EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum Family Guide – Dublin’s Storytelling Museum for Kids
EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum sits in the restored brick vaults of Dublin’s Docklands, quietly holding one of the most emotional museum experiences in the city. It is not full of dusty cases and long labels. Instead, it feels like walking through a story told in light, sound, film and interactive games. For families, that mix matters. Kids can touch, swipe, stamp and move. Adults can finally connect scattered stories about “the Irish abroad” into something coherent. This guide walks you through exactly how to use EPIC as a calm, meaningful day with kids – and how to weave it into your wider Dublin plan without overwhelm.
Quick Links
Dublin Cluster
EPIC works best when it lives inside your full Dublin story. Pair this guide with:
• Ultimate Dublin Family Travel Guide
• Ultimate Dublin Attractions Guide for Families
• Dublin City Centre Family Neighborhood Guide
• Docklands / Grand Canal Dock Family Neighborhood Guide
• Dublin Logistics & Planning Guide for Families
Tickets, Tours and Official Info
Use this guide as your story framework, then add:
• Official museum info via EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum
• City context from Visit Dublin
• Ireland wide planning through Tourism Ireland
• Family friendly experiences and combo tickets with EPIC and Docklands tours on Viator
Check opening hours and current exhibitions on the official site, then use the rest of this post to shape how you move through the space with kids at different ages.
How EPIC Actually Feels With Kids
Walking into EPIC does not feel like walking into a traditional museum. You move down into brick lined vaults beneath the Docklands buildings, and the air shifts. Light pools in certain corners, voices drift out of side rooms, screens and projections glow softly in the distance. For kids who struggle with “stand here and read this” style museums, EPIC is an immediate relief. The space invites movement from the first gallery.
Each room focuses on a different angle of Irish emigration – leaving home, travelling, settling elsewhere, building communities, contributing to culture, sport, science and politics across the world. But those themes do not stand like chapters in a heavy book. They unfold through immersive soundscapes, interactive games, stamps, short films and physical objects that feel touchable rather than untouchable.
Young kids respond first to the sensory side: doors that open onto sound, suitcases to touch, boats to walk through, screens that light up when they approach. Older kids and teens begin to connect details: the reasons people left, the risks they took, the way lives changed on the far side of the journey. Adults, especially anyone with Irish roots anywhere in their family tree, often find the whole experience unexpectedly moving.
Crucially, EPIC is not a guilt heavy museum. It does not push children to absorb a long list of dates and tragedies. Instead, it quietly introduces the idea that people have always moved for complicated reasons – hunger, hope, pressure, love, ambition, survival – and that this movement reshaped the world in ways your kids already recognise without realising it.
From a practical side, EPIC is also one of the easier attractions to manage if the weather is wet or everyone is overstimulated by city noise. It is indoors, temperature controlled and fully walkable without needing a stroller on rough ground. The route is clear but flexible, so you can linger in some rooms and pass through others more quickly without losing the thread of the story.
EPIC for Different Ages – What to Highlight
The same museum can feel very different to a toddler, a ten year old and a teenager. The trick is not to force everyone to have the same experience, but to tilt the day so each age group finds something to hold on to.
Toddlers and Early Primary
For toddlers, EPIC is all about shapes, sounds and glowing screens. They will not follow the narrative of Irish emigration in a linear way, and that is fine. Your job is to treat the museum like a gentle indoor adventure – walk, look, touch where allowed, listen, step into darker rooms only if they feel comfortable.
Focus on the more physical galleries. Doors that open onto sound. Floors that react to movement. Projections of waves, ships and maps. You might narrate in ridiculously simple lines: “These people are packing because they are moving to a new home. This ship is taking them across the sea. That house is where they end up.” The aim here is familiarity with the idea of journeys, not mastery of historical detail.
Keep your expectations short. A toddler’s successful EPIC visit might mean spending more time in two or three rooms than rushing through every gallery. Use the Docklands guide and the Dublin With Toddlers vs Teens post to set realistic time blocks and plan where you will decompress afterwards – a waterside walk, a café stop, a quick tram ride back towards your base in City Centre or the Docklands itself.
Older Kids and Teens
For older kids, EPIC becomes a story about cause and effect. This room shows why people left. That room shows what the journey was like. Another shows what happened when they arrived in new countries. Then there are galleries full of Irish names in music, sport, politics, science and pop culture. It is not hard to connect the dots: people left, and the world changed because they did.
