Dublin Writers Museum

Have you heard of Dublin Writers Museum?

The literary tradition in Ireland is one of the most prominent in the world, with four Nobel Prize winners and many other internationally acclaimed authors.

It’s no surprise, then, that the city’s capital, Dublin, has been designated as a UNESCO City of Literature, with a number of museums to the city’s literary geniuses.

A spectacular 18th century townhouse houses one of these museums, which is located north of the city center.

Dublin Writers Museum

The Dublin Writers Museum features a retrospective of Dublin’s literary greats’ lives and works that covers 300-year.

The Museum is a must-see for anybody interested in learning about, exploring, or simply enjoying Dublin’s rich literary culture and history.

Dublin Writers Museum History

The Dublin Writers Museum opened in 1991 to compile a history of literary Dublin as well as celebrate it. The museum is housed in a Georgian mansion, which is a delight in itself.

It perfectly complements the museum’s character with its lavish plasterwork and stunning stained glass windows. 

Located close to the Garden of Remembrance, the museum chronicles the lives and works of some of Dublin’s most famous literary figures over the previous three centuries.

The Museum was founded to foster interest in Irish literature as a whole, as well as the lives and works of particular Irish authors, through its collection, displays, and activities.

It maintains a relationship to living writers and the international literary landscape through its affiliation with the Irish Writers’ Centre.

On a national level, it serves as a hub, bringing together disparate aspects of Irish literature while also supplementing smaller, more specialized museums dedicated to the likes of James Joyce, George Bernard Shaw, William Butler Yeats, and Patrick Pearse. 

The writers exhibited in the Museum have made significant contributions to Irish or international writing, as well as to Dublin literature on a local level. 

The museum also serves as a gathering space for people from Dublin and beyond to learn about the history of Irish literature.

Exhibitions, lunchtime theatre, and readings are held at the museum on occasion. A portable audio guide in numerous languages is used for tours of the Writers Museum.

On the ground floor, there is a free book shop with volumes that are hard to get anywhere else. For literature fans, the Dublin Writers Museum is a must-experience!

Things To See in the Museum

Whatever you know about Irish literature, the Dublin Writers Museum is guaranteed to surprise and thrill you. The following are only a few of the what you’ll see when you visit:

• Typewriters, pipes, and glasses and other personal belongings of authors.
• A first edition of the Bible in Irish 
• A copy of the Book of Kells 
• Books, correspondence, and portraits by famous authors like James Joyce, W. B. Yeats, and Samuel Beckett.
• Bram Stoker’s Dracula, first edition 
• Copy of opening night programmes for Oscar Wilde plays An Ideal Husband and Lady Windermere’s Fan
• Jonathan Smith’s original edition of Gulliver’s Travels.
• The Teddy Bear of author Mary Lavin, the desk of poet Austin Clarke, and the phone of Beckett
• The earliest version of the popular song “Molly Malone” 
• Original newspapers and literature from the uprising of 1916.
• The Children’s Literature Room is a must-see for anyone interested in learning about, exploring, or simply enjoying Dublin‘s rich literary past. 
• Original paintings by Patrick Swift, Reginald Gray, Edward McGuire, and Harry Kernoff, including portraits of Irish writers.
• This building’s lower floor houses the Michelin-starred Chapter One Restaurant. – a must after exploring the museum! 

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