Literary City
Dublin is a city renowned for its literary heritage, especially for many authors concerned with the Irish Literary Revival. The city has both inspired and been inspired by the authors who have lived, studied, and written within it. One theme that permeates Dublin, even to this day, is a deep veneration for Irish nationalism. This can be seen in the works of the authors and the landscape of the city. Writers before during and after Irish independence are captivated by the nationalist spirit; witnessing a part of that authorial inspiration is one of the highlights of visiting Dublin.
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Yeats
William Butler Yeats was a driving force behind The Irish Literary Revival, which was part of a broader movement to celebrate Irish language and identity. This movement gained momentum for the ultimate independence from Britain that Ireland was in the midst of achieving. Indeed this poignant sense of Irish nationalism and veneration for the revolution beginning on Easter 1916 remains deeply engrained in the landscape and on the minds of modern Dubliners. Yeats wrote the poem, “Easter 1916,” to commemorate and honor the beginning of the final Irish revolution that would finally claim Ireland’s independence from Great Britain after nearly 700 years of colonization. The poem channels the melancholic passion of loss during Easter Monday 1916. You can still see much of this atmosphere in monuments dedicated to honoring this day. |
Monuments
Dublin castle and the General Post Office (GPO) on O’Connell Street are both landmarks for revolutionary battles in 1916. The general post office was the place where the revolutionaries officially named themselves a free people, and both sights were scenes of battle and sacrificed lives. Within the GPO is a monument of a glorified final stand. Legend has it that one warrior was so feared by the enemy that after he was shot with an arrow, he commanded his soldiers to prop him up so that nobody would attack while they thought he was alive to give his army a fighting chance, I asked a native Dubliner where he recommended a sightseeing stop, and these two were at the top of his list. He was playful up until then, but his manner changed at once; his voiced dropped, and it was clear that even a century after the fact, he valued the sacrifice these memorials honored. |
Trinity College
Trinity College was founded in the late sixteenth century by Elizabeth I of England and has since become one of the most literary colleges in the world, and it is perhaps one of the most fascinating literary places in. The iron face of Edmund Burke looks down on you as you enter. The Romanesque arches soar over your head, dripping rain down upon the unsuspecting walker. People are milling around everywhere; some stride with more purpose. Overhead, the grey blanket is no surprise, but when the clouds break and a streak of blue dashes across the ceiling of this ivory tower, the whole atmosphere changes. The old stone buildings, built in the Classical style with floral detailing carved into every pillar, are foreboding, but beg to be gazed, inspiring awe. This is Trinity College in Dublin, and to the tour guide, it is quotidian. He has lived here three years, he says, studying politics and economics. He is a student like of which Samuel Beckett and Oscar Wilde once were. These authors were world renowned and lived through struggles for independence. I was lucky enough to see some of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot acted out; it is avant-garde and dry, but deeply, disturbingly funny. Very Irish humor. |
You have definitely
heard of at least one of Dublin’s famous authors. Oliver Goldsmith was
commissioned to compile a list of children’s fables, but unfortunately he came
up short. To fill in space he composed “Jack and Jill” and “Hickory Dickory
Dock.”
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Pub Crawl
I saw Beckett’s play at Dublin’s Literary Pub Crawl which could be thought of as a crash course in Irish literature. Touristy as it may be, it was a fascinating look at some of the history behind the famous drinkers such as Joyce, Beckett, Wilde, and Goldsmith. At the core of the pub crawl, however, you could see the fierce Irish identity still burning strong in the text of the scenes and in the spirit of the actors bringing the authors’ work back to life. The actors acted out scenes of Catholic/Protestant, Irish/English strife which brought to life the deep personal impact of politics on the lives of last-century Ireland. |
James Joyce
James Joyce said, “when I die, Dublin will be written on my heart.” Dublin and the nation of Ireland have been characterized by this particular author in a way that has captured part of the Irish soul and the imagination of the world for the past century. Indeed, many of the characters in Joyce’s collection, Dubliners, are, at least subconsciously, preoccupied with nationality and on the brink of living in the Republic of Ireland. In his short story, “The Dead,” the main character, Gabriel, is overtly preoccupied by his struggle between personal and national identity. The day I visited Dublin, snow was neither “falling faintly” nor “faintly falling.” In fact, the sun came out, illuminating the city in an unusual shine. The city itself is beautiful, even apart from the evocative history. A mesh of old world architecture and sleek modernism mix gracefully on the streets. Dublin castle itself is a conglomeration of medieval walls, colonial masonry, and colorful twentieth century décor. To walk the streets of modern Dublin is both to feel connected to a tragic and heroic past and to witness an ongoing celebration of the power of literature in producing Irish identity. |
Storytelling
Ireland has a rich history of story-telling dating back to the stone ages when the Celts came to Ireland in the days before the Roman Empire. If you ask a Dubliner about some of the statues around the city, you might hear one of these ancient legends which were drawn upon heavily to establish an all-Irish cultural foundation. Today, one of the most intertextual reminders of the spirit of Easter 1916 is The Garden of Remembrance. Grass like shining emeralds surrounds a cruciform pool. The pool, clearly celebrating Ireland’s historic Catholicism, is laden with pagan myth. Impressions of bejeweled swords and shields shine below the surface, remembering the pre-Christian Celtic tradition of laying down a beautiful weapon for a river god before battle to win the favor of the water god or goddess. At the top of the pool is a statue of flying swans. They are the legendary children of Lir, living as swans until the true king of Ireland reigns. The atmosphere is somber, but calm. The city lives in constant remembrance, but celebrates life at the pubs and in the streets. There is an atmosphere here that makes it no surprise the city and the country were so inspirational to so many great minds. |
There is literary spell over Dublin, and from the story-telling of the ancient Celts to the modern overtures of James Joyce, the city of Dublin has captured literary magic. You cannot go to Dublin without being aware of the fundamental Irishness of the place, cultivated over so many years and through so many political movements, through oppression and freedom, though literature and popular imagination.