I was recently in Dublin for a few days and I visited the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) on my way back to Cork. It's located in the old building known as the Royal Hospital in Kilmainham. It was built between 1680 and 1684 as a kind of army retirement home, much like Les Invalides in Paris or the Royal Hospital Chelsea in London. I'm sure there are lots of equivalents in other countries too.
It was renovated and opened as IMMA in 1991. Modern art can be a bit hit and miss I think. Sometimes you'll see some amazing works of art and sometimes you'll see some absolute crap. Oftentimes the building containing the 'art' is more impressive than the so called art.
That's kind of the case in IMMA. They have some really good stuff by Irish and international artists, but they also have some rubbish too. The building is great, real solid and well built. It should be if it has lasted all this time I suppose. The grounds of IMMA are very good, loads of space to walk around or have a picnic. There's also some sculpture in the grounds which is a very good idea.
