Lorna Hogg features some of the locations associated with Irish literary greats
We all know that visiting the home ground, literal or emotional, of a favourite author adds to enjoyment of their books. It can give an extra understanding of their formative years, background – and books. Happily, Ireland, with its internationally acclaimed diverse variety of authors, has a variety of homes, plus areas and countryside linked to many of them, which can be visited. There is nothing like experiencing the spot which influenced an author’s formative years – it can give an extra level of understanding. The experience can be a solo trip, or a pleasure shared – with Book Clubs, friends or fellow admirers. So, why not read up – and start exploring?
The Joyce Tower at Sandymount, Co Dublin
The James Joyce Centre
The Centre at 35, North Great Georges Street is an excellent starting point for loyal – or just curious readers. As well as offering workshops and performances, it provides a variety of walking tours and exhibitions ` Introducing Joyce’s Dublin’ covers the North City area which inspired Joyce. `In The Footsteps of Leopold Bloom’ includes O’Connell Street, Trinity College Dublin, The National Library – and of course, plenty of pubs!, as Joyce muses, on topics from food to Dublin as `a colonial city’. Another tour, `Dubliners’ looks at a variety of locations which Joyce frequented.
It is, of course, possible – and very popular! to focus on the pubs which Joyce enjoyed. `Davy Byrne’s’ is strongly linked with `Ulysses’, and a must-visit destination – despite the fact that some loyal readers think that the pub has become too gentrified and posh. `The Oval’ pub, also features in the book, as does `Mulligan’s, forever linked to The Dubliners. Don’t miss the bar at the back, or `Kennedy’s’, (once Conways) also popular with the author.
Offering a different slant, the James Tower, once a Martello Tower at seaside Sandycove, figured in `Ulysses’ and is the site of Bloomsday celebrations. Each year, on Bloomsday, enthusiastic Dubliners – plus astonished tourists, have a chance to see the James Joyce Society’s `Friends of Joyce Tower’ reconstruct and celebrate the moment in full dress, for Bloomsday, which figured largely in `Ulysses.’ Martello Towers were originally built to protect the country from Napoleonic invasion – and later, one also had a starring role in `Ulysses’. `The Friends of James Joyce’, in full period costume, recreate the memory of Ulysses each June 16th – enjoyed by all!
Maria Edgeworth
Maria Edgeworth lived at Edgeworthstown, in Co. Longford, and was a remarkable woman as well as author. Its Visitor Centre bears witness to her work as an early feminist, author and social commentator. Maria was also a literary pioneer, and early social commentator and feminist, drawing the attention of such writers as Wordsworth and Sir Walter Scott. Of course, her interest and influence were wider spread – her forward thinking attitudes led to her becoming involved in the formation of the Irish National School system.
The celebrated ‘autograph tree’ at Goole, Co Galway
Lady Gregory
Lady Gregory created one of the most unusual marks to remind us of Literary Ireland – an Autograph Tree, at her home at Coole House, Gort Co Galway. It is, of course, eco-friendly – as well as a provider of lasting personal reminders of some of Ireland’s greatest and best remembered authors who stayed there.
`Regulars,’ including Yeats, Synge, George Bernard Shaw, Douglas Hyde, and O’Casey, all visited, as well as English writers. They literally left their marks – and would have enjoyed walking the grounds of the magnificent estate, as well as carving their names onto The Autograph Tree.
William Butler Yeats
William Butler Yeats left a formidable legacy, as did his siblings – Sligo is justly famed worldwide as ` Yeats Country.’ The works of both the poet and dramatist, as well as Jack, his younger brother – artist and Olympic level swimmer, live on, and the Yeats sisters were involved in the Arts and Crafts Movement. The preservation of W.B. Yeats’ work has also been helped by The Niland Collection. It is named for the librarian who campaigned tirelessly to collect and showcase Yeats’ work.
