Little Museum of Dublin

What Little Museum of Dublin does

The Little Museum of Dublin is a nonprofit cultural institution (registered charity) housed in a Georgian townhouse at 15 St. Stephen's Green, Dublin, founded in 2011 by Trevor White to chronicle modern Dublin history through donated objects and oral testimony. Its core offering is a 29-minute guided tour built around a permanent collection of more than 5,000 donated artifacts, supplemented by temporary exhibitions, a Speakers Series, an Open Call donation program, and curated walking tours (including a Tour en Français and an Arran Henderson 'Hidden Gems of Dublin' tour).

The museum operates a multi-revenue-stream model combining per-visitor admissions (adult tickets around €15), gift shop sales, private and corporate venue hire (private tours priced at roughly €450 per group of 32), walking tour fees, and donor memberships. Distribution is anchored by high-volume tourist channels — most visibly Clayton Hotels welcome packs in 1,000+ rooms and inclusion on DoDublin's Hop-On-Hop-Off bus route — alongside school and group bookings routed through the new on-site education centre delivered in the 2024–2025 'Little Museum 2.0' renovation.

The organization ran a capital campaign to acquire its building and invested in a multi-million euro renovation completed in July 2025, signalling a transition from leased to owned real estate and an expanded capacity profile. It maintains multi-year corporate partnerships, including a 2025–2028 Santa Rita Wines deal and recurring Dublin Port Company programming (the 'Freedom of Dublin' lectures and the 'Solidarity' exhibition), and operates with a small team (11–50 employees) at a single Dublin location.

Name

Little Museum of Dublin

Legal name

The Little Museum of Dublin

Website

https://littlemuseum.ie

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Little Museum of Dublin is a nonprofit historical museum at 15 St. Stephen's Green, founded 2011 by Trevor White, that delivers a signature 29-minute guided tour of 5,000+ donated Dublin artifacts to tourists, schools, corporate groups, and walking-tour customers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cultural Museum Services

NAICS

Museums (71211), Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (712)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

History Museums (THAJADAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Museums & Heritage Sites (History, Science, Specialty) (BPAGAHAA), Museum & Landmark Guided Tours (Skip-the-line/Docent-led) (THAJAAAC), Museum, Zoo & Attraction Gift Shops (CRALAJAG)

Keywords

• Historical museum tours
• Cultural heritage exhibits
• Museum walking tours
• Georgian venue hire
• Educational museum programmes

Headquarters

HQ city

Dublin

HQ country

Ireland

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Admission and Guided Tours: Revenue from timed-entry tickets to the museum's famous 29-minute guided tours. Tickets are sold online via TicketSolve and at the door. This is the primary revenue stream.
2. Venue Hire: The Georgian townhouse is available for private events including drinks receptions, birthday parties, corporate events, and intimate dinners. Private tours during normal opening hours cost €450 with max capacity of 32 guests.
3. Gift Shop and Online Store: The museum operates a physical shop (The Little Shop of Dublin) on the ground floor and an online store (shop.littlemuseum.ie) selling books, souvenirs, toys, posters, movies, and gifts.
4. Memberships and Donations: Life membership provides unlimited visits, shop discounts, and recognition on the Patrons board. The museum is a registered charity accepting donations and artefact contributions. A capital campaign is underway to acquire the building.
5. Walking Tours and Special Experiences: Additional revenue from walking tours including the Big Little Treasure Hunt (€15), Football Walking Tours (€15), and Arran Henderson Walking Tours (season tickets €80).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

The Little Museum of Dublin operates a single-location cultural museum at 15 St. Stephen's Green, offering timed-entry 29-minute guided tours through Dublin's 20th-century history alongside permanent exhibitions (U2: Made in Dublin, The Golden Age of Dublin, The Editor's Room). It also sells merchandise via an on-site shop and online store, offers venue hire for corporate and private events, runs walking tours and family programmes, and operates as a registered charity accepting donations and life memberships.

