beatty's collection of ancient manuscripts and books. Wonderful collection. It's a shame more cannot be on display at the same time. Highlights of our visit included seeing third century Biblical papyri, jade books made for Chinese emperors, early books, Japanese samurai swords, and so much more! Time budget: minimum 2 hours Staff: Friendly staff. We met Alvin, and thoroughly enjoyed our chat with him. Bathroom cleanliness: above average Misc: café on site and take a minute to visit the gift shop (some interesting items for sale)

    Chris T.

    Location: Located within the Dublin Castle complex. This small two floor museum holding the private treasures of Chester Beatty and his second wife. What an amazing collection of rare antique books from the Bible, Islamic, and Chinese. Lovely art from all over Asia and beyond. Just breathtaking the exquisite pieces of art. The gift shop has some unique items and the prices are reasonable. I purchased a book or origami paper that I have never seen before. The cafe has delicious tempting looking baked goods. The bottled water was a bit expensive. Staff: So many of the employees are very nice and if you chat with them, they will provide even more details of the museum and additional pieces not on display. Bathroom: On the main floor past the cafe. Average cleanliness. Pros: No entry free, but if you want to give a donation they will gladly accept. Cons: The museum is small and Chester Beatty collection is HUGE. The library rotates through the collection. If you are looking for a specific artifact like I was, I missed the artifact by 3 months but I still enjoyed what was on display.

    Letter from the 2nd century AD
    Allison P.

    I loved visiting this library! I tried to go on Friday but it was Good Friday and they were closed, so I went the day after Easter and they were open. It was a lovely experience! There is so much to see and learn about. The books and the art is beautiful. We had a great time learning about everything and took a good amount of time to see anything. It's also completely free which was surprising because it has so much to offer. If you're in Dublin you absolutely have to go here!

    Vegan desserts.

    Wonderful vegetarian options. The stuffed peppers were incredibly flavorful and complex. The vegan cupcakes were excellent as well.

    Exterior
    Georgie M.

    The Chester Beatty Museum is a must, must stop for anyone visiting Ireland. It is located right behind Dublin Castle and we would consider it's importance to be right up there after the Rock of Cashel. American born, copper mining baron Chester Beatty did an absolutely brilliant job of collecting a treasure trove of early religious writings - Judiac, Christian and Islamic. And has an equally impressive collection of art work, from China, Japan, Iran, Egypt, France, India and much, much, more. It is amazing at what he was able to collect during a short period of his life. But sadly, they do not allow photography, flash or no-flash in the museum. Please stop here when you are visiting Dublin Castle; you will thank me later. Enjoy!

    Kate C.

    This is definitely worth visiting because it's right behind Dublin castle and it's free. The Chester House has an entire exhibit on Irish history. The Chester Library has a beautiful collection of books.

    Chloe W.

    We came across this free museum after our visit to Dublin Castle and loved it! The museum consists of the private collection of Chester Beatty, and just inside the entrance/security area is a quick video about Beatty's life and his travels. The two floors of exhibits contain ancient religious artifacts, including an awesome exhibit all about the history of bookbinding. When our group visited in December 2022, there was an interesting exhibit containing manuscripts from ancient Egypt. The building also has a rooftop garden, a café, and lockers for larger bags and backpacks.

    Nicole E.

    A great museum with wonderful random artifacts, lots of wonderful manuscripts and books from Sir Alfred Chester Beatty's collection and not a far walk from Dublin castle. There is a beautifully manicured and well maintained courtyard garden next door. It's wonderful for a stroll, a respite or just to take in some nature.

    Cyndy K.

    Cyndy's Bottom Line: A spectacular collection of antiquities - books, Illuminated manuscripts, Islamic and Asian art collections and so much more.... *A must see in Dublin. *No entry fee, donations are welcomed. *Well organized

    Rooftop garden on a rainy day
    Elise M.

