DUBLIN - Ireland 2014 - page 130

North of the River Liffey
The main attraction north of the river—O'Connell Street—is covered by the self-guided
walk on here . After you're oriented with the walk, consider the following sights.
▲ Dublin Writers Museum
No other country so small has produced such a wealth of literature. As interesting to those
who are fans of Irish literature as it is boring to those who aren't, this three-room museum
features the lives and works of Dublin's great writers. It's a low-tech museum, where you
read informative plaques while perusing display cases with minor memorabilia—a doc-
ument signed by Jonathan Swift, a photo of Oscar Wilde reclining thoughtfully, an early
edition of Bram Stoker's Dracula , a George Bernard Shaw playbill, a not-so-famous au-
thor's tuxedo, or a newspaper from Easter 1916 announcing “Two More Executions To-
day.” If unassuming attractions like that stir your blood—or if you simply want a manage-
able introduction to Irish lit—it's worth a visit.
Cost and Hours: €7.50, includes helpful audioguide; June-Aug Mon-Fri 10:00-18:00,
Sat 10:00-17:00, Sun 11:00-17:00; Sept-May Mon-Sat 10:00-17:00, Sun 11:00-17:00; cof-
fee shop, 18 Parnell Square North, tel. [phone], www.writersmuseum.com ) .
Background: The museum isn't exclusive about “Irish” writers. Born here? Lived
here? Wrote about Ireland, wrote in Gaelic, or were sympathetic to the cause of Irish na-