EUROVALUE ON THE STREETS OF DUBLIN

Some of the greatest writers in the English language were born in Dublin and every corner of the city has links with the written word. One of Ireland’s first writers to be recognised internationally was Jonathan Swift, author of Gulliver's Travels and Dean of Saint Patrick's Cathedral. Trinity College Dublin has educated many of Dublin's world-renowned writers, such as Oliver Goldsmith  (author of The Vicar of Wakefiled), Richard Brinsley Sheridan and Edmund Burke. Here it is possible to view the Book of Durrow and the Book of Kells  (transcriptions of the Bible). 

In the 19th century Oscar Wilde captivated the world's imagination with his satiric masterpieces (enjoy the "Wilde and Co." literary walk of Dublin, organised by John C. O' Mahony (contact: 00353 (0)86 3296304). Oscar Wilde's writing brought Dublin to prominence during the late Victorian era.His works,  including An Ideal Husband, The Importance of Being Earnest and The Picture of Dorian Gray have enshrined him as one of Ireland's finest writers and satirists. His home for many years may still be seen in Merrion Square.

The most famous Irish poet of the 19th century, James Clarence Mangan, came from Dublin's Fishamble Street (where the first performance of Handel's Messiah was staged). During this period, the city produced a number of writers in the supernatural genre such as Bram Stoker author of Dracula, (visit the Bram Stoker Dracula museum at Westwood Leisure Centre, Clontarf) and Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu who based many of his ghost stories in Dublin.

The Nobel Prize winner George Bernard Shaw, despite living most of his life in London, never forgot his connection to the city and its culture. His birthplace has been restored and is open to the public (www.visitdublin.com/SeeAndDo/HistoricSites/Detail.aspx?id=247&mid=1355). It was here in this house that Shaw began to imagine the characters who would later feature in his writings. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1925. 

Even those writers who could not wait to leave the banks of the river Liffey still return to them in their work. The most striking example of this is, of course, James Joyce, who immortalised the streets of Dublin in several of his great works, particularly Ulysses. Visit the James Joyce Centre which is dedicated to promoting an understanding of the life and works of James Joyce. Similarly Samuel Beckett, creator of some of the world's most influential modern experimental literature, used the speech rhythms of his native city in works such as Waiting for Godot.

Contemporary Literary Scene

The Dublin literary tradition continues and, more recently, Irish writers of importance such as Seamus Heaney, winner of the 1995 Nobel Prize for Literature (visit the Seamus Heaney portal), have made their homes in Dublin. Other writers of significance, including poet Eavan Boland, novelists Maeve Binchy and Paul Smith, and playwright Dermot Bolger are native Dubliners. Booker Prize winner Roddy Doyle's novels about Dublin life have been filmed in recent years, to international acclaim.

The turn of the 21st century sees authors with Dublin connections writing in every genre: Colm Toibín, shortlisted for the Booker Prize and whose novel The Master was named by the New York Times as one of the 10 best books of 2004; John Banville, shortlisted for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and also for the Booker Prize; the highly popular and successful Marian Keyes and Patricia Scanlan; Deirdre Purcell, shortlisted for the Orange Prize and internationally known thriller writer John Connolly. 

Dublin, as a city of literature, is about books, writers and reading. Its libraries, bookshops and literary associations all add to the book-appreciating atmosphere. Travel the streets of Dublin in the most unique and entertaining fashion with Dublin’s long established "Literary and Historical Walk", or check out the famous Dublin Literary Pub Crawlfor a chance to follow in the footsteps of Ireland's literary greats while being shown around some of Dublin's most enjoyable watering holes.

Dublin's Libraries

The National Library of Ireland (open Monday to Saturday) holds the world's largest collection of Irish documentary material: books, manuscripts, newspapers, periodicals, drawings, photographs and maps.

Dublin City Public Libraries' Dublin and Irish Collections holds an extensive range of books relating to Dublin and Ireland to which are regularly added new publications. In addition to imprints from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries; a considerable collection of older material is held of which the Gilbert Collection, comprising material from 16th to 18th centuries, forms the nucleus.

Other outstanding resources include the Dix Collection of mainly 17th and 18th century Dublin and Irish imprints, the Yeats Collection, the Children's Book Collection and imprints of publishers such as the Dun Emer and Cuala Press.

The Dublin Collection holds material relevant to Dublin City including books, newspapers and journals, photographs, maps, prints, drawings, theatre programmes, playbills, posters, ballad sheets, political cartoons, audio-visual material and ephemera. A collection of Thom's Dublin street directories and other Dublin and Irish directories is also maintained.

Housed alongside the Dublin Collection, the Irish Collection extends to subjects of national interest and includes books and other materials relating to Ireland, by Irish authors, or in the Irish language. The collection includes available published sources for Irish genealogy and family history.

The Reading Room is located on the first floor, Dublin City Library & Archive, Pearse Street. Readers wishing to consult manuscripts or early printed books are advised to request them in advance.