Dublin’s literary trail
Dublin is a place of great passions, some silently felt, many emphatically expressed. They can be found in every corner of the city, from the roaring terraces of Croke Park, the spiritual home of Gaelic sport, to the quiet cobbled streets of Trinity College. They can be found in the pounding jig that sounds out each night in Temple Bar and in the hushed gravity of Christ Church Cathedral.
The city’s ever-present connection with literature is filled with silence and noise too. Quietly devoured by many here, but spoken out loud at festivals and readings and vociferously argued over in the many bars, books are bound to the bones of life here. Literature and poetry are an all-encompassing tradition for Dubliners.
Dublin’s best-known and most prolific writer is James Joyce. You’ll find reminders of him across the city in street names, statues, bridges, museums and the odd potent cocktail. He was a man with an unquenchable appetite for the written word and an untiring intellect and stamina – it took him over 17 years in the period between the First and Second World Wars to write his last and most innovative novel, Finnegan’s Wake.
The city continues to celebrate him to this day. Indeed, visit in the summer and you may well come across residents floating about town in early twentieth-century dress, going about their daily business and spurting the odd obscure Joyce quote here and there. Don’t be alarmed if this happens – it’s 16 June and Bloomsday, dedicated to the man and his masterpiece Ulysses.
Joyce has inspired Irish writers and the city as a whole in innumerable ways over the last century. He’s not the only literary influence, however. Others include The Book of Kells, the famous ninth-century manuscript on view at Trinity College, Jonathan Swift, author of Gulliver’s Travels (in print since 1726), Oscar Wilde, Samuel Beckett and modern-day luminaries including poet Seamus Heaney and Colm Tóibin. With a literary legacy like this, it’s not surprising that the fantastic Dublin Writers Festival is such a success. It takes place this year from 23-29 May, and will feature a rich roll-call of home grown and international talent.
If you happen to visit during the festival – or at any time – be sure to enjoy a pint of the country’s famous stout at one of Joyce’s old bars, namely The Stag’s Head and Mulligan’s, and join in the debate about your favourite literary Dubliner. Be warned, it could continue well into the early hours.
http://dublinwritersfestival.com/
Image title: Trinity College Dublin
Photographer: Chris Hill 2009
Chris Hill / TOURISM IRELAND
Take advantage of a new special partner rate with the exclusive hoteliers Small Luxury Hotels of the World™ when planning your visit to one of the nine Chic Outlet Shopping® Villages. Click here for more details.
11-03-2011
