[1][2] EPIC is a privately owned museum, founded by Neville Isdell, former chairman and chief executive of The Coca-Cola Company, who was born in County Down.

[3][4] During 2015, an advisory group was assembled to consult on the development of EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum.

[9] At its opening in 2016, the Irish Independent reported that Isdell has invested Euro 15 million in the project, and that "my experience was of a bold series of 20 galleries slickly fitted with at times breathtakingly immersive technology-driven displays".

[11] EPIC went on to win Europe's Leading Tourist Attraction at the World Travel Awards in 2019, 2020 and 2021.

These galleries cover religious missionary work, the Irish famine, religious and social persecution, criminal transportation, and the effects of Irish involvement in foreign conflicts.