I'm into my buildings big time, and stumbled on this place when walking down from Christchurch. Saw they had some salvaged artefacts in their window and wandered in almost by accident! But the staff were super friendly.
The trust are a charitable organisation, and seem to do a lot of work in preserving the rich architectural history and cultural heritage of Dublin. I volunteer for similar groups back in Glasgow, so (no pun intended), this was right up my street.
You have to ring the buzzer to get into the charity's office, but the woman I was chatting to was really friendly and informative - best tour guide I could've asked for! From what I picked up during my stay in Dublin there has been issues in the past with preserving some of the older buildings in town, and the civic trust seem to be involved with a lot of partner organisations in collecting data for local exhibitions in museums, and doing some research work on the future of Dublin's broader culture.
After a chat with their accomodating staff, the woman gave me a book about Dublin's buildings for half price! Can't argue with generosity! Not your everyday tourist attraction and a bit of an accidental find, but the trust's works are worth looking out for around Dublin, since they seem to have a lot of positive projects on the go. read more