The Wax Museum Plus is now open in Dublin. Photos and thoughts from a walk around.
Here’s a picture for you. What sort of memories, if any, does it provoke for you?
Photo via dkimages.com
What about this one?
When I was growing up and only getting to Dublin once a year (the sister or meself in the All Ireland Dancing Finals in the Mansion House) there was no greater treat than the National Wax Museum over on Granby Row, Dublin 1.
God, I loved the place. As poor as the models were, as dark and dingy and made of plastecine and sticklebricks that it seemed to be and as often as I went there, there was no rival to it, simply because of how bad it was. Bad though in a very entertaining way. The tunnels frightened the bejaysus out of me.
I was sorry to hear that it was closing down in 2005 (though at that stage I hadn’t been to it for years) but delighted to see it was reopening recently. So meself and Niamho popped down to The National Wax Museum Plus, Foster Place, Temple Bar on Sunday to have a look around.
Now in where the old Bank of Ireland Arts Centre was, the National Wax Museum Plus is worth the tenner in, if, for nothing else, to relive the memories of youth, to have a look at how they do it and to have a laugh. Some of it is laughable, some cringeworty but all in the understanding that there’s more to come, it’s early days and things will be getting better.
Besides, where else could you go, other than the Arás, to be greeted by President Mary McAleese in all her finery?
The prices are as follows - €10 for an adult, €7 for a child, €9 for a teenager and €9 for concessions. A family ticket is €30 and it’s open Monday to Sunday 10AM to 7PM. It’s also available for private hire…
They’ve utilised four floors well in the wax museum. From ground level you go downstairs to the top floor and down again following the voices, the directions and the arrows. In each room there’s a *very* quick voiceover explaining who each figure is and their contribution to Irish society. It starts with the writers room:
You then descend down to THE TIME VAULTS - pre-Christian Ireland, Irish mythology, the Famine, the Battle of the Boyne, 1916, the Good Friday Agreement and my personal favourite - THE CHAMBER OF HORRORS!!
Starting with all the old favourites - St Patrick (or an early bishop?) -
an evil looking Viking invader
and the prehistoric/neolithic woman doing the housework
We move on to the ages of the Flight of the Earls, of the English occupation and the like
I was somewhat impressed by Setanta (soon to be Cúchulainn) in the Irish Mythology section
I mean this hound is pretty damn scary!
and tempted to warn Fionn McCumhaill against tasting the Salmon of Knowledge (though did you know he’s apparently asleep in a cave under Dublin in case we’re ever invaded again?)
led on by the black druid of somethingness, we headed on to find out about the famine…
Given the night before at the Irish Web Awards, I felt a bit like this
and thankfully not as bad as this
but it was nice to see that Daniel O Connell has kept his tan, despite being hidden for so long
Cromwell’s death mask gave us a taste of things to come
though some of the poses were just a bit unexpected
and some people were obviously not having as much fun as we were
Michael Collins had a big serious head on him
and the scene in the 1916 rising looked grim. Yes, that is Countess Marcewicz holding a piece of paper to tell us who she is
Dev wasn’t looking the best, possibly the dark room
while Patrick Hillery had a big smile for everyone
situated, as he was, for some strange reason beside Charles de Gaulle…
and some other bloke
Gollum (with a horrendous accent) warned us about the dangers of the CHAMBER OF HORRORS!
which was of course not this room
the lads looked happy enough
probably amused by Ian Paisley’s robot dance moves.
There’s a Hannibal Lecter room in the basement
He’s got some friends hanging around there with him
Some people aren’t impressed at not being invited to the party
and some aren’t even dressed to join in!
though it’s great to see that good old Jack is still on his way up (or down?)
The poor Dwarves look wrecked from all the work
but Batman is making sure they get on with it
while Harry Potter is getting lunch ready for them.
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are always up for a PARTAYYYYY!
though they better be careful they don’t wake up Santy, asleep as he is
Benedict and John Paul II (pout of his Irish popemobile) welcome you up to the TV and entertainment area
Gaybo is in residence
as is the gaffer
Brendan O’ Carroll Barry McGuigan wearing his boxing gear
and Steve Collins thinking about having a bash at someone
You’d barely know young Colin Farrell
but Van the Man is unmistakable
Jack Nicholson is a barrell of laughs as always
while Ronan Keating seems to be wondering
if this really is Tina Turner
and if the lads are fighting over her
There’s also a brilliant interactive science room, full of interesting facts about Irish scientists and experiments that you can do yourself.
