As a resident of Dublin growing up I can remember the excitement about the impressive Viking discoveries in Wood Key. The Dubvlinia experience borne from it was the talk of the town and really Ireland first interactive/live museum offering. The experience started by entering a lift and instead of the screen showing floors it showed years travelling back in time as you descended into the museum. This was a simple incredibly effective entrance which has stayed with me to this day. When the lift doors peeled back you were first hit by the smells, smoky and somewhat unpleasant as you now entered a real functioning viking village. With actors playing the parts of locals. The expressed curiosity at our strange clothes and technologies (digital watches). Through the actors we learned about Viking life and it was a wonderous experience for a child.

Sadly this experience no longer exists. Although the museum split over several floors has an immense amount of information and displays there is simply to much text. I realise now it charts Dublin's history both before and long after the Vikings, it has in my opinion lost the magic of its earlier offerings. I felt overwhelmed my the amount of material on offer which one could argue would warrant many visits. The best of the experience were a video depicting the life of a man through the middle ages in Dublin and interactive displays overlaying old and present maps of Dublin. Most interesting is that many of Dublins road still have the very same names as those in the distant past.

I feel the museum has lost its charm for younger people. This is a large museum and will take at a normal pace about two hours to navigate. However I would certainly bring back the Viking village and similar offerings for later periods. A room or two of actors from that time would bring the whole experience to life. And that is main point of contention. The museum is too passive and too heavily based on reading many displays. When you think what could be achieved. Not to say it is not worth a visit and you will certainly get a wonderful impression of Dublins past and I know an immense amount of work goes into creating all this material but I have never forgotten my first experience of Dubvlinia but I'm afraid my latest visit will not supplant it.