Writers Museum, Dublin

The Writers Museum in Dublin is housed in a tall, elegant, if a bit dilapidated, old Georgian townhouse on Dublin’s Parnell Square at the top of O’Connell Street. And is most certainly on every student of literature’s bucket list. Who wouldn’t want to find out more about the great literary heroes of Ireland, Yeats, Wilde, Beckett, Joyce to name but a mere handful. You can view first editions of Dracula by Bram Stoker and Gulliver’s Travels by Dean Jonathan Swift of St Patrick’s Cathedral. Or the pens, quills, typewriters and various personal belongings of Lady Gregory, Brendan Behan and Dr Oliver St John Gogarty etc. I suppose the intention is to put a face to the names and give a little insight into their personal lives but to be honest it falls a little flat.

The information and the memorabilia are all there at the Writers Museum and you can wander between the glass cases with the displays, read the wall plaques or listen to the audio guide but unless you have done your homework prior to visiting it is all a tad overwhelming and difficult to appreciate especially when the museum is crowded. So my advice by all means if you have an interest in Irish literature you should go and see it but for a city that boast so many genius writers with a world wide reputation, the Writer’s Museum doesn’t really do them the justice they deserve. Other options are of course the National Library and the James Joyce centre a couple of streets away.

10 Hidden Gems near the Writer’s Centre.

1 Visit the James Joyce Centre, 35 North Great George’s Street, Dublin1 for much more detailed information about James Joyveext door to the left, on Parnell Square, good cafe.

2 Enjoy quiet time in the Garden of Remembrance where Queen Elizabeth laid a wreath to Irish war heroes when she visited Dublin in 2012.

3 See The Moving Crib, if you are lucky enough to be in Dublin around Christmas, a very Dublin Christmas tradition which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2009.

4 Take the Rebel Walking Tour of Dublin and find out where all the action happened in 1916, tickets from the Sinn Féin shop on Parnell Square.

5 Enjoy the banter in Moore Street Market, one of the oldest and most endangered in Dublin.

6 Pop into Arnott’s on Henry St, one of our indigenous department stores which is constantly upping its game.

7 Visit Irish celebrity chef, Clodagh McKenna's restaurant upstairs there.

8 Or the Winding Stair Bookshop beside the Halfpenny Bridge for a real book lovers lunch or dinner.

9 Gaze up at Spire on O'Connell Street or the Stiletto in the Ghetto as us Dubliners call it.

10 Post a card from the GPO, our General Post Office on O'Connell Street scene of the 1916 rising / Battle of Independence.

For more information about the Dublin Writers Museum please click here.