Provided are an illumination sensing apparatus, a driving method thereof and a display device having the illumination sensing apparatus. The illumination sensing apparatus includes an illumination sensor unit configured to generate a sensing signal according to peripheral illumination, an illumination determination unit configured to generate an illumination signal according to the sensing signal, and an illumination judgment unit configured to output a brightness select signal using the illumination signal, wherein the illumination sensor unit controls sensitivity of sensing the peripheral illumination to be varied according to the brightness select signal. Therefore, the sensitivity of an illumination sensor is automatically controlled according to the peripheral illumination, thus improving peripheral illumination sensibility. Further, an illumination signal corresponding to the peripheral illumination is provided to a light source module to thereby control the output brightness of the light source module, which makes it possible to reduce power consumption and improve image quality.