    I absolutely loved my visit to the Chester Beatty Library. Chester Beatty is situated right behind Dublin Castle. Unless you are looking for it, you might not find it. It is a museum filled with eclectic items collected by an Irish American. I loved the exhibit on the third floor about different world religions. Both the items and the accompanying texts were interesting and powerful. After looking through the galleries, I was about to leave when I noticed that there was a staircase to a rooftop garden. It was a gloomy and drizzly day, so there was no one else out there. Despite the weather, it was still really nice in the garden because it was so serene. Best of all, admission is free! Be sure to not miss this!

    from website
    John S.

    One of the best Museums in Dublin. Oh no not another boring museum, but wait! The Chester Beatty is well worth a look even for the added bonus of being in the surrounds of Dublin Castle, you'd hardly believe it's in the centre of Dublin. Its also not a stuffy old museum, housed in a refurbished building. All the exhibits are well presented and put in context with lots of historical notes. Its hard to say what the museum specialises in but generally the bulk of the articles and exhibits are of Middle Eastern, Asian and European origin. There is a lot here as well, so it's worth spending some time here. Having said that there are a number of different temporary exhibitions. The Current one is Haydn: A Bicentenary Celebration, running until the 2nd of August 2009 The museum runs a number of events, lectures and music recitals throughout the year. They also have public guided tours on Wednesdays at 1pm and Sundays at 3 and 4pm. The coffee shop and gift shop are pretty great too. Nothing boring about that. And it's free!

    from www.cbl.ie

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    Chester Beatty Library Reviews in Other Languages

    Review Highlights - Chester Beatty Library

    What an amazing collection of rare antique books from the Bible, Islamic, and Chinese.

    Mentioned in 7 reviews

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    Trinity College Library - A small sample of the ancient books that was left in the library

    Trinity College Library

    4.5(99 reviews)
    0.7 kmSouth Inner City

    Libraries in general are wonderful spaces. But the library at Trinity College is amongst the most…read moremagnificent you will ever see. This library is the largest in all of Ireland. It's also a copyright library, meaning that publishers in Ireland, and I think in the UK as a whole, are required to deposit a copy of everything they publish in this library. (In the U.S., the Library of Congress is also a copyright library.) The Old Library and The Long Room are probably the parts of the library you've seen before, with the latter being particularly iconic. Of course a library will hold a variety of unique items, but Trinity has a special treasure: The Book of Kells, a millennium-year old illuminated text. When exiting the Book of Kells exhibit, you step out into the Long Room and it's worth taking a moment to wander through the library before heading out. (And stop by the college bookstore before leaving, too!)

    Can you believe this library has been in existence since 1592?…read more It's probably best known for Book of Kells (9th century) and being the largest research library in Ireland. There are over six million legal items stored here as well. The Long Room is a section of the library that holds the oldest books along with sculptures. For obvious reasons, no photos are allowed once inside though we did grab a couple as we started the tour. We did a self-guided tour that went over an hour. The time really flew by. It was so easy to lost in the incredible history of it all. A must-see for any book lovers, history lovers, and so on.

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    Trinity College Library - First Irish suffragette

    First Irish suffragette

    Trinity College Library
    Trinity College Library

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    Marsh's Library

    Marsh's Library

    4.9(16 reviews)
    0.4 kmClanbrassil Street

    A poor man's Book of Kells, this library can hold its own. Entry is under 10 euros and the…read moredisplays should keep you busy for about a half hour. I would not say it is a cannot miss in Dublin, but if you have extra time or are here for a return visit, I would certainly recommend working it in. So what will you find. Tons of old books. A bit of history on books, writing, and the printing press. A cool Instagram-able shot or two if you want a smart looking selfie. Enjoy!

