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Photo: NateBergin, CC BY 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
The GPO is the headquarters of the Post Office in Ireland, built in Neo-Classical style 1814-1818. In 1916 it was occupied by Irish rebels led by PH Pearse, who read the Proclamation of the Republic outside the front door of the building. The interior was burnt out by shelling from government forces against the rebels, but the exterior survived. Subsequently the GPO was restored, reopening in 1929, and remains a busy working post office. The museum within it is a multimedia exploration of the Easter Rising.
The General Post Office is the former headquarters of An Post, the Irish postal service. It remains its registered office and the principal post office of Dublin, the capital city of Ireland. It is situated in the centre of O'Connell Street, the city's main thoroughfare. It is one of Ireland's most famous buildings, not least because it served as the headquarters of the leaders of the Easter Rising against British rule in Ireland. It was the last great Georgian public building to be erected in the capital.
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Dublin's Catholic cathedral, built in 1825. Catholicism was always the majority religion in Ireland, but its practice was forbidden until the 19th century. The official cathedral is Christ Church, so designated by the Pope in 1300, but taken over by the Protestants in the 16th century. When the laws relaxed, St Mary's was built in neo-Classical style as a temporary or "pro"-cathedral, until such time as the Pope decrees otherwise or the Protestants hand back Christ Church. Neither event appears imminent.
National Theatre of Ireland
Opened in 1904, and always at the centre of the Irish drama scene, the Abbey is a good venue for catching local playwrights' work but with a global repertoire. It's intended to replace the current building with two new theatres fronting onto the Liffey. This will mean a lengthy closure, but the work has not started.
This has a focus on European and American theatre ranging from classics to modern plays. It was established as a theatre company in 1928 by Hilton Edward and Micheál MacLiammóir.
Sir Hugh Lane (1875-1915) was one of the first collectors of modern art. He died in the sinking of Lusitania and this public gallery reflects his Will, which involved about as much negotiation, fudge and compromise as the Treaty for Irish independence. The permanent exhibitions are mostly contemporary Irish artists, plus Francis Bacon's studio, relocated from London in 2001. Charlemont House was built in 1763 and in 1929 its gardens were built over to create the gallery, which is wheelchair accessible.
Safe space for LGBTQ+ people, with community café, social and cultural events, resources and support services, a queer library, theatre and meeting spaces.
Trinity College is the fine Georgian campus of the University of Dublin. It's generally open to stroll around in daylight hours, but it is a working university, and most interiors are off-limits to tourists. You can visit the Chapel near the front (west) gate of the College. But the big attraction is the Old Library and Book of Kells. Book online, otherwise buy your ticket from the machines under the Lecky library just south. This is for a timed slot, and at weekends may be booked out. You enter an exhibition hall setting the Book in the context of other monastic writings of its period, circa 800 AD. Next enter the display area: only two pages are displayed at any time, one being richly illustrated with little text (or no text, on the "carpet" pages), and one page being text of the Vulgate Gospels, written in Insular Majuscule Latin. But it's difficult to enjoy, with crowds jostling round the display case. Next, go upstairs into the massive Long Hall of the library, with books and ladders and more books and ladders towering away upwards. No books are accessible to the public. Last but not least, exit through the gift shop, which can be entered without a ticket.