It’s the story of Ireland, their story, written by those who were there and left it here for us in books, plays, films and the land.
With Paul Lynch and Paul Murray upholding the tradition of Irish storytelling with Booker prize nods, Fáilte Ireland have mapped out the nation’s literary landmarks.
And it is by visiting those places beloved and referenced in the literary giants’ works that we get inside their minds and see their souls.
Some that no matter how much inspection still take some untangling, but it’s still fun to try.
The Joyce of Dublin
James Joyce remains the most universally-acclaimed Irish writer and proudest promoter of Dublin of any of them.
Joyce sets the first chapter of Ulysses around the old Martello tower of Sandycove, half an hour from the city, where Joyce once lived.
Joyceans can climb the winding stairs of the James Joyce Tower and Museum and read letters, photographs, rare editions and personal possessions.
Before, of course, you head into Dublin and relive Leopold Bloom’s day.
And then check out the original manuscript of Ulysses and much more such as Samuel Beckett artefacts at the Museum of Literature Ireland.
Super Yeats
Poet WB Yeats, shares with Joyce and Beckett the accolade of a Nobel Prize for Literature and he has left his mark.
From Sandymount in leafy South Dublin to his beloved west coast.
The building named for him in Sligo where you can take in a permanent gallery.’
And the ‘Stand where he stood’ tours which combine poetry, drama, history and the landscape of Sligo.
The Tree of Life
Now our antecedent authors were so aware of their own genius that they literally carved their names into the country’s furniture.
At the Autograph Tree and Coole Park Visitor Centre & Gardens, Gort Co. Galway.
And so the greats of the Irish Literary Revival at the start of the last century, Shaw, Synge, John, Hyde, Russell, Yeats, O’Casey and Lady Gregory.
Ulster says yes
Seamus Heaney too reached the pinnacle of the literary world as a Nobel Prize winner and the best place to feel his spirit is in his beloved Ulster.
Donegal is the same landscape that inspired Seamus Heaney.
And a stay in The Song House, previously The Poet’s House Teach na nAmhrán, will likely release the poetry in you.
Heaney’s fellow Ulsterman Patrick Kavanagh is hailed the island over and his statue on a bench by the Grand Canal in Dublin is a personal favourite spot.
But for Kavanagh fans there is more, much more than Raglan Road which you can discover.
Up those country roads at the Patrick Kavanagh Centre, Co. Monaghan.
The Kavanagh Trail follows Paddy’s footsteps down winding lanes and through his beloved back fields.
While a guided tour is available, booked in advance.
Peig it
Of course, for all the charms of Nobel Prize winners and the masters of the Irish Revival the one author every Irish schoolboy and schoolgirl knows is Peig Sayers.
Peig’s story of her life is a staple of the Irish school curricular and shorthand for everyone who has been through the system (take a bow my two) when they meet anywhere in the world.
Writers Wall in Dingle Town, Co. Kerry, pays tribute to authors from the Chorcha Dhuibhne Gaeltacht and Blasket Islands.
It features quotes from the famous Irish language writers of that region
While you can also take a detour to Listowel, ‘the Literary Capital of Ireland’ to visit Kerry Writers’ Museum.
So wherever you go in the island you can see the story of Ireland in its landmarks… and that’s what they wanted.
