Interactive Guided Tour of Printing History

About This Tour

Discover Ireland’s printing heritage on a guided tour of the collection, and learn how printing has evolved over the centuries. This fun, factual and interactive tour also gives you the chance to compose your name in type and print your own souvenir poster to take home!

As well as a huge collection of printing blocks, books, pamphlets, and periodicals, the museum is also home to a rare original copy of the famous 1916 Proclamation, drafted by revolutionaries during the Easter Rising, and is undoubtedly one of the most important pieces of print in Ireland’s history.

After the tour, you can also check out the museum’s temporary exhibition. Past displays include deep dives into political prints, theatre posters, and bottle label designs.

What’s Included

• A personalised poster to take home

Itinerary

1. Learn how the printing press, invented in 1439 by Johannes Gutenberg, changed the world. View an original 1916 Proclamation, Ireland’s most important historical printed document, and marvel at the artefact’s fascinating story of production. Your guide will demonstrate how printing was done throughout most of the last few centuries. The main collection is not behind glass or rope, but is instead an example of a working collection. Interact with this collection by composing your own name in type and printing a personalised poster to take home. (60 min)

Meeting point: Enter Beggars Bush Barracks from Haddington Road. We are in the old chapel building in the back-right corner of the Barracks.

Good to Know

• Wheelchair accessible
• Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
• Service animals allowed
• Public transportation options are available nearby
• Transportation options are wheelchair accessible

Maximum group size: 10 travelers. Available in: en.