Dublin’s Grangegorman campus is now home to one of Ireland’s most significant public history projects. Beyond the Walls, a new exhibition developed by the Grangegorman Histories programme, officially opened at TU Dublin’s Academic Hub and Library on Tuesday, 22 September 2026. Open to the public until May 2027, the exhibition examines 250 years of life, care, confinement and community on a site that has housed a workhouse, an asylum and a prison, and that today is being reshaped as a modern university campus.
The launch event brought together the curators, researchers, contributors and partner organisations who have spent years uncovering and sharing the complex history of Grangegorman. For students, staff, local residents and visitors from across Ireland and beyond, the exhibition offers a rare chance to meet the people behind the walls of one of Dublin’s most historically layered locations.
Plan your visit: Beyond the Walls is open to the public at the Academic Hub and Library, Grangegorman, Dublin 7, and runs until May 2027. Check TU Dublin’s news and events pages for opening details before travelling.
A New Public Exhibition Opens at TU Dublin’s Grangegorman Campus
The official launch marked the culmination of years of research, curation and collaboration. The Grangegorman Histories project, led by the Royal Irish Academy in partnership with the Grangegorman Development Agency and other stakeholders, has worked to document the site’s institutional past and present it in a way that is honest, accessible and engaging for a wide audience.
Beyond the Walls sits at the centre of that effort. Rather than presenting Grangegorman’s history as a timeline of buildings and institutions, the exhibition focuses on people: the patients who received care, the prisoners who served their sentences, the staff who worked within the walls, and the local residents whose lives were intertwined with the site. This human-centred approach is what makes the project a strong model of public history practice in Ireland.
The launch follows a visit by An Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, on 11 September, when he toured the exhibition as part of the official opening of TU Dublin’s new Academic Hub and Library. Katherine Martin, Project Manager with Grangegorman Histories, and Dr Philip Cohen of the Grangegorman Histories Working Group guided the Taoiseach through the displays and introduced him to some of the individuals whose stories the exhibition tells.
From Workhouse to University: The History Grangegorman Holds
For more than 250 years, Grangegorman operated as a cluster of institutions. A workhouse, an asylum and, in more recent times, a prison all stood within its boundaries, serving purposes that reflected Ireland’s changing social and public policy landscape. Institutions of this kind were common across nineteenth and twentieth-century Ireland, and Grangegorman’s story echoes that of many sites where care, punishment and poverty were managed behind high walls.
Behind those walls lived generations of patients, prisoners, inmates, staff and local residents. Their experiences were shaped by hardship and confinement, but also by care, resilience and, at times, hope. Capturing that full spectrum, rather than reducing the site to a single narrative, is a central aim of Beyond the Walls.
The timing of the exhibition is significant. As Grangegorman continues its evolution into an open and vibrant university campus, the project invites reflection on how a place once defined by enclosure is becoming a place of learning, community and opportunity.
Inside the Exhibition: Archives, Artwork and Personal Stories
Visitors to Beyond the Walls will encounter a rich collection of material drawn from archives, private collections and community contributions. The exhibition includes:
- Archival documents and records that chart the administration and daily operation of the institutions that once stood on the site.
- Photographs and objects that illustrate the physical environment of the workhouse, asylum and prison, and the lives of those who passed through them.
- Artwork and poetry that respond to Grangegorman’s history and give contemporary voices space to interpret it.
- Personal stories from people who lived or worked at Grangegorman, and from their descendants, ensuring the exhibition reflects lived experience as well as official record.
This combination of media allows the exhibition to speak to different audiences in different ways. Historians will find depth in the archival material; families with connections to the site may recognise relatives or places; and general visitors can engage with the stories through art, poetry and first-person testimony.
Why the Academic Hub and Library Is a Fitting Home
The choice of venue gives the exhibition additional weight. The Academic Hub and Library, which incorporates the restored North House building, sits at the heart of TU Dublin’s Grangegorman campus and physically embodies the site’s evolution. A restored historic structure now houses a contemporary library and learning space, creating a tangible link between the past and the future.
