The National Museum - Archaeology , Kildare Street

The National Museum of Ireland contains exhibits on archaeology and on the history of Ireland. The archaeology exhibits contain artifacts that date back to the Bronze Age. The museum is part of the government complex just south of Trinity College and west of Merrion Square. The museum shares an entrance with the National Library and the building that houses Parliament. The building on Kildare Street was designed by Thomas Newenham Deane and was used to show contemporary Irish, British and Continental craftsmanship in its construction. It was opened to the public in 1890. In Ulysses by James Joyce, the protagonist Leopold Bloom takes a detour into the National Museum when he sees his wife's lover, Blazes Boylan, walking down the street.The museum is also referred to as the "handsome building (that) Sir Thomas Deane designed".