Home to countless authors over time, and setting for many books, Dublin’s literary connections are ubiquitous. The city was designated a UNESCO Creative City of Literature in 2010.
If you’re visiting Dublin and want to find a tangible connection to its literary history then read on!
Libraries and bookshops
The famous snapshot of Dublin’s library scene is the Long Room in the Old Library at Trinity College, Dublin, which houses the ancient Book of Kells, an illuminated manuscript containing the four Gospels. Members of the public can only access this via an interactive Book of Kells Tour.
If you’re searching for something less touristy and free (if you can resist buying books), wander around Dublin’s numerous bookshops. My favourite two are:
Books upstairs
In Books Upstairs, books are in fact downstairs. There’s a lovely café upstairs where people sit reading or having a quiet chat over a cup of looseleaf tea. Bonus recommendation: have a brownie in the café here. It’s one of the fudgiest brownies I’ve ever eaten.
The Winding Stair
Painted in a soft green, The Winding Stair not only has an impressive range of books for sale but also an excellent Irish restaurant up the winding stairs.
Other bookshops in Dublin include Eason, Chapters Bookstore, Connolly Books and Dubray Books.
Literary bridges
Dublin’s status as a UNESCO Creative City of Literature is also visible in the city centre.
The River Liffey intersects Dublin. Three of its bridges are named after Irish authors: James Joyce, Samuel Beckett and Seán O’Casey. James Joyce’s famous book, Dubliners, was published in 1914 and contains 15 short stories of ordinary Dublin residents, providing a snapshot of Irish middle-class life.
Read books set in Dublin (and Ireland more widely)
Many of Dublin’s bookshops have specific sections for fiction by Irish authors, as well as sections for books about Ireland.
Ireland has produced countless stellar authors over the centuries, including Jonathan Swift (who is buried in St Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin), Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker and James Joyce. Modern Irish authors include Sally Rooney, Naoise Dolan, John Boyne and Claire Keegan, as well as many others.
Check out the Ireland page on my other blog, The World Through Books, for books set in Ireland.