Dublin is famous for its authors, playwrights, and writers. This suggested tour will take you past all the points of interest to anyone wishing to hear about Joyce, O’Casey, or any of Dublin’s famous literary figures.
| Start: | Dublin Writer’s Museum, Parnell Square. |
| Finish: | Trinity College |
| Time: | Allow 2 hours. |
Route
- Dublin Writer’s Museum: The museum occupies a tasteful 18th-century townhouse. There are displays relating to Irish literature in all its forms from around the 10th century to the present day. The exhibits include paintings, manuscripts, letters, rare editions and mementos of many of Ireland’s famous authors. There are a number of temporary exhibits and a sumptuously decorated Gallery of Writers upstairs. The museum also hosts frequent poetry readings and lectures. An excellent restaurant, and a specialist bookstore, providing an out-of-print search service, add to the relaxed ambiance. Also on the square is:
- James Joyce Cultural Centre
Located near Parnell Square and the Dublin Writer’s Museum, this Joycean centre gives literary enthusiasts one more reason to visit Dublin’s north side. The newly restored 1784 Georgian town house contains various exhibits, an archive, and a reference library. - Make your way over to Mountjoy Square to number 35, once home to Seán O’Casey. Brendan Behan grew up in nearby 14 Russell St. Continue down Gardiner Street along the route taken by Leopold Bloom in Jame’s Joyce’s “Ulysses”. Up Railway St stood Bella Cohen’s Brothel, also featured in this book. Stroll down towards the River Liffey to Abbey St where the famous Abbey Theatre stands, many important works were first staged here since its opening in 1904 including the “Playboy of the western World” by John Millington Synge and Seán O’Casey’s “The Plough and the Stars”. The present building replaced the original theatre, which burned down in 1951.
- The General Post Office
Not only was this building the site of the 1916 Rebellion but also inspiration for poetry and literature of that setting, and in nearby Prince’s Street where Joyce’s Leopold Bloom worked for the freeman’s journal. Move south of the River Liffey to - Trinity College, the educator of many of Ireland’s great writers from Swift to Wilde. An ancient Irish masterpiece the Book of Kells can be seen here, at the Old Library.