The Sligo based Yeats Building `The Model’ is a must-see for visitors, and features exhibitions. There is also an internationally popular Summer School. However, for many people the best known Yeats link is, of course, Thoor Ballylee, in Gort, by the banks of the Streamstown River . The old fortified tower, dating back to Norman times, was on the lands of Yeats’s friend, Lady Gregory. Yeats purchased it in rundown condition in 1916/17 – for £35, and restored it lovingly. After his death, it was handed over to the Irish State. Happily, today it can be visited in full repair.
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde assured us that“To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance’. His Merrion Square statue, showing him lounging near an exit, might give the impression that the famed dramatist was born to money, status and influence. In fact, Oscar was born in nearby, perhaps not quite so glamorous Westland Row, into a top and hard working Dublin surgeon’s family. However, if our future lies in our genetic coding – he was lucky. His father was a famed surgeon, and his brother was a noted journalist. His mother, who took the name Speranza, was a successful writer, and somewhat eccentric, fond of scarlet dresses seen as outlandish as her views. She and Oscar adored each other.
The family soon moved to No.2 Merrion Square, and after school, Oscar attended Trinity College, proving an able scholar of the Classics. After college, he became a writer. A move to England brought plays such as `The Importance of Being Earnest’, ` A Woman of No Importance’ plus, of course `My Fair Lady.’ When he toured America, announcing upon arrival that he had ‘`nothing to declare but my genius.’’ it seemed that all was within his grasp.
However, his personal life intruded. In 1882, Wilde by then married with two children, was in a relationship with attractive young `Bosie,’ son of the Marquess of Queensberry. Bosie’s father then dubbed Wilde a sodomite – whereupon Wilde sued for criminal libel – but the case went again him, and he was imprisoned. Bankrupt, he fled to France, where he died in 1897. It is possible to visit No.2 Merrion Square, which is now home to The American College – the house is open to visitors over weekends.
The George Bernard Shaw Museum at Synge Street, Dublin
George Bernard Shaw
GBS was another Irish writer who achieved fame over time. Born into what has been called genteel poverty, he worked in an office, until his parents’ marriage broke down, and his mother moved to England. He joined her there, and struggled initially to achieve his creative dreams his work – and earn a living. He would of course, later become famed as one of the top dramatists of his time, with some sixty plays. They included such works as `Arms and the Man’, `Mrs. Warren’s Profession’, and `Candida’ – to `Man and Superman` and `John Bull’s Other Island.’
We don’t know Shaw’s feelings about the fact that King Edward VII laughed so heartily (and reputedly broke his chair) at a special performance of `John Bull’s Other Island.’ However, the ensuing publicity gave the play the publicity for its success. Shaw would go on to even more success and earn the unusual accolade of becoming the first winner of both a Nobel Prize – and an Oscar! For a taste of Shaw and his life – The Writers Gallery, Dalkey Castle & Heritage Centre has plenty of material to interest the curious – including another popular Irish writer, Maeve Binchy…..
The Seamus Heaney Home Place at Bellaghy, Co Derry
Seamus Heaney
Seamus Heaney was a Bellaghy, Co Derry born farmer’s son, who became the most celebrated poet of his generation – winning the 1996 Nobel Prize for Literature. Seamus was a country boy at heart, who became a scholar, with a scholarship to St Columb’s College – and Latin and Irish became part of his life. He attended Queen’s University, which prepared him for widening horizons. In 1970/1, he became Professor of Poetry at Harvard. He would go on to become Visiting Lecturer at the University of California, and then later, Professor of Poetry at Oxford. Heaney was noted for wide ranging lectures, addresses and school visits, and also later received Honorary Degrees from The Sorbonne and Princeton. Ireland, however, would remain his `home turf’.
Celebrity did not change Heaney – and he remained modest and understated. The Home Place, where his work and life is celebrated with seminars and personal effects, is sited halfway between his childhood homes, Mossbawn and The Wood. It is also near to the local church, St. Mary’s, Bellaghy, where he is buried.
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