Our next and final stop in Ireland was Dublin.

The sites we visited in and around Dublin are listed in pink at left. 

Click on them for more information and pictures.

 

James Joyce was born in Dublin in 1882, and even though he spent most of his life elsewhere, Dublin was the setting all of his works.  Various Dublin sites appear in Dubliners and Ulysses, and are worthy of visiting.  Joycean sites that we visited include the National Library, the James Joyce Centre, Belvedere College, the James Joyce Statue, and a few buildings that appear in Dubliners.  We didn't even scratch the surface! 

 

Let's begin with the James Joyce Centre which is actually a stop on the Dublin Bus Tour if you decide to do that.  The Centre is in a restored 18th century Georgian townhouse and is where a character in Ulysses ran a dance school.  We first watched a brief film on Joyce, his family and his connection with Dublin through his works.  There is an amazing mural room/courtyard that depicts scenes from Joyce's Ulysses.  The murals were all actually painted by a James Joyce relative. There is also the original door from No.7 Eccles Street where the main characters in Ulysses, Molly and Leopold Bloom, lived.  We sat there and read some background information before going on to explore the rest of the house and displays.  Below are some pictures of the mural room and the No. 7 Eccles Street door.

 

Brian reading in the mural room at James Joyce Center

No. 7 Eccles Street door at the James Joyce Center

 

Just up the street from the James Joyce Center is Belvedere College where Joyce attended school  from the age of 11 until he was 16.  This site is also mentioned in both Ulysses and Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.  The headmaster, Father John Conmee, appears in both stories.  Events from Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man occur here over a few chapters. 

 

Belvedere College- Dublin, Ireland

 

We also visited the James Joyce statue which stands just off of O'Connell Street.  On O'Connell Street is the Parnell Monument.  Charles Stewart Parnell makes appearances in many of Joyce's works, most notably in a Christmas dinner scene in Chapter 1 of Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and also in the story "Ivy Day in the Committee Room" in Dubliners.  Parnell was in fact a major political figure in Irish history, who brought upon his own downfall due to a love affair. 

Also on O'Connell Street is the Gresham Hotel which pops up in the story "The Dead," from Dubliners.  The characters in the story, Gabriel and Gretta Conroy, spend the night at the Gresham and Gretta recounts an old love from Galway who used to sing her a song called "Lass of Augrim."

There are actually many Joycean sites along O'Connell Street, including Clery's Department Store, the General Post Office (GPO) building, the O'Connell Bridge etc. 

 

from left: James Joyce Statue, Charles Parnell Monument, The Gresham Hotel

James Joyce State- Dublin, Ireland

Charles Parnell Monument - Dublin, Ireland

The Gresham Hotel - Dublin, Ireland

 

More Joycean sites that we visited included the National Library of Ireland.  The library is Joycean is the setting for a chapter in Ulysses.  Also, it is a place where people studying Joyce would and can come for information verifying the places in his books.  It could have been a place for which he got some of his information as well. Dr. Wawrzycka explained that any factual information regarding Dublin during that time would be found in this library and she showed us shelves and shelves of "Thoms' Directory."  We were lucky enough to go upstairs and have a quick look around.  It is a very strict place, you can't even bring your backpack in or any pens!

We also stopped by the Dublin Writer's Museum.  We had lunch, browsed through the gift shop (which has tons of literary items of interest) and checked out the pictures on the walls.  There is also an exhibit on display.  The Writer's Museum is also a stop on the Dublin Bus Tour.  The exhibit part contains displays on Irish literature in past and present.  I highly recommend a visit. 

 

National Library - Dublin, Ireland

Dublin Writers Museum

 

The Joycean sites in Dublin are innumerable.  Such places like Grafton Street, Nassau Street, the Liffey, Trinity College, Stephen's Green, I have not even mentioned.  The list goes on and on of places in his books as well as places he visited etc.  There are Joyce walking tours available, one is at the James Joyce Center.  You could actually just walk around town with any of his books, such as Dubliners, and stumble upon numerous sites from the book.  It's really an interesting way to explore the city.

 

*** Information on this page is found in Eyewitness Travel Guides: Dublin 2003, Dubliners by James Joyce, as well as the website www.nysoclib.org/travels/joyce.html.***

 

Copyright © 2003 Kelin Kitchener.  

All pages contained herein are property of Kelin Kitchener.

European Literary Trails is a study abroad program designed by Dr. Jolanta Wawrzycka for Radford University.