Clio Tulloch discusses Ireland’s EPIC museum, the area around it and all it has to offer.
About a fifteen minute walk from Dublin’s city centre, lies the EPIC Museum. A museum that despite being both a top-rated tourist attraction, and directly aimed at people of Irish heritage, could, and should, be more well-known amongst Dubliners and Irish people generally.
The Irish Emigration Museum also known as EPIC was founded in May 2016, by Neville Isdell, a businessman and emigrant from Northern Ireland. Born in 1943, he emigrated to Zambia at the age of ten, which inspired his founding of the EPIC Museum in 2016. The Museum mainly centers around the Irish diaspora across the world, and Irish emigration in general. However, it also touches on a number of other aspects of Ireland’s cultural and political history.
EPIC is located in the Custom House Quays Building in Dublin’s Docklands. One of Dublin’s most vibrant neighborhoods, this area is full of historical stories and places to visit all on its own. It is split by the liffey on the North Side where it is home to the Convention Centre.
The Centre is a host to its own events and attractions alongside EPIC such as the Jeanie Johnston, a Famine Ship replica with a short but gripping tour (which includes combo tickets with EPIC). The Docklands area expands to include the Bord Gais Energy Theatre, the Science Gallery, and the Diving Bell.
With regard to the Custom House Quays building itself, it is the largest pre-20th century clear-floor space in Dublin City, and is now home to a number of cafes, restaurants, event spaces, and of course, Ireland’s Emigration Museum.
EPIC itself is a museum that while being at times information-dense, remains modern and incredibly interactive in a way that makes it captivating the whole way through. At the beginning of a tour, Visitors are given a ‘passport’ and follow a track through the exhibit of over twenty rooms.
Each room covers a wide range of subjects that are linked to Irish history and culture, from ‘leaving the island’, to ‘discovering and inventing’ and many more. Many sections are full of high-tech and interactive screens, staged sets, and even televisions displaying characters that are linked to whatever room you find yourself in , making each section memorable.
One of the most notable aspects is that all the stories presented throughout the museum are real. Televised characters, while being portrayed by actors, are based off of real people and their stories. These stories present Ireland's cultural impact on a number of different sectors and interests, such as sports, dance, music, science, politics, and more. The depth of the museum’s different exhibits all help to create a more personal atmosphere to those who visit.
Beyond their main exhibit, EPIC, has a gift shop and most notably, a recent addition with its onsite location of the Irish Family History Centre. The IFHC is aimed at researching people’s Irish ancestry. The IFHC, centers around Irish Genealogy and researching complex historical records and timelines in order to discover and develop people’s family trees. Over their years in business, their services have gone through countless clients including Barack Obama, Taylor Swift, and Joe Biden.
All in all, the EPIC Museum is certainly one not to be missed, both by tourists and Irish people alike. It is a highly engaging experience, full of culture and leaves you thinking about the rich culture of Ireland, through a new and dynamic lens.