Ger Casey, Chief Executive of the Grangegorman Development Agency, highlighted this point at the launch. Grangegorman, he noted, is a place with a rich and complex history, and through the Grangegorman Histories programme there has been a deliberate effort to understand that heritage and to acknowledge the experiences of the many people who lived, worked and received care there over generations. Development, he emphasised, is not only about creating new buildings but about understanding the places we inherit and ensuring their stories remain part of what comes next.
For TU Dublin students, having this exhibition on campus means the history of Grangegorman is not an abstract topic but a daily presence, one that can inform study across disciplines including history, social care, health, architecture, journalism and the visual arts.
Voices Behind the Project
Ruth Hegarty, Grangegorman Histories Director at the Royal Irish Academy and a curator of Beyond the Walls, described the project as a gold standard public history initiative with much to share with other institutional sites around Ireland that carry complex histories. The exhibition, she noted, brings that research to life for visitors to the new Academic Hub.
Her point has wider relevance. Across Ireland, many sites carry difficult and layered histories. The approach taken at Grangegorman, which combines rigorous research, community involvement and sensitive curation, offers a framework that other institutions and communities can learn from when deciding how to present their own pasts.
Events Programme: Tours, Talks and the Dublin Festival of History
The launch is part of a broader programme of events, publications and learning opportunities from Grangegorman Histories, giving the public multiple ways to engage with the site’s history over the coming months.
As part of Culture Night, members of the Grangegorman Histories project were at the Royal Irish Academy, where visitors could find out more about the exhibition and browse a selection of books exploring Grangegorman’s past.
The programme continues as part of the Dublin Festival of History, with guided tours of the historic Grangegorman site scheduled for 30 September and 3 October. These tours explore the buildings, institutions and changing uses of the site, concluding with a visit to Beyond the Walls. Further talks, tours and events will take place over the coming months, examining different aspects of Grangegorman’s history and the experiences of the people connected to it.
Take the next step: guided walking tours are a popular way to experience the site in context. Booking ahead through the Dublin Festival of History programme is recommended.
Planning Your Visit to Beyond the Walls
If you are considering a visit, here is what you need to know:
- Location: The Academic Hub and Library, TU Dublin, Grangegorman, Dublin 7. The campus is well served by public transport, with Luas, bus and rail options nearby.
- Duration: The exhibition runs until May 2027, giving visitors plenty of time to plan a trip.
- Access: The Academic Hub and Library is a modern, purpose-designed building, and visitors can also explore the surrounding campus, which is open and welcoming to the public.
- Make a day of it: Grangegorman sits close to the markets, cafés and cultural spots of Dublin 7, making it easy to build a half-day visit around the exhibition.
Have questions about the exhibition or the Grangegorman Histories programme? Write to TU Dublin or the project partners through their official contact channels. Schools, community groups and researchers are all welcome to get in touch.
What the Exhibition Offers Students and the Wider Community
Beyond its value to visitors, Beyond the Walls carries real significance for education and community life. For TU Dublin students, the exhibition is a living teaching resource. Students of history can engage with primary sources and public history practice; those in health and social care can reflect on how institutional care has evolved; architecture and planning students can study how a complex urban site is regenerated; and creative arts students can see how art and poetry respond to difficult heritage.
For the wider Dublin community, particularly those with family or personal connections to Grangegorman, the exhibition provides recognition and space for reflection. Public history projects of this kind depend on community participation, and the Grangegorman Histories programme has consistently involved former staff, residents and descendants in shaping how the story is told.
If you are thinking about studying in Dublin, the Grangegorman campus is worth seeing first-hand. Explore TU Dublin’s full range of undergraduate, postgraduate and part-time courses to find programmes delivered at this historic and rapidly developing site.
Follow the Story: News and Events From Grangegorman
The opening of Beyond the Walls is a milestone in the ongoing story of Grangegorman, a story that spans 250 years of institutional history and a contemporary reinvention as a university campus. With a full events programme still to come, and the exhibition open until May 2027, there are many opportunities to engage with this important chapter of Ireland’s social history.
Stay informed: Follow TU Dublin’s news articles and events calendar for announcements about upcoming talks and tours at Grangegorman. And if you or your family have a connection to Grangegorman, share your experiences in the comments below. Personal accounts are an invaluable part of how public history is preserved and understood.