Product overview

The Little Museum of Dublin operates as a single-location cultural institution offering a portfolio of interconnected visitor experiences. The core offering is the Famous Guided Tour—a 29-minute performative journey through Dublin's history—which serves as the anchor experience alongside permanent exhibitions including U2: Made in Dublin, The Golden Age of Dublin, and The Editor's Room. Supporting offerings include walking tours (Arran Henderson architectural tours, Football Walking Tour, Big Little Treasure Hunt), educational programmes for schools and families, French-language tours, and venue hire for private events. The museum extends its reach through publications (On Dublin book, A Little History of Dublin, The Only Massive Map of Dublin), an online shop selling merchandise and memberships, and digital content via Google Arts & Culture. The experience is ticketed exclusively through guided tours, with optional add-ons including life memberships and special event access.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Famous Guided Tour The museum's signature 29-minute guided tour of Dublin's 20th-century history, combining storytelling, comedy, and historical narrative, led by live performer guides. Entry to the museum is exclusively via this timed-entry guided tour format.
• U2: Made in Dublin Exhibition A permanent second-floor exhibition celebrating Ireland's rock band U2 with artefacts, signed albums, photography, and memorabilia spanning the band's 40-year history, including a Trabant car, oversize Gibson Explorer, life-size sculpture of MacPhisto, and U2-themed memorabilia.
• The Golden Age of Dublin Exhibition A ground-floor exhibition exploring Dublin's Georgian era through James Malton's aquatint plates, documenting the city at its height before the Act of Union in 1800. Functions as a miniature biography of Dublin at the height of its golden age.
• The Editor's Room Exhibition A second-floor recreation of The Irish Times newspaper offices during Robert 'Bertie' Smyllie's editorship (1934-1954), featuring his typewriter (donated by Maeve Binchy), VE Day front page, original desk, and the first front page from 29 March 1859. Curated by Peter Murtagh.
• Tara's Palace Doll's House One of the world's greatest doll's houses, built by master craftsmen over 20 years, featuring Georgian house interiors recreated at one-twelfth scale. Part of the museum's permanent collection.
• Big Little Treasure Hunt (BLT) An outdoor walking tour through St. Stephen's Green with a treasure hunt map, featuring history, puzzles, and cultural entertainment for families and groups. Priced at €15 per person with group discounts for 10+ persons.
• Arran Henderson Walking Tours Three architectural heritage walking tours led by local historian Arran Henderson covering Temple Bar, historic actors and playwrights, and Dublin's vanished parish churches. Season tickets cost €80 for three tours with only 30 tickets per series.
• Football Walking Tour of Dublin A 90-minute walking tour with Gary Cooke and Aodhán Ó'Ríordáin TD covering Irish soccer history from The Ban to Jack Charlton.
• Tour en Français A guided tour of the Little Museum conducted entirely in French, celebrating Irish-French cultural connections, available Wednesday to Saturday at 2:45pm, included with standard admission.
• Venue Hire Private event hosting in the Georgian townhouse drawing room, suitable for drinks receptions, birthday parties, corporate events, and intimate dinners for up to 32 guests. Private tours during normal opening hours cost €450 with maximum capacity of 32 guests.
• Kids and Families Programme Family-focused museum experience with worksheets, quizzes, museum badges, and the 'I Love Dublin' education programme promoting civic pride for Irish schools. Includes Family Ticket (€45 for 2 adults + up to 3 children).
• Life Membership Unlimited lifetime museum visits with shop discounts and recognition on the Patrons board, offered through the online shop as a subscription-based membership.
• A Little History of Dublin (Book) A book by Trevor White covering a thousand years of Dublin history in short chapters, published by Merrion Press in July 2023. Signed copies sold through the museum's online shop.
• On Dublin: Reflections on the Irish Capital (Book) A book featuring text by Louise East and photo essay by Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Deanne Fitzmaurice, offering an insider's portrait of Dublin life.
• The Only Massive Map of Dublin An intricate A1-sized illustrated map of Dublin by Philip Barrett with text by Trevor White and Daryl Hendley Rooney, measuring 841mm by 594mm.
• Online Shop (Little Shop of Dublin) E-commerce platform at shop.littlemuseum.ie selling books, souvenirs, The Only Massive Map of Dublin, 'On Dublin' book, memberships, and donations. Complements the on-site ground-floor shop.