Before you go in, you could ask a simple question: “What do you think it feels like to leave your home and move to another country by boat for weeks?” Let them answer first. Then see what the museum gives them as extra layers – images, letters, artifacts – to build on their guesses.
Teens who are used to digital storytelling often find EPIC surprisingly natural. They are stepping into a physical version of the kind of layered story they might normally scroll through online. Encourage them to follow their curiosity. If one gallery about sport hooks them, let them read deeper there. If another about music or science lights something up, pause there. The route is linear, but your attention doesn’t have to be.
Later, the Dublin Family Day Trips and wider Ireland planning posts can help you connect museum ideas to places outside the city – coastal villages, ancestral counties, landscapes that shaped those departures and returns.
Pairing EPIC With the Docklands – What the Surrounding Area Feels Like
EPIC lives inside CHQ, a historic warehouse building in the Docklands, and that location shapes the whole day. Once you step outside, you are not dropped back into crowded city centre streets. You are beside the River Liffey, surrounded by glass offices, quiet quays and the occasional jogger or cyclist. For families who find the intensity of central Dublin tiring, the Docklands feel like a deep breath.
From the museum, you can stroll along the riverside, cross modern bridges, watch boats move through the harbour and let kids burn off leftover energy in open spaces. This is one of the easiest areas in Dublin to manage a post-museum decompression walk. You are close to coffee and snacks, but you also have enough space to keep everyone moving without constantly dodging traffic.
Use the Docklands / Grand Canal Dock Family Guide for a deeper sense of how this area works – which cafés genuinely welcome kids, where the calmest stretches of water are, how to route your walk so strollers roll smoothly and little legs are not forced into too many street crossings.
If you enjoy having structure layered on top of your free wandering, browse Docklands and EPIC themed tours on Viator. Some combine the museum with walking tours, boat trips or storytelling guides. Choose options that explicitly mention families or small groups and avoid anything that tries to cram too many stops into a tight schedule. EPIC does its best work when you are not sprinting.
Where to Eat Before or After EPIC
EPIC days are easier when you think in small, predictable food anchors – a solid breakfast at your base, a clear plan for snacks during or after the museum, and a flexible idea of where you might eat a full lunch or early dinner.
Using CHQ and Docklands Cafés
The CHQ building and surrounding Docklands are home to cafés and casual food options that understand people are coming from the museum with mixed energy levels. Some kids will be buzzing to talk. Others will be quiet and internal. Having food close at hand means you don’t have to drag everyone back across town just to eat.
Aim for simple: soup, sandwiches, pastries, child friendly plates, good coffee for adults. If you have picky eaters, scan menus online the night before using the Docklands neighborhood post and the Where to Eat in Dublin With Kids guide so you are not stuck making decisions in the doorway while someone is melting down.
Because the museum is indoors and often quite sensory rich, it makes sense to follow your visit with a short walk along the river before sitting down for a longer meal. That little buffer lets everyone reset and talk through their favourite parts before you ask them to sit still again.
Connecting Back to Your Base
If your main base is City Centre, Ballsbridge, Ranelagh or another neighborhood, you may prefer to eat your main meals near “home” where you understand the streets, have a favourite café and know exactly how long it takes to walk from restaurant to bed.
In that case, treat the Docklands as a snack and drink zone: coffee, hot chocolate, something small to keep everyone’s blood sugar smooth, then a tram, bus or taxi ride back towards your neighborhood. The Getting Around Dublin With Kids guide will help you choose the least stressful route for your particular family – sometimes a short taxi is worth every cent compared to changing buses when everyone is tired.
For very young kids, consider splitting the day: a quiet breakfast at your base, a late morning at EPIC, a light snack in Docklands, then a proper lunch and nap back in familiar territory. You can always return to the river in the evening when the light softens and the city slows.
Where to Stay if EPIC and Docklands Are Key to Your Trip
You do not have to stay right on top of EPIC, but your base will change how easy it feels to include the museum and wider Docklands in your plans. Think in terms of how many Docklands days you want and how often you want to be near the river and modern waterfront.
