Little Museum of Dublin

Everything in this museum was donated by Dubliners, which makes it both a history museum and a love letter from a city to itself. The Little Museum opened in 2011 in a Georgian townhouse at 15 St. Stephen's Green, and its entire collection of over 5,000 artifacts came from a public appeal asking ordinary Dublin people to donate objects that told the story of their city.

The result is gloriously eclectic. You'll find the lectern used by President John F. Kennedy during his 1963 visit to Ireland, sitting alongside vintage shop signs, old Dublin tram tickets, and faded photographs of streets that no longer exist. There's an original copy of the letter given to the Irish envoys heading to the 1921 Treaty negotiations, and upstairs, an entire room devoted to U2 — this is Dublin, after all.

One of the collection's gems is the personal archive of Alfred "Alfie" Byrne, Lord Mayor of Dublin a record ten times between 1930 and 1955. Byrne was famous for shaking the hand of every constituent he met, allegedly managing 500 handshakes a day. His story is quintessentially Dublin: working-class kid made good, devoted public servant, relentless schmoozer.

Visits are by guided tour only, which goes on the hour every hour, and the guides are excellent — knowledgeable, funny, and passionate about their city. The museum has been nominated for European Museum of the Year, which is remarkable for a place that started with nothing but a Georgian house and a request for donations. It proves that the best museums aren't always the ones with the biggest budgets.