    We bought the combo ticket with St Patrick's Cathedral and really enjoyed our visit to the Library…read moresince it had an exhibit showcasing the oldest printed books in the world. Inside every shelf and bookcase were packed with so much history. More impressive than the setting for the Book of Kells since many of the books were under restoration. The oldest books for the exhibition were in display cases to highlight specific topics, authors, designs, printing methods and/or age. It was really quite impressive. I got a kick out of the Easter "egg" hunt they crafted for Easter weekend. The Lego minifigs were hidden throughout the library and we just checked off our handout as we went a long. We did find all the minifigs eventually so they did a good job of placing them in the library. Staff here were so outgoing and informative. Always ready to provide more details or answer questions. As we exited through the gift shop we walked through a quiet but pleasant garden. Must see in Dublin!

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    Marsh's Library
    Marsh's Library - Entrance

    Entrance

    Marsh's Library

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    Rathmines Library - Photo From [http://www.librarybuildings.ie/library.aspx?ID=91]

    Rathmines Library

    4.0(14 reviews)
    1.9 kmRathmines

    Sad as it sounds i'm a big fan of the Libraries of Dublin City. Rathmines is probably one of the…read morebest too. Maybe its the building or the really helpful and slightly eccentric staff. The place is well stocked, books are usually in pretty good condition and you can usually order in either online or with one of the librarians. Its also an idea spot to work if you need a bit of peace or are studying. The upstairs study room is usually full. Theres wireless throughout the building, which is thankfully free. Which makes a change as a coffee places are starting to charge for it now. PC's available as well to go online. Another thing thats good to see is Libraries stocking more and more DVD's. They probably won't have the complete box set of the Soprano's anytime soon but its a start. Theres also a newspaper reading room and all the government forms and reports you'll ever need .

    Not a very good library by any means. The study room has very few plugs, some of the ones they do…read morehave are broken, and only tables with plugs are "reading desks" that are at an angle.....ok for books, not really for laptops. The vast majority of tables have no plugs, and even bringing your own extension cord would be a tripping hazard. The only reason I go here is because they open late (by which I mean 8, even though the country is supposed to be rolling out revived library schedules open 365, until 10pm) Better off in Starbucks across the road. This is an another old fashioned library that is in danger of becoming redundant.

    Photos
    Rathmines Library
    Rathmines Library - Photo From [http://digital.nli.ie/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/glassplates&CISOPTR=7922&CISOBOX=1&REC=1]

    Photo From [http://digital.nli.ie/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/glassplates&CISOPTR=7922&CISOBOX=1&REC=1]

    Rathmines Library

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    Drumcondra Library - Lovely books

    Drumcondra Library

    4.0(4 reviews)
    3.1 kmDrumcondra

    Loved Drumcondra Library growing up on Larkhill Road. Best place I could walk to, long walk, and…read moreget books to read. Remember the smell and tangible feel of that library. Best experience ever for getting books to read. Thanks for the memories. Keep up the good work for kids growing up in the area. Clare

    I absolutely love books, reading and libraries. As I mentioned in other review before it is…read moredifficult to top Navan's area library so I decided to explore the Drumcondra one in my spare time. This library has pros and cons but overall can be considered solid. The building has been recently renovated and is located in a very residential area close to Griffith Park. Good quiet location, friendly staff and in general good selection of books/dvd's/magazines... The low points are the fact that is very small which means less space to browse and fewer chairs to sit on while you enjoy your book. Also this is not your "average quiet place to energize your brain cells" as it is usually full of kids. Maybe in the early morning is more quiet but in the time I went, at about 3pm the place was packed with children laying around, playing video games, talking to each other (all in uniforms clearly right out of school hanging out there). There is a public toilet that can be useful but because of the crowd, the whole roll of toilet paper was wet. Still cordial neighborhood people, the possibility of borrowing up to 12 items at a time (which is a lot) and a highlight is that as libraries tend to close down very early, this one opens after a mid-break going til 8pm twice a week, definitely a win! (and it might be very quiet at that time slot). Picture with opening hours has typo - closed on Sundays

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    Drumcondra Library - Inside

    Inside

    Drumcondra Library - Hours

    Hours

    Drumcondra Library

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    Chester Beatty Library - libraries - Updated May 2026

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