Custom House Visitor Centre

PricingFree with English Heritage membershipEH memberFree entryNon-member€6

EH members go freeInfo

Free entry for English Heritage members

This place is cared for by the Office of Public Works, which runs Ireland's national heritage sites as Heritage Ireland. English Heritage members are entitled to free entry to all OPW sites from the first year of membership. Show your current membership card at admissions.

Bring the card itself: joint and family memberships admit the named holders only.
Guided sites may run tours at set times; unguided sites are free to everyone.
Prices here are in euro.

More information

Entry

Non-member prices

Adult (self-guided visit with audio guide)€6.00

Child 12 to 17 (self-guided)€3.00

Family, 2 adults and 3 children (self-guided)€15.00

Senior 60+ (self-guided)€5.00

Student 18+ with ID (self-guided)€3.00

Pricing details

Self-guided visit with the audio guide included; the same price online and at reception. Under-12s free with a ticket; visitors with disabilities and their carers free. Free for English Heritage members showing a valid card, from the first year of membership (every OPW site; the named members on the card). Heritage Card holders free.

Self-guided visit with audio guide; under-12s free with a ticket, all under-18s accompanied by an adult. Free for English Heritage members showing a valid card, from the first year of membership (every OPW site; the named members on the card). Heritage Card holders free.

Self-guided visit with audio guide. Free for English Heritage members showing a valid card, from the first year of membership (every OPW site; the named members on the card). Heritage Card holders free.

Self-guided visit with audio guide; student identification required on arrival. Free for English Heritage members showing a valid card, from the first year of membership (every OPW site; the named members on the card). Heritage Card holders free.

Guided Tour

Non-member prices

Adult (guided tour, about an hour)€8.00

Pricing details

Guided tour prices: adult €8.00, senior 60+ €6.00, student 18+ and child 12 to 17 €4.00, family of 2 adults and 3 children €20.00, under-12s free with a ticket. The Irish Famine and Workhouse tour on selected days costs the same. Places per tour are limited; book online at customhouse.admit-one.eu or at reception. Free for English Heritage members showing a valid card, from the first year of membership (every OPW site; the named members on the card). Heritage Card holders free.

ParkingNo car park

Arrive on foot, by bike or by public transport.

Parking details

OPW names no car park: 'The Custom House is located in Dublin city centre on the north quay facing the river Liffey between Butt Bridge and Talbot Memorial Bridge', with car, rail, bicycle and walking icons but no station or car park named. Commercial car parks nearby include Park Rite Abbey Street Lower (about 170 m), Park Rite City Quay across the river (about 180 m) and Q-Park IFSC (about 480 m); their tariffs are not stored.

Driving pin: OPW's own pin on the river front of the building, where the visitor centre's reception is, up a few steps from the quay.

About

The Custom House Visitor Centre, opened by the OPW in November 2021, tells the story of James Gandon's masterpiece on the north quay of the Liffey, a building commissioned in the eighteenth century under heavy controversy, burned down during the War of Independence in 1921 and painstakingly restored. Rooms over two floors cover Gandon and the building's origins, Edward Smyth's fourteen riverine heads and the other statues on the exterior, the Act of Union, the trade and government departments the building housed, including the Poor Law Commission that supervised Ireland's workhouses, the 1916 Rising, a darkened room on the burning and the rebuilding that followed, told mostly through films, interactive displays and a model rather than artefacts. Choose a self-guided visit with an audio guide in seven languages or an hour-long guided tour, which reviewers rate highly. The whole facade is best admired from across the river, and there is no car park in this city-centre spot.

Check today’s timesPick a day for times and prices

Today, Saturday 24 October

Custom House Visitor Centre09:30 – 17:30last admission 16:45

Prices, non-members

Adult€8.00
Concession€6.00
Child€4.00
Family€20.00

Book tickets

Opening times may change at short notice.

Open all year, daily 09:30 to 17:30, last admission 16:45; OPW prints no closed dates. Self-guided visits start every half hour from 09:30 to 16:30; guided tours of about an hour run several times a day (on 20 October 2026 at 09:45, 14:15 and 15:00) with limited places, and an Irish Famine and Workhouse tour of about an hour and a half, not recommended for under-12s, runs on selected days. Tickets are sold at reception and online at least an hour ahead; wheelchair users should email customhousevc@opw.ie at least three days in advance rather than book online.

The entrance is up a few steps from the quay; a lift serves both floors and the toilets downstairs. The audio guide is in Irish, English, French, German, Spanish, Italian and Mandarin. Baby changing, wifi and cards accepted; no cafe or shop. Allow one to two hours. Assistance dogs only.

Photo: The Custom House's long river front and green copper dome, lit at dusk and reflected in the River Liffey. Digital Eye, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Digital_Eye-2014-Custom_House.jpg. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0. Resized and cropped for display; derivatives retain the source licence.