Quantifiable outcome

• Ranked #12 best thing to do in Europe on TripAdvisor 2024, ahead of the British Museum
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Santa RitacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Santa Rita is the Official Exhibition Partner of the Little Museum's temporary exhibition programme from 2025-2028. The partnership includes the Bernardo O'Higgins Gallery naming and aligns Santa Rita's cultural heritage with the museum's dedication to storytelling. Santa Rita's 120 Series wines are named after Bernardo O'Higgins and 120 Irish soldiers who fought for Chilean independence.
• DoDublincoreGTM or Marketing PartnerDoDublin Hop-on Hop-off Tours features the Little Museum as a stop on their sightseeing circuits. The partnership provides mutual exposure as DoDublin is the #1 Hop-on Hop-off Tour provider in Dublin City.
• Dublin Port CompanycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDublin Port Company partnered with the museum on the Solidarity exhibition about Dublin dockers, held at the Substation in Dublin Port. They also commissioned Dublin, Your Face film and sponsor the Wednesday morning free access programme (Freedom of Dublin).
• eirminorOthersTelecommunications company eir donated the K1 telephone kiosk to the museum. The kiosk is the last functioning K1 telephone in Ireland and provides visitors with a free phone call experience.
• Google Arts & CulturecoreTechnology or IntegrationThe museum participates in Google Arts & Culture, a non-commercial initiative that preserves and brings art and culture online. The museum has an online exhibition of Dublin in the 20th century accessible to anyone worldwide.
• Moston ConstructionminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerConstruction firm engaged to build the lift and complete renovations during the Little Museum 2.0 project. Led by Barry O'Shea, the company worked under conservation architect Deaton Lysaght to renovate the 1778 Georgian building.
• Clayton HotelsminorGTM or Marketing PartnerFeatured as a top activity for couples in Clayton Hotels' 4-Day Dublin Itinerary, providing visibility to hotel guests seeking activities in Dublin.
• Merrion PressminorOthersPublisher of Trevor White's book 'A Little History of Dublin'. The museum sells signed copies through its online shop.
• Deaton Lysaght Conservation ArchitectsminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerConservation architecture firm oversaw the renovation of the Georgian townhouse during Little Museum 2.0, ensuring preservation of the historic 1778 building.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• National Museum of Ireland: Ireland's national museum operating multiple sites including Collins Barracks and archaeology/history branches. A larger established incumbent covering overlapping Irish historical content but with broader scope and free admission, competing for tourist attention in the same Dublin itinerary.
• Guinness Storehouse: Ireland's most-visited paid tourist attraction, an industrial-heritage experience at St. James's Gate. Comparable as a high-volume ticketed Dublin cultural/heritage attraction with retail and food-revenue streams, though operating at substantially larger scale.
• Chester Beatty Library: World-renowned library and museum of manuscripts and decorative arts at Dublin Castle. Comparable as a Dublin heritage attraction with rotating exhibitions and strong international acclaim, though with free admission and broader thematic scope.
• Book of Kells Experience (Trinity College): Trinity College Dublin's medieval manuscript exhibition and Long Room tour. Comparable as a Dublin cultural/heritage attraction competing for the same cultural tourist itinerary, with similar timed-entry ticketing and a globally recognisable cultural anchor (U2 for Little Museum, Book of Kells for Trinity).

Direct peers

• GPO Museum (GPO Witness History): Dublin's 1916 Rising visitor experience at the General Post Office. Directly comparable as a ticketed immersive history attraction in central Dublin targeting the same cultural-tourist segment with similar storytelling approach.
• 14 Henrietta Street: Dublin tenement museum offering guided tours of a Georgian townhouse exploring Dublin's social history. Directly comparable as a small narrative-driven Dublin heritage museum in a period building with ticketed guided tours and a thematic focus on Dublin's 20th-century life.
• Irish Whiskey Museum: Guided-tour cultural attraction in central Dublin focused on Irish whiskey heritage. Comparable as a small, ticketed, guided-tour-led Dublin museum in the heritage/cultural space targeting similar tourist demographics with similar group/private tour pricing structure.
• Kilmainham Gaol Museum: Historic Dublin prison turned museum operated by the Office of Public Works. Comparable as a ticketed guided-tour heritage attraction focused on Irish history (1916 Rising) with timed-entry and a guided format that competes directly for tourist attention.
• MoLI (Museum of Literature Ireland): Dublin cultural museum housed in a historic UCD building at St. Stephen's Green, founded by former Little Museum curator Simon O'Connor. Directly comparable as a small, narrative-driven Dublin museum focused on Irish cultural heritage with ticketed guided experiences and a similar donor/patron funding model.
• EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum: Dublin's leading visitor attraction focused on Irish emigration history, located in the CHQ Building. Comparable as a ticketed, narrative-driven Dublin history museum with guided/self-guided experiences, gift shop, and strong TripAdvisor positioning targeting the same tourist segments.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/littlemuseumdub
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@LittleMuseumofDublin
• Facebookfacebook.com/littlemuseumdub
• Instagraminstagram.com/littlemuseumdub
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-little-museum-of-dublin

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Little Museum of Dublin