- ABBEY THEATRE
The Abbey Theatre was
founded by Irish literary
revivalists WB Yeats and
Lady Augusta Gregory in
1904, and has since been
at the heart of Dublin’s
cultural life. Today, it is
renowned for its promotion
of new Irish writers and,
along with modern-day
productions, it features
classics by literary greats
such as Yeats, JM Synge,
Sean O’Casey, Brendan
Behan and Samuel
Beckett. You can also join
workshops and talks,take
a backstage tour or submit
work to be commissioned
for performance
(www.abbeytheatre.ie).
- SWENY’S
Described in intricate
detail and lambasted
as ‘the worst pharmacy
in Dublin’ in Joyce’s
Ulysses, Sweny’s
is kept just
as it would have
been in 1904.
Mahogany
counters surround
a tiny central
space facing
shelves packed
with lotions and
tonics, bottles and brews.
Volunteers sell second-
hand books and host daily
readings from Joyce’s work.
It’s a great way to gain
some insight into those
books you always
thought you should read
(www.sweny.ie).- THE GRAND CANAL
A sliver of water winding
through the south inner city,
the Grand Canal was built
to connect Dublin with the
River Shannon. It is at its
leafy best between Mount
Street and Baggot Street,
10 minutes south of Merrion
Square, and was a favourite
haunt of poet Patrick
Kavanagh, who expressed
in verse his desire to be
commemorated by ‘a canal-
bank seat for the passer-by’
when he died. Walking
southwest along the canal,
you’ll pass Baggot Street
Bridge before coming to a
bench where you can sit and
contemplate the passage of
time beside a bronze cast
of the man himself, perched
wistfully for evermore with
his hat off and arms folded.- MERRION SQUARE
Just around the corner,
this square is surrounded
by some of Dublin’s most
exceptional Georgian
houses. Oscar Wilde grew
up at No. 1; WB Yeats lived
at No. 82; and AE Russell- an Anglo-Irish nationalist,
poet and painter active at
the turn of the century –
had his office at No 84.
Take a stroll through the
square’s central park and
look for the statue of a
reclining Oscar Wilde
before popping into No
29 Fitzwilliam Street on
the southeast corner of the
square to get a feel for
Georgian Dublin
(www.numbertwenty
nine.ie).
NEED TO KNOWTake two to three
days for this trail
(depending on how long
you wish to linger),
and make it a leisurely
stroll on foot.- Sweny's pharmacy
1 2. The Grand Canal 2
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