National Library Of Ireland

Emerald Isle charms all ages

DUBLIN — For families vacationing in Ireland, it can be tough capturing children’s attention with tales of Irish history and brooding castles. The rollicking pubs are out, along with the distilleries and breweries, and the incessant rain doesn’t help.

But on my visit to the Emerald Isle last summer with my wife and daughter, 19, we found some family-friendly attractions, thanks to our distant cousins.

First stop was the recently opened National Leprechaun Museum near the River Liffey. Ask any Irish person about leprechauns, and — if they can keep a straight face — they’ll tell you it’s all Yankee blarney. They put up with it only for the sake of keeping peace with Americans.

The point is well-made the moment visitors enter the museum, by a photo of Walt Disney. He beams during a 1950s visit to research “Darby O’Gill and the Little People,” a musical about finding the King of the Leprechauns that stars some young actor named Sean Connery. Disney’s whimsy is about as lighthearted as it gets.

“That’s the trouble,” said tour guide Seamas O’Reilly, a young graduate of nearby Trinity College. “Disney stirred up all these professors at University College Dublin about Irish folklore, and when he came over, he ignored everything they told him and made a movie that has nothing to do with the real story of leprechauns.”

Instead, O’Reilly said, “Disney cooked up all this made-up Irishness about pots of gold and rainbows and little people, and now it’s imported back to Ireland.”

We had the most fun in the rainbow room, where children pass through curtains of weightless filaments hanging from the ceiling, conjuring up the colors of a rainbow. There’s also a giant’s room, with furniture sized for a giant to use, and a map room, with actress Ita Fitzmahony scampering about as a guide to the images of mythical characters projected on the walls and ceiling.

It’s goofy and different, and when we ended up at the snack bar and book shop — complete with leprechaun hand puppets for sale — docent Ellen Ryan was there to invite children to draw their versions of a leprechaun. The finished works of art are hung on the wall for all to see — and for parents to photograph.

Our next stop was the Archaeology Museum of the National Museum of Ireland, across the courtyard from the National Library and around the corner from Ireland’s parliament, or Dail.

“What I find time and again is that young visitors can be quite sophisticated,” said the museum’s education director, Siobhan Pierce. “Even very young children these days are Web-connected, most are familiar with the hot films and television shows — much of that fantastic and, well, unbelievable in a way.

National Library Of Ireland - News

Emerald Isle charms all ages

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