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Dublin: Literary Walking Tour - Wilde, Yeats & Joyce
Dublin is one of the great literary cities of the world, and this two-hour walking tour puts you in the company of three of its finest writers - Oscar Wilde, W.B. Yeats, and James Joyce. What makes this tour exceptional is the guide: Dr Philip Taylor holds a PhD in history and has won an Irish Arts Council Literature Award, so the commentary goes far deeper than the usual anecdotes. This is literary Dublin brought to life by someone who genuinely knows and loves the material.
The tour begins in the heart of the historic city centre and winds through two of Dublin’s most beautiful green spaces. In St Stephen’s Green, you will stop at literary landmarks within the park and look across to Newman House, the former University College Dublin campus where James Joyce spent his student days. The stories of Joyce’s Dublin childhood and his complicated relationship with the city set the stage for the walk ahead. At the National Library of Ireland, your guide explores the life and work of W.B. Yeats, followed by a self-guided visit to the library’s permanent Yeats exhibition.
One of the tour’s highlights is a stop at Sweny’s pharmacy on Lincoln Place. This small shop features in Ulysses and today operates as a unique Joyce visitor attraction, where volunteers read from his works and sell the lemon soap that Leopold Bloom famously purchased. The tour concludes in Merrion Square at the wonderfully flamboyant Oscar Wilde memorial sculpture, where your guide recounts the playwright’s brilliant career, his wit, and his tragic downfall. It is a fitting end to a walk through the streets that shaped some of the finest writing in the English language.