While it may seem I’ve taken photos of everything, I didn’t get to cover the waX-Factor room, the recording studio or many other features, due to carrying a couple of big bags around with me. You should also bear in mind I was using the mobile phone camera as well, so the photos shouldn’t be taken as representatives of the quality of the exhibitions or the range of what’s available to see.
Wax Museum Plus has a lot of work to do but in fairness to them, they’ve started well. I went out of morbid curiousity and for the craic and I got both. I’ll definitely be back with friends, and I think it’s one of the few places in Dublin that charges just about the right price for what it is. I’d have liked a programme and ticket and the like - I assume they’re on the way, and a café would be a great feature for them, but overall it’s a thumbs up from me.
You can visit their shiny new website here. Fair play to the team for giving it a go!
About the Author
darraghdoyle Blogger, event addict and fan of street and performance art. You can contact me directly at darraghdoyle[at]gmail[dot]com or @darraghdoyle on twitter.
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was that really suppose to be colin farrell?? a few of the wax works seem to have yellow fever too
Was in on Saturday and enjoyed it a lot.
The Frankenstien room was being worked on when I was there though which was funny as it looked like an autopsy was going on.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/monkeyfudge/4003920945/in/set-72157622568494546/
And fair play to them for keeping the tunnels.
Great to see this back again. Def a bit of a mixed bag in relation to the final product (though beckett is incredible).
Thats one family day sorted for me then!
Colin Farrell? I totally missed him! Or missed that it was supposed to be him, lol. Good fun for a rainy afternoon though and I’d say when they are finished it will be great.
Darragh I’m pretty sure I saw a sign for a Café in there, it must be an upcoming feature 🙂
A lot of those wax works are shockingly bad. I’d rather throw a tenner in the bin then pay into this place.
Only ever went to the original once when i was a wee thing. But i’ll be checking out this one then at some stage 🙂 And yes, the Beckett one is the standout here!!
That Nicholson Joker one is pretty scary (clowns in general freak me out!) 😉
Wax museums are at their best when they’re terrible.
Madame Tussuad’s is so boring with it’s wax dummies that look like the people they’re supposed to look like.
I’m a huge wax museum fan though… always seek them out when I’m in a new city.
So half the waxworks are either of fictional characters, or people we have no photographic record of to know if they’re any good or not? What a cop out!
Never went to the old Waxworks, though I remember it was a favourite of Jonathan Ross, who mentioned it on his radio show every time the subject of Ireland came up. He loved it because the waxworks were so bad - he said they all looked like Terry Wogan. Having seen your photos, I am definitely bringing my kids. It looks scary/gorey enough to entertain them. Thanks!
I’m not a fan of Wax Museums, but I’m going along to see this tonight. The pictures don’t immediately put me at ease - is it supposed to look that bad?
Half the power of a good waxwork (or any sculpture) is the way it is lit (like the Beckett, Kavanagh and Joker ones above). Most of the others do look very dodgy, though i suppose that’s half the charm…creates a sort of unnerving atmosphere! 😉
Culann’s Hound seems to have escaped from the Yorkshire Moors! 😉
I loved the tunnels when i was small! I’m love to bring my little cousins to this!
It worries me how much like dodgy screencaps of N-64 graphics a lot of the pictures above look…
I’ll go, of course, because I used love our period school trips to the wax museum. And because it’s good to support home-grown attractions. And because I love that building (and am sad, really, to see it no longer as the arts centre, but times change). But I certainly don’t expect to be blown away, by any means…
Some pretty scary stuff, even the ones not meant to be, lol, enjoyed Darragh’s comment about the post IWA night look!
Wax Museums: They’re a bit… pants… really, aren’t they? A bit… 1800’s? I mean like, we have television now. And the internet and stuff. And soon we will have 3-D printers and we’ll be able to print out our own full-sized Colin Farrell’s and Ian Paisleys in the comfort of our homes. If we’re mental.
Hahahah love Countess Marcewicz holding the paper with her name on. And nearly died laughing at the two popes. They look like something out of Team America.
I love the ninja turtles and the Ronan one…wonder if I could steal that…?
The people at Madame Tussauds must be sh***ing themselves now!!
Is it just just me or does Oscar Wilde look more like Severus Snape than himself?
@Niall
@Darren I loved that!
As dire as some of the models are, the commentary really made me chuckle!
