Micheál Martin called it “an absolute showstopper”.

Now, following a grand launch by the Taoiseach over the weekend, the rest of us can start planning our visits to check out Domain of the Dinosaurs at The Glucksman in University College Cork.

Domain of the Dinosaurs, developed by Maria McNamara, Professor of Palaeontology, and Fiona Kearney, Director of the Glucksman, presents over 250 fossils including bones from the only known dinosaurs found in Ireland.

The exhibition includes life-sized skeleton casts of Megalosaurus and Scelidosaurus, and transports visitors back in time to a remarkable ancient world that is almost completely unrecognisable.

While it has been officially opened, the exhibition is closed to the general public from November 18th to 23rd, 2025. After that you can visit from 11am – 5pm, Tuesday to Sunday or book a €5 tour of the display, suitable for all ages, over here.

Five Irish artists were commissioned to bring a creative lens to the deep time involved in paleontological research, providing an imaginative response to Ireland’s rich fossil record that pre-dates the dinosaurs by millions of years. The commissioned artists are Tom Climent, Johanna Connor, Damien Flood, Angela Gilmour, and Emma O’Hara.

Photographs by Clare Keogh