The Garda Museum, the story of Irish policing

The Garda Museum – An Garda Síochána músaem

The Garda Museum and Archives is located at Treasury Building, inside the Dublin Castle and tells the story of Irish policing. Guests staying in the Dublin Citi Hotel can find an interesting exhibition about the history of An Garda Síochána and information on policing in Ireland before 1922.

You can get there by walking 5 minutes from Dublin Citi Hotel!

The Museum staff is a Sergeant and one civilian employee. People carrying out police-related research can obtain information at the Museum and Archives. Among the museum, artefacts are photographs and documents outlining the history and development of policing in Ireland in the 19th/20th centuries. The museum library contains several fascinating police-related publications.

A vast amount of both archival and artefactual material, relating not only to the Garda Síochána, but also to the Irish Constabulary, The Royal Irish Constabulary, The Dublin Police, and The Dublin Metropolitan Police.

The Garda Museum
Garda Museum Entrance

The Garda College Museum and Visitor Centre, Templemore

The Garda College Museum and Visitor Centre opened in 2015 with the purpose of informing visitors about past and present methods of crime investigation, detection and prevention.

Museum displays include historic police artefacts along with items from the unique military heritage of the Garda College which first opened in 1814 as Richmond Military Barracks. Visitors have the opportunity to view artefacts from real investigations including counterfeit currency and ATM ‘skimming’ devices, which are important aids in educating the public and assisting in crime prevention.

Since 2015 several thousand members of the public have visited the Garda College Museum and Visitor Centre along with student Gardaí and serving and retired members. Each group visiting the Museum and Visitor Centre receives an audio-visual presentation which provides information about Irish policing history as well as recruitment and training and allows for visitors to ask questions.

Tours are especially popular with Transition Year students who are interested in a future career in policing, as well as members of Active Retirement Associations. Groups are often accompanied on their visits to Templemore by members attached to Community Policing or other units, greatly enhancing community engagement between An Garda Síochána and the public.

The Garda Museum
Dublin Castel Gardens

The Record Tower, Dublin Castle

The Record Tower established in about 1205. Previously known as the Black Tower, the Gunner’s Tower, the Wardrobe Tower (when it housed royal robes). Although the tower was a prison until the 1700s, it is said that this was where Red Hugh O’Donnell escaped from into the Wicklow mountains in 1591.

It is open from Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and closed on the weekends. You can get there by walking 5 minutes from Dublin Citi Hotel!

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