Darragh! You are taking the mick?! It is the biggest waste of time, cringeworthy doesn’t begin to touch upon it. No guides, no assistance, no proper directions as to which way to go… Lemass in the Good Friday room (?!), DeV thrown out in the corridor with no name sign or anything (Sen. Cassidy wouldn’t be impressed or have allowed same in the old gaff ;)), beside Charles de Gaulle, no pope mobile, no updated figures since 19-bloody-86 bar Cardinal Ratz…. they show videos referencing Irish icons eg. Katie Taylor, Dermot Morgan, Tommy Tiernan etc and they don’t feature anywhere on the tour? No updated U2, Harry Potter looks like a melted candle with glasses…
I could go on. So I will. What’s which the Science room thing? I couldn’t understand how it or the ‘Recording Studio’ fitted into the tour at all. The lighting was shocking too, obviously to distract from such dire figures. The sound in some of the rooms wasn’t working, they were still painting it when we were in, electricians were working on the chamber of horrors (a whole 2 rooms of it!) and the only ‘signs’ were handwritten A4 pages.
In a word: pathetic.
I have to agree with Ciara. I saw some of the figures last night and it was as bad as I expected. Very poorly conceived. We found ourselves trying to work out who some of the ‘famous’ figures were.
Great venue though.
/felt need to say SOMETHING positive.
Tcup - yep, yep it is. ANd yep, they do.
Monkeyfudge - Same here. It’s the cringe factor of it all.
Peter - glad to oblige!
Niamh - He was in the final room. ANd yes, when it’s finished I’d say it’ll be much beter, but that will take a while. Yay for the café!
Voodoolady - They are woeful. But funny woeful.
Emlyn - There’s a lot of freaky ones, that’s for sure!
Monkeyfudge -
- completely agree with you.
Arnie - Oh I’d say over half are in that list!
Catherine - Be prepared to be surprised
Emlyn - I will play the mobile phone camera card again on this one… but more to come on that.
Efa - those tunnels were my favourite. I nearly got stuck once though. And I thought I heard a mouse, even though it was probably a sound effect. Scared the living daylights out of me.
Pluincee - I think you’re missing the point
Keleher - the ones that aren’t meant to be scary are the funniest
Matt - yes, exacvtly and that’s why I enjoyed it so much!
Katherine - there was a lot of that going on!
Jelly - I’m sure it could be arranged
Frank - erm, somehow I doubt it
Niall - a young Severus, certainly
Gillian - happy to oblige
Ciara - You’re right in many many ways but it’s the cringeworthiness of the old place that I loved and the fact that it’s here is ironic. I sat in Café Bar Deli last night for a small spaghetti bolognese and a latte and it was nearly €15. Prices like that where you expect quality is so aggravating. A tenner for something I expected to be cringeworthy was money well spent.
I know it’s in a different league but an adult ticket to Madame Tusaads in London is £22.50 (€24.10) and to the London Dungeon is £16.95 (€18.20) so I really think I got what I paid for.
I agree with you re missing figures - maybe they’re due to be added(?) and the - well pretty much all of it. But I still enjoyed it! I just wouldn’t say pathetic in the hope of what’s to come.
PS, did you ever do Celtworld in Tramore??
Darren - so at least you weren’t disappointed!!
That’s not Michael Carruth, it’s Steve Collins.
And what the fuck is up with the boobies? Anything to get the punters in, eh?
Celtword was hilariously bad
Dave - nice one, thanks! And yes, wondered the same meself.
Voodoolady - now there was an overpriced and overrated “attraction”.
We were there on Saturday and I thought it was hilarious. Most of the waxworks are so old they should be collecting their pension.
i dont know where to start as regards to how bad the new wax museum is,its a disgrace,i was at the old one loads of times and always enjoyed it but i thought myself and my partner would bring the kids today just for something to do for a few hours which it wud have taken to get around and enjoy the old one but we were in and out within half an hour of the new one and wasnt worth the 30euros we paid in and i wudnt go again if they let me in for free and made a point of telling them that on the door on the way out,we had to leave the babys buggy at the door coz its not a child friendly place with all the stairs so ended up carrying the child around,its all just little poky rooms with a few poxy wax figures thrown in and not a patch on the set up of the old one,and what happened to all the figures they were supposed to have in storage from the old one ? the kids were really pissed off coz all that was there was the simpsons,harry potter and sleeping santa which is a hell of a lot less then what was in the old one coz i can remember going to the old one as a kid and really enjoying it,the building is far from suitable for what it is with small rooms and stair ways and very badly layed out and badly signed,over all we were all very disappointed with it and wouldnt go back again or recommend it to anyone with or without a family,keep your money and spend it on something worth while coz its a dump.
and id hate to be in it if there was a big crowd in there coz as quiet as it was today we couldnt get around without bumping into people and god help everyone if theres ever a fire in the building coz theres no way anyone will make it out because of the narrow halls and no fire exits.