Dublin Castle

PricingFree with English Heritage membershipEH memberFree entryNon-member€8

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€8.00

Child (12 to 17): self-guided visit€4.00

Family (2 adults and 3 children): self-guided visit€20.00

Senior (60+): self-guided visit€6.00

Student (18+): self-guided visit€6.00

Pricing details

Self-guided visit of the State Apartments and any exhibitions (State Apartments Galleries, the Coach House in the Castle Gardens); the Viking Excavation and the Chapel Royal are seen only on the guided tour. Self-guided tickets online in advance (Admit One) and at the desk in the State Apartments. Price list on OPW's Dublin Castle site (21 October 2026), not dated; the castle is closed to the public until January 2027. 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 of the State Apartments and any exhibitions (State Apartments Galleries, the Coach House in the Castle Gardens); the Viking Excavation and the Chapel Royal are seen only on the guided tour. Self-guided tickets online in advance (Admit One) and at the desk in the State Apartments. Price list on OPW's Dublin Castle site (21 October 2026), not dated; the castle is closed to the public until January 2027. Children under 12 free (€0.00 ticket). 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€12.00

Child (12 to 17): guided tour€6.00

Family (2 adults and 3 children): guided tour€30.00

Senior (60+): guided tour€10.00

Student (18+): guided tour€10.00

Pricing details

Guided tour of about an hour from the Viking Excavation and the Chapel Royal to the State Apartments, tours 10:00 to 16:30; tickets only at the desk in the State Apartments. Price list on OPW's Dublin Castle site (21 October 2026), not dated; the castle is closed to the public until January 2027. 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 of about an hour from the Viking Excavation and the Chapel Royal to the State Apartments, tours 10:00 to 16:30; tickets only at the desk in the State Apartments. Price list on OPW's Dublin Castle site (21 October 2026), not dated; the castle is closed to the public until January 2027. Children under 12 free (€0.00 ticket). 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

Dublin Castle has no car park. OPW's Dublin Castle site names Q-Park Christchurch (Werburgh Street) and Park Rite Drury Street as the nearest public car parks; their tariffs are not stored. Many buses stop on Dame Street, Lord Edward Street and George's Street, and the nearest Luas stops are St Stephen's Green (Green Line) and Jervis (Red Line).

Driving pin: OPW's own pin in the Upper Castle Yard, which Google's listing shares; the visitor entrances are the Palace Street Gate off Dame Street and the Ship Street gate.

About

Off Dame Street in the heart of Dublin, the castle was for 700 years, from 1204 until independence, the seat of English and then British rule in Ireland, serving as fortress, prison, treasury and courts before it was handed to the new Irish government in 1922. Its story reaches back to the Viking Age: in the Medieval Undercroft you can see the old city walls, a postern gate and the Viking defence bank beneath the Powder Tower. The Record Tower of the early 1200s, with walls up to 4.8 m thick, survives from the first castle. Most of what stands was rebuilt between the 17th and 20th centuries, including the State Apartments, reached by a grand staircase of 1749, with the Throne Room and St Patrick's Hall, still used for presidential inaugurations. Francis Johnston's Chapel Royal opened on Christmas Day 1814. The castle is closed until January 2027 while it hosts Ireland's EU Council Presidency; the guided tour is the only way into the chapel and the excavation.

Check today’s timesSee all times

Dublin CastleClosed until January 2027 (the whole castle campus, gardens included, closed to the public since 15 June 2026 for Ireland's EU Council Presidency)

Opening times may change at short notice.

OPW closed the entire Dublin Castle campus to the public on 15 June 2026 while the castle serves as the main State venue for Ireland's Presidency of the Council of the European Union, with no through access from the Palace Street Gate on Dame Street to Ship Street, and expects to welcome visitors back in January 2027 (no day published). Normally open all year, daily and on public holidays 09:45 to 17:45 with last admission at 17:15, closed 25 to 27 December and 1 January; guided tours run 10:00 to 16:30. The Chester Beatty in the castle grounds, a separate free museum, is also closed to the end of December 2026.

The State Apartments and the Chapel Royal are accessible with a lift to the first floor; the Viking Excavation is reached only by stairs, and the Upper Courtyard has uneven surfaces. Bags go in free lockers and prams are stored during the visit; a free audio guide downloads over the castle Wi-Fi (bring earphones). Toilets and an accessible toilet. The Medieval (Record) Tower is closed pending restoration.

Photo: The Chapel Royal and the medieval Record Tower of Dublin Castle, with a Georgian range beside them, across the Lower Castle Yard. Sarah Murphy, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dublin_Castle_and_Tower.jpg. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0. Resized and cropped for display; derivatives retain the source licence.