National Gallery of Ireland | 16,380 followers on LinkedIn. The National Gallery of Ireland is located in the heart of Dublin, and holds the national collection of European and Irish fine art. Founded in 1854, the National Gallery of Ireland first opened its doors in 1864, and over the last 150 years, the Gallery's collection has grown from one hundred artworks to over 15,000 paintings, works on paper, sculptures, objets d’art, silver and furniture, with an additional 100,000 items in the Library and Archive collections. The Gallery is open 362 days of the year, and admission to the permanent collection is free.