The Dublin Literary Trail
Before Starting This Trail:
Dublin has a very happening literary scene. Read 'Dubliners' and 'Ulysses' (if you have the guts) by James Joyce, the poems of W.B. Yeats, Oscar Wilde's 'Importance of Being Earnest', 'Pygmalion' by George Bernard Shaw, the poems of Seamus Heaney and the plays of Samuel Beckett before planning a trip to Dublin.
Discover Oscar Wilde
Stroll across the street from Pearse Station to discover Oscar Wilde's house. There's a placard at the door mentioning this. There's another house of Wilde with this placard near Merrion Park, which is now part of the American College.
After strolling past both these houses, walk across to the Merrion Park where you will see his colourful statue and get to read a number of his pithy quotes.
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Walk in the footsteps of James Joyce
Sweny is the place to be for James Joyce fans! This is the pharmacy featured in Ulysses where Leopold Bloom stopped to buy a lemon-scented soap. The shop sells memorabilia of Joyce's books and also holds frequent readings of his books. I attended a reading of 'The Finnegan's Wake' and found about 20 senior citizens reading and trying to uncover the references of every word in the book. It was really spectacular to see so much dedication and interest in understanding his difficult books!
More Literary Tours:
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1. Go for the Literary Tour of Dublin. It begins at the Duke Pub on Duke St and lasts for about 2 hours with the guide quoting from Ulysses and other Joyce's books. The guide also explains Dublin's political and social history and talks about other literary greats of Dublin apart from Joyce. The walk begins at 10:30 am and is every Monday.
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2. Do the Literary Pub Crawl which also begins at the Duke Pub on Duke St.
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3. Check out the Writers' Museum! More details here.