Fodor's Expert Review Dublin Writers Museum
“If you would know Ireland—body and soul—you must read its poems and stories," wrote W. B. Yeats in 1891. Further investigation into the Dublin way with words can be found at this old-fashioned museum, in a magnificently restored 18th-century town house on the north side of Parnell Square. The mansion, once the home of John Jameson, of the Irish whiskey family, centers on the Gallery of Writers, an enormous drawing room gorgeously decorated with paintings, Adamesque plasterwork, and a deep Edwardian lincrusta frieze. Slightly overshadowed by the opening of the new Museum of Literature Ireland, this smaller venue still houses rare manuscripts, diaries, posters, letters, limited and first editions, photographs, and other mementos—and there are many of them, so leave plenty of time—commemorating the lives and works of the city's greatest writers, including Joyce, Shaw, J. M. Synge, Lady Gregory, W. B. Yeats, Beckett, and others. On display are an 1804 edition of Swift's Gulliver's... READ MORE
“If you would know Ireland—body and soul—you must read its poems and stories," wrote W. B. Yeats in 1891. Further investigation into the Dublin way with words can be found at this old-fashioned museum, in a magnificently restored 18th-century town house on the north side of Parnell Square. The mansion, once the home of John Jameson, of the Irish whiskey family, centers on the Gallery of Writers, an enormous drawing room gorgeously decorated with paintings, Adamesque plasterwork, and a deep Edwardian lincrusta frieze. Slightly overshadowed by the opening of the new Museum of Literature Ireland, this smaller venue still houses rare manuscripts, diaries, posters, letters, limited and first editions, photographs, and other mementos—and there are many of them, so leave plenty of time—commemorating the lives and works of the city's greatest writers, including Joyce, Shaw, J. M. Synge, Lady Gregory, W. B. Yeats, Beckett, and others. On display are an 1804 edition of Swift's Gulliver's Travels, an 1899 first edition of Bram Stoker's Dracula, and an 1899 edition of Wilde's Ballad of Reading Gaol. There's a Teller of Tales exhibition showcasing Behan, O'Flaherty, and O'Faoláin. Readings are periodically held, and there's a room dedicated to children's literature. The bookshop and café make this an ideal place to spend a rainy afternoon.
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