Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA)
A 1684 soldiers' hospital modelled on Les Invalides now holds Ireland's entire national collection of modern art.
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Over 3,500 post-1940 works fill a 17th-century building designed by Sir William Robinson — long corridors, modest interlocking rooms, a courtyard — that was never built for art. The mismatch between the architecture and the collection is the point. An active artist-in-residence programme means the place is still being made, not just preserved.
What to look for
- The central courtyard that organises the whole building, unchanged since the Royal Hospital was founded for retired soldiers in 1684
- Long corridors connecting a series of modest interlocking rooms — the original residential layout repurposed for contemporary canvases
- The converted stables, restored and extended into working artists' studios for the in-residence programme
Located in Kilmainham — budget time for both the galleries and the grounds, as the building itself is a significant part of the visit.
Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) is one of 35 sights worth the detour in Dublin, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Dublin pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Dublin
- Aviva StadiumOne 51,711-seat bowl jointly owned by rugby and football — two governing bodies, one ground, no separate home for either.
- Dublin CastleThe river that gave Dublin its name still flows beneath your feet — and the building above it ran Ireland for 750 years.
- Croke ParkThe fourth-largest stadium in Europe holds 82,300 people — almost entirely for sports most of the world has never watched.
- National Library of IrelandIreland's paper memory — manuscripts, photographs, and newspapers free to open on the spot.
- St Patrick's CathedralIreland's national cathedral has never had a bishop — that role belongs to the rival church 400 metres up the road.
- Spire of DublinA 120-metre stainless-steel pin planted on the exact spot where an IRA bomb in 1966 — and a controlled demolition six days later — erased Nelson's Pillar.