The Little Museum of Dublin is a people's museum of Dublin, situated at 15 St. Stephens Green, Dublin, Ireland. The museum is located in an 18th-century Georgian town house owned by Dublin City Council.
As a civic museum for the city of Dublin, the Little Museum chronicles the history of the city in the 20th century. It provides visitors with an intimate and informative glimpse into life in Dublin during that time period. The Little Museum, the “brainchild” of director Trevor White and curator Simon O’Connor, was formed in April 2011 and officially opened its doors to the public in October of the same year. A registered charity, the museum is governed by a board that includes representatives of Dublin City Council and Fáilte Ireland, the national tourism development authority.
The museum has a collection of over 5,000 artifacts that have been donated or loaned directly from the people of Dublin. It has three floors of exhibition space in the Georgian town home, one floor for office space, and an acclaimed Irish café, Hatch & Sons Irish Kitchen, in the basement. Areas of interest within the museum exhibitions include the 1916 Rising, U.S. President John F. Kennedy's visit to Dublin, and many other landmark events in Irish political and social history. The museum also recently opened a new exhibit that focuses exclusively on the success of the rock band U2.
The museum also offers “I Love Dublin” classes for school children ages 6–17, and a tourist greeter program, City of a Thousand Welcomes. The program is a "civic initiative" that connects first time visitors to Dublin with a local 'ambassador' who welcomes them by taking them out for a cup of tea or a pint. During the outing the ambassadors tell their guests about the city and introduce them to Ireland's "outstanding hospitality." The program has been very successful so far; the Sydney Morning Herald describes it as “the best free thing to do in Europe”.
The museum received a new wave of publicity when it purchased an archive of work by artist and poet Christy Brown. As of March 19, 2014 the Little Museum and the National Library of Ireland were the proud joint owners of a collection that includes private letters and previously unseen sketches, paintings, and poems. The collection was sold by Bonhams in London for nearly 45,000 euro.
Patrons of the Little Museum include Dublin City Council, Dublin Regional Authority, Fáilte Ireland, the Merrion Hotel and Porterhouse Bars.
In 2012, the Little Museum of Dublin was nominated for the European Museum of the Year Award.
In May 2013, the Irish Times described the Little Museum as “the best museum experience in Dublin”. In 2014, TripAdvisor awarded the Little Museum with a Certificate of Excellence for the third year in a row. They rank the Little Museum as the #10 attraction to see in Dublin, making it the second most popular museum in Dublin. In February 2014 the museum won the David Manley Award for Emerging Entrepreneurs in the Arts category.
Over 25,000 people visited the Little Museum in the first full year of operation. In 2013, the figure was 51,500, an increase of 114%.