Dublin: A Literary Adventure
By: Joe Volz Source: AARP.org Date Posted: 2007-03-05 11:51:51.159997-05:00
by Joe Volz
There are those who contend that Dublin is the literary capital of the English speaking world. Perhaps, they are right.
A decade ago, the 1,000-year-old Irish city, home of Swift, Joyce, Yeats and Shaw, was designated a "European city of culture." It seems as if half the population is writing a novel, poetry or playing in a band.
But see for yourself. In any event, a literary vacation in Dublin has much to offer.
Remembering James Joyce
Each year, on June 16, the city celebrates the life of the great novelist. Many residents dress up in Joycean costume for the Bloomsday celebration. But there are places to remember Joyce every day. One is the James Joyce Museum. The building was the inspiration for the beginning of Joyce's most famous novel, Ulysses. The living room inside the tower looks much the way Joyce described it. The James Joyce Center offers tours and walks through Joyce's early 20th century Dublin.
George Bernard Shaw's Birthplace
The restored Victorian house at 33 Synge Street, where the Nobel laureate was born, is open to visitors. The acerbic Shaw wrote such popular plays as Pygmalion and Saint Joan.
Dublin Writers Museum
Opened in a 300-year-old mansion in 1991, the museum features the lives and works of great Irish writers.
Jonathan Swift's Resting Place
The first internationally-known Irish writer, Jonathan Swift, author of Gulliver's Travels, was also dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin. He is buried there. His epitaph notes, "Savage indignation can rend his heart no more."
Abbey Theatre
The famed theater regularly stages the works of such Irish playwrights as Shaw, Wilde, Beckett and O'Casey. One of the Abbey founders was the great poet, W.B. Yeats who won the Nobel Prize in 1923. Yeats wrote often of his dream of Irish independence, a common theme for many Irish writers. His poem, Easter 1916, after the rebellion against the British, observed that everything had "changed utterly."
And each October, the Dublin Theatre Festival runs for two weeks, staging both Irish and international works.
The New Stage
But Dublin is not just devoted to the literary works of past greats. Experimental theater at smaller and cheaper places is in abundance. And hotels stage cabaret while alternative comedians perform in comedy clubs.
Music Everywhere
Many visitors to Ireland come for the traditional music. They will not be disappointed. Just about every pub has traditional live music performances. The musicians play everything from violins to spoons and sing of lost loves and lost lives in the age-old battles against the British. Many of the performances are strictly impromptu.
Rock music has also sprung up from the traditional music. The city is literally alive with the sound of music.
A Final Note
Another thing that makes Dublin different from so many other ancient European cities is that it is small enough to get around easily. The geography of the city is also reflected in its personality. It seems as if just about everyone knows everyone. If you are a visitor, you are treated as a longtime friend. You might even be invited to the nearest pub and be received like the guest of honor or some long lost relative.
Links
Find these books online at Borders.com.
Fodor's Dublin's 25 Best
Peter Harbinson, Melanie Morris, Fodor's Travel Publications, Inc., February 2007.
Lonely Planet Dublin, 4th ed.
Fionn Davenport, Lonely Planet Publications, March 2006.
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Dubliners
James Joyce, Barnes and Noble Books, August 2004.
Dublin
Deborah Kent, Scholastic Library, August 1997.
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