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Originally Posted by Swift
Dub here, though I haven't lived there in 20 years.
As well as what others have mentioned, I'll throw in some lesser suggested ideas -
The National Museum and National Gallery are free. The Natural History museum is my favourite with its Victorian achitecture and taxidermied animals from that era. Also free, although google says it's temporaily closed right now.
You can visit Christchurch and it's vaults (as well as the Dublinia museum attached to it if you want to know more of Dublin's history. St. Patrick's Cathedral is also a nice place to visit. I've found both to be overrun with tourists last time I visited though. Didn't used to be like that back in my time.
St. Michan's Church has a guided tour of it's small vaults containing hundreds year old preserved dead bodies. Macabre obviously, but really neat.
Croke Park is the biggest stadium in the country and you can do a guided tour there, or alternatively you can just do the tour which allows you to walk around the rooftop. Really cool.
There are quite a few nice parks in the city, if you just want to grab a sandwich and go have lunch - St. Stephen's Green, Merrion Square (with its kitschy Oscar Wilde statue - he was born just around the corner), Iveagh Gardens and heading west out of the city is the Phoenix Park, which I believe is the biggest city park in Europe, or at least one of them.
Howth was mentioned (Beshoff's is the place to go for classic fish and chips; also there's a guy who does a boat trip out to Ireland's Eye weather permitting) but if you fancy another pier on the opposite side of the city, you can take the DART to Dun Laoighaire. Further down the line are Dalkey and Killiney, I wouldn't say there's anything specific to check out there but this is where the wealthy and famous live (Bono, Enya etc) and on nice summer days, the ocean views can look almost Mediterranean. It's a lovely area if you just fancy a random aimless stroll but again, not specifically suggesting you need to go there.
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Agree on Beshoff's for fish and chips. I'd also recommend the Bewley's tea rooms.
The Irish Emigration museum is also well worth a visit, especially if the weather isn't up to scratch.
Another idea, if you've three days, is spending one of them up in Belfast. It is just two hours away on the Enterprise train which runs every hour. The Titanic Museum is an incredible exhibition. I've been twice with family, and it is the best and most moving historical attraction I've ever visited.