Oscar Wilde House in Dublin

Oscar Wilde · 1854-1900 · Dublin

Explore the Dublin house where Oscar Wilde grew up: his father's library and consulting room, his mother's drawing room and his nursery.

Schedule

Weekends only · 11:00 to 18:00

Admission

€12 · €10 concession

Address

1 Merrion Square North, Dublin

Visits

Self-guided, with an introductory video in Spanish and visitor sheets in several languages

The house

Number 1 Merrion Square

Have you read The Picture of Dorian Gray? Would you like to see the house where its author grew up? It's at number 1 Merrion Square, right in the centre of Dublin, and it's where Oscar Wilde spent his childhood and youth.

The Wilde family moved here in 1855, when Oscar was an eight-month-old baby, and lived here for more than twenty years, until 1879. His father, Sir William Wilde, was a well-known doctor, an ear, nose and throat specialist who saw patients in the house itself. His mother, who signed her writings as Speranza, gathered some of the most prominent figures from Ireland, Britain and the United States in her drawing room every week, and during those years number 1 Merrion Square was the centre of Dublin's cultural life.

Built in 1760, the house was the first on the whole square. Today it's home to American College Dublin, and you can explore all four of its floors.

Oscar Wilde's nursery, on the top floor of the house.

What you'll see on the visit

Sir William Wilde's library

After the introductory video, which lasts 20 minutes and is in Spanish, the visit continues in the writer's father's spectacular library.

Aubrey Beardsley's illustrations

The house also has an exhibition of works by Beardsley, the British artist who illustrated Wilde's play Salome.

The consulting room

This is where Sir William saw his patients, and here you'll see Victorian medical display cases.

The dining room and Speranza's drawing room

On the first floor are the dining room and the famous drawing room where Speranza gathered her guests. The floors are the original ones, of 250-year-old Irish oak.

The nursery

On the top floor are the bedrooms and the writer's nursery. There you'll also see an exhibition about his great tour of the United States and Canada in 1882.

Additional information

Plan your visit

There's no need to book: you can pay at reception or buy your ticket in advance. As it only opens at weekends, check the exact days on its website before you go.

Book a visit

Additional information

You can show your voucher on your phone
Free cancellation up to 48 hours before
Concession tickets for students and teachers (with proof), and for unemployed, retired or disabled people
On some Saturdays there are special guided tours at 18:00, for €25 including admission, which you book on the house's website
You can take photos, but not video
Not wheelchair accessible
No pets allowed

Opening hours and closures