EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum

EPIC sits inside the CHQ Building, a glass-topped, riverfront market hall overlooking the city’s energetic north quays. Travelers can easily integrate a stop here between Docklands strolls, riverwalk coffee, or an Amien Street train connection. The museum’s popularity has grown thanks to awards and word-of-mouth, yet careful planning makes the experience smooth. Off-peak times tend to offer the best chance for thinking, wandering, and meaningful interaction with the museum’s innovative digital exhibits.

• Best time to visit: Early mornings on weekdays—especially outside school holidays—bring calmer halls and fewer groups.
• How to get there: By foot from city center shops (about 15 minutes), via the Luas red line (George’s Dock stop), or by DART, with Connolly Station less than a 10-minute walk away.
• Accessibility: Wheelchair access throughout; lifts for all floors; baby-changing and family-friendly amenities on site.
• Average visit duration: 1.5 to 2 hours, with some visitors stretching to three if reading every letter and testing every interactive touch screen.

Spread across twenty galleries, EPIC doesn’t just tell one story—it launches visitors through centuries of ambition, hardship, and triumph. Every section draws the eye: from centuries-old maps to walls blooming with digital faces. The museum’s path winds through discovery, taking in the big moments but also the small ones—letters sent home, musical notes passed down, and innovations that shaped distant worlds.

• The Departure and Arrival Galleries: Walk through a shadowy port, listening to the thunder of departing ships and whispered farewells. This immersive corridor sets the scene for every Irish journey abroad.
• Famous Irish Faces: Interactive walls let visitors step into the lives of global icons—Writers like James Joyce, boxers, presidents, and modern-day musicians—reminding all that the Irish influence is never one-note.
• Personal Testimony Booths: Hear stories from emigrants, ordinary and extraordinary, told in their own words—sometimes funny, sometimes heart-wrenching.
• Passports for the Journey: Every guest receives a paper ‘passport’ to stamp at various checkpoints—fun for families and a gentle nudge to explore every zone.
• Photo-worthy moments: Snap dramatic shots beneath the old vaults, or beside the luminous “Tree of Life” at the journey’s end.
• Cultural treasures: Browse an authentic “coffin ship,” hear emigration ballads, and track family roots via onsite genealogy resources.