Adult Learners
Dublin Castle has an exciting ongoing programme of events for adult learners with diverse interests, needs and learning styles. Our programme includes talks, lectures and workshops. All education activities are free, so come and explore!
Talks and workshops are free, but booking is required. Please contact us to reserve a seat.
Community and Outreach
Dublin Castle’s community engagement and outreach service expands our learning programme beyond the walls of the Castle. Through collection-focused projects and events we reach out into the community and work with groups who might not otherwise access the Castle’s public programme.
For further information, please contact us.
The Education department can be contacted at +353 1 6458812 or dublincastleeducation@opw.ie.
Collaborative Project with the Creative Life Centre of MISA
From the Hospital to the Castle
Moving (through) walls: A creative and critical exploration of our spaces and places
2018 – 2019
Hospitals and castles have a lot in common and a collaboration between St James and Dublin Castle has been on the cards for a while. MISA – the Mercer’s Institute for Successful Ageing and its Creative Life Centre at St James Hospital provide a unique context for the arts and health in Ireland, through partnerships with a wide range of professionals and organisations.
During this new project, we are exploring the histories of our area, of the buildings where we dwell and of the journeys that connect them – journeys in space and in time. We are using participatory and artistic methods, working on our feet (literally or not) and thinking off our feet, invading buildings with our senses, playing with philosophical enquiry and daring to question. We are interrogating our environment and sharing our diverse perspectives. Using the spaces, expertise and collections of Dublin Castle, MISA and St James Hospital, we will create new habitats for history, philosophy and art, ultimately reconnecting with our own individual histories through the use of different spaces and places as we age.
Dementia Friendly Workshops
In 2016, Dublin Castle started working with The Orchard Day Care Centre in Blackrock to deliver a range of workshops to people with Dementia and Alzheimers. The initiative is outreach based and run by trained members of staff. Our objectives with these workshops are to trigger imaginative responses and personal reminiscences from people living with Dementia, their families and carers.
Dublin Castle’s Young Writers
Dublin Castle is home to The Writing Group for Normal People, a group of teenagers working on individual projects who meet to read and critique one another’s writing. The group was founded in 2015 in association with Fighting Words, a Dublin-based organisation that runs creative writing workshops for children and teenagers. Our members have enjoyed success in competitions, have been published and have given public readings of their work here in the Castle. We expect to see the names of these young writers on bookshelves very soon!
Methodical Wanderers
Methodical Wanderers is a group of adult makers who continue to engage with Dublin Castle in various ways. The group originated in the Wandering Methods craft workshops that took place in 2012 and 2013 in Rathfarnham Castle, and in 2014 in Dublin Castle as part of the Bealtaine Festival.
Youth Art Projects*
Dublin Castle has collaborated with a number of organisations and has an ongoing relationship with
– Crosscare
– St Andrew’s Resource Centre
– the Liberties After School Club
We invite Youthreach teachers, youth workers, and community workers or volunteers involved with homework clubs or summer projects to get in touch with us and discuss ideas for pilot projects or once-off activities. Please contact us for more information.
* We are grateful for the support we have received from the National Youth Council of Ireland, without which some of these projects would not have materialised.