Central Bases With Easy Docklands Access
Most families will still do best with a central base within or near Dublin City Centre. From there, EPIC is a straightforward walk or a short public transport hop along the river. You wake up close to St Stephen’s Green, Grafton Street and Trinity College, but EPIC still feels like a calm branch of your days, not a big expedition.
Start with a broad Dublin hotel and apartment search and then read your shortlisted options alongside the Ultimate Dublin Neighborhoods Guide for Families. When you spot somewhere that looks right, check how long it actually takes to walk to EPIC or what the simplest route is on the bus or tram with a stroller.
If you like the idea of a slightly more modern, waterfront feel in the evenings – glass buildings, bridges lit up, reflections on water – consider leaning your search towards the east side of City Centre, closer to the Docklands.
Staying in Docklands or Grand Canal Dock
If your family loves contemporary cityscapes, calm quays and the feeling of being near water, staying directly in the Docklands / Grand Canal Dock area can work beautifully. Mornings and evenings become quiet river walks. EPIC is right there. Public transport still connects you easily to historic areas when you want them.
Use a focused Docklands family stay search and pay close attention to reviews from other families. You are looking for mentions of safe walks to the river, practical rooms and staff who don’t flinch when they see kids at breakfast.
On longer trips, a split stay can make sense: a few nights in City Centre for classic Dublin days, followed by a few nights in Docklands for EPIC, waterfront walks and a slower, more modern rhythm. Combine this EPIC guide with the How Many Days Families Need in Dublin post to see how that kind of split works with your timeline.
Logistics and Planning – Tickets, Timing and Routes
EPIC is one of the more forgiving attractions to plan around, but a few choices made before you arrive will keep the day running smoothly.
First, tickets. Many families find it easier to book online for a particular window so they are not negotiating queues with hungry children. You can book directly through the museum’s site or choose a combination ticket via EPIC experiences on Viator. Look for small group or timed entry options that line up with your kids’ best concentration hours – usually mid-morning, not 4 p.m. at the end of a long day.
Getting there is covered at a high level in Getting Around Dublin With Kids. In practice, most families will either walk from City Centre along the river, take a short tram or bus, or use a taxi for a direct, low-energy ride from their hotel. The best route is the one that arrives with everyone still calm.
Inside the museum, follow the natural flow but feel free to adjust your pace. It is better to skip a room that clearly isn’t working for your kids than to force it and lose them for the rest of the visit. Allow time for bathrooms, water breaks and moments where someone needs to step out of a darker gallery into the brighter corridor for a breather.
For families with strollers or mobility considerations, EPIC is generally accessible, but you will still want to double check elevator access and any temporary changes on the official site before you go. The Stroller Friendly Dublin Routes post will help you fold EPIC into routes that avoid the worst bottlenecks and awkward crossings.
Finally, consider how EPIC fits alongside other attractions. It pairs gently with Trinity College, riverside walks, the Docklands, or a single additional museum. Combining it with a full day at Dublin Zoo or a long coastal hike might be too much in one stretch for most kids. Use the Ultimate Dublin Attractions Guide and the sample itineraries in the Ultimate Dublin Family Travel post to create a balance between intense and gentle days.
Family Tips – Keeping EPIC Emotionally Light but Meaningful
Emigration stories can be heavy. Hunger, poverty, discrimination, separation, risk. EPIC does not shy away from those realities, but it also does not drown younger visitors in them. As the adult, you can adjust how deep you go.
One simple approach is to frame the experience around three questions before you enter: “Why do people leave home. What is hard about leaving. What could be exciting about starting somewhere new.” Let kids answer in their own words. Inside the museum, refer back to those questions occasionally. “Does this room show something hard, or something exciting, or both.”
If your own family has migration stories – Irish or otherwise – EPIC is a gentle place to share them. You do not have to produce a full family tree. Even simple lines like “This reminds me of when your great-grandparents moved from X to Y” can give kids a sense that history is not just “out there,” it is inside the people they know.
For sensitive kids, pay attention to sound levels and imagery. Some rooms are louder, with ship noises, crowds or overlapping voices. Others are quieter and more reflective. You can always step around a corner or move forward to the next gallery if someone looks overwhelmed. No museum visit is worth a meltdown if you can see it coming and sidestep it.
After your visit, give everyone time to decompress. This might mean a slow walk along the river, some time sitting on a bench looking at the water, or even a short tram ride where nobody has to talk. Later that day – or even a day or two afterwards – you can ask, “What do you remember most from that museum” and let the conversation unfold in the car, at dinner or while you are walking in another part of Dublin.
Weaving EPIC Into a 3–5 Day Dublin Itinerary
EPIC does not need an entire day on its own, but it also should not be squeezed into a corner as an afterthought. Think in half days and soft pairings rather than jam-packed schedules.
EPIC in a 3 Day Dublin Plan
In a three day trip, EPIC often fits best on your central city day:
Day 1 – City Centre and Parks
Use the City Centre guide to land gently – St Stephen’s Green, Grafton Street, Trinity College and the river. Get everyone used to the city’s rhythms.
Day 2 – EPIC + Docklands + One More Stop
Spend your morning at EPIC. Follow it with a Docklands walk and a relaxed lunch. If everyone still has energy, add one more light stop – perhaps a smaller museum, a short boat trip or more riverside exploration. Lean on the attractions guide to pick something that matches the day’s tone.
Day 3 – Phoenix Park or Coast
Leave room for a big, green reset at
Phoenix Park
and Dublin Zoo,
or head to Howth, Malahide or Dún Laoghaire for sea air and harbourside walks.
EPIC in a 5 Day Dublin Plan
With five days, you can give EPIC even more breathing room:
Day 1 – Arrival and Neighborhood
Explore the streets immediately around your accommodation. Find your nearest playground, café and grocery shop.
Day 2 – Central Classics
Combine Trinity College, a city walk and time in St Stephen’s Green using the Ultimate Dublin Family Travel Guide as your spine.
Day 3 – EPIC and Docklands
Make EPIC the star of the day. Take your time in the galleries, then let kids unwind along the Docklands, perhaps with a small tour or boat ride found via Viator if that feels right for your group.
Day 4 – Phoenix Park and Zoo
Give yourself a full green day anchored by Phoenix Park and Dublin Zoo. The dedicated guides will keep things smooth.
Day 5 – Coast, Day Trip or Free Choice
Use the Best Family Day Trips post to choose a final adventure, or let your kids vote between revisiting their favourite place and trying something new.
Flights, Stays, Car Rentals and Travel Insurance Around Your EPIC Day
EPIC is only one piece of your Dublin puzzle, but the way you structure flights, accommodation and internal transport will affect how present you feel inside those brick vaults.
Start with flights that support your energy instead of draining it. Use this Dublin flight search to look for arrival times that give you at least one easy, low-pressure day before you schedule EPIC or other deep storytelling attractions.
For accommodation, you can keep things simple with a broad Dublin hotel and apartment search and then narrow using the neighborhood guides. You are looking for a base with:
• Easy breakfast options
• Straightforward routes to the city centre and Docklands
• Rooms that let kids actually sleep
• Staff who do not treat families as an inconvenience
You do not need a car for EPIC or for most central Dublin days. If your wider plan includes countryside loops or multi stop day trips, rent a car only for those specific days via this Dublin car rental tool. Let buses, trams, trains and the occasional taxi carry the rest of the load.
Finally, wrap the trip in family travel insurance. Travel stories are easier to enjoy when you are not quietly running worst case scenarios in the back of your mind. Knowing that a delayed bag, a missed connection or a sudden illness will not derail everything lets you focus on the galleries in front of you and the questions your kids are asking.
Some of the links in this guide are affiliate links. Your price stays exactly the same. A small commission helps keep these long form family guides online, covers late night edits in between school runs and occasionally funds the snacks that keep kids going when there is just one more gallery left to explore.
More Dublin Guides to Wrap Around Your EPIC Visit
Keep this museum day anchored in the full Dublin picture with the Ultimate Dublin Family Travel Guide, the Ultimate Dublin Attractions Guide, the Ultimate Neighborhoods Guide and the Logistics & Planning Guide.
Pair EPIC with detailed deep dives into City Centre, Docklands / Grand Canal Dock, Phoenix Park and Dublin Zoo so each day in the city feels distinct.
When you zoom out beyond Dublin, keep this guide tied into your global network. Connect EPIC to migration and city stories in New York City, London, Toronto, Tokyo, Bali, Singapore and Dubai. Over time, your kids begin to see that every city has its own “EPIC” stories about people leaving, arriving and changing the places they touch.
