With its vivid landscape and dramatic history, Ireland is the perfect setting for an absorbing novel.
From small towns and big cities to scenic coastal paths and dramatic mountain regions. Here are six places you need to visit on a literary tour of Ireland.
George Bernard Shaw once said that it was the ‘beauty of Ireland’ that gave the people there a unique perspective. The vast wealth of literature that has come from the Emerald Isle over the years backs this up.
If you find yourself in Ireland in the near future and wish to sample the scenery that inspired the minds of many great writers, here’s a whistle-stop tour of six famous literary places.
6. Dublin – Dubliners
To start your literary tour of Ireland in the capital is to start in the birthplace of one of Ireland’s greatest writers, James Joyce.
While his epic novels Ulysses and Finnegan’s Wake had a profound effect on the literary world, Dubliners captured the essence of life in the city at the turn of the 20th-century.
Today’s Dublin is different to Joyce’s Dublin – rapid urbanisation was one of the book’s main themes, after all.
When reading it, you’ll get the impression of a dark, rainy city that you might still experience when visiting today. You might also see the richness of character and the sense of humour around the city that helped make the book so great.
5. County Wexford – Brooklyn and The Sea
A trip south down the M11 coastal road will take you to the windswept county of Wexford, the setting for John Banville’s Man Booker prize-winning masterpiece The Sea.
The book centres around an art historian returning to his childhood home. His observations of the area’s beauty will strike a chord with visitors who go there to breathe in the sea air and go on long countryside walks.
It’s also the home of Eilis Lacey, the protagonist of Colm Tóibin’s award-winning novel Brooklyn. Like Banville’s character, she starts to see the value of her birthplace after time abroad, which leads her to a life-changing dilemma.
4. Limerick – Angela’s Ashes
Limerick is a different place from the poverty-stricken city of the 1930s that Frank McCourt describes in his memoir Angela’s Ashes.
He describes his tough upbringing on the grey, rainy streets of the Treaty City. Kids wore rags, and a full meal felt like a win on the Irish lottery.
Fast forward 90 years, though, and you’ll find a vibrant city offering many reasons to visit.
Its beautiful medieval quarter and Georgian streets are a joy to walk around. At the same time, those looking for a night out will love old-fashioned pubs, including South’s Bar on O’Connell Avenue, where Frank’s father used to drink away the family’s money.
3. West Cork – Falling for a Dancer
What better excuse to see the beautiful Beara peninsula than to find the same sights that made Elizabeth Sullivan, the main character in Falling for a Dancer, fall in love with it?
The landscape isn’t the only thing the city girl falls for, as you can guess from the title.
Deirdre Purcell’s tale is a love story that deals with tough issues. In her novel, set in the 1930s, we see unmarried mothers and unwanted pregnancies that were so frowned upon by society.
There’s also room for romance, however, and a visit to West Cork will show you the incredible backdrop to Purcell’s excellent book. A must-visit on a literary tour of Ireland.
2. Tipperary – Spinning Heart
Donal Ryan’s gripping novel of desolate tales of a society struggling through the aftermath of the 2008 banking crisis does not make for easy reading.
Tipperary is a suitable setting for this, with its dramatic hillsides and lakes. Ryan skillfully uses them as metaphors for the characters’ feelings of being trapped.
Located between Wexford and Limerick, Tipperary is a great example of the typical small Irish city surrounded by lush countryside.
Known as the Premier County, it boasts the Rock of Cashel (where Brian Boru, the last High King of Ireland, was crowned) and Lough Derg, which is almost big enough to be an inland sea.
Both these stunning natural landmarks will give you an idea of what Ryan is talking about in his novel.
1. Sligo – Normal People
For the final leg of your literary tour of Ireland, head to the north of the Republic. Sligo is the inspiration for the fictional town of Carricklea in Sally Rooney’s Normal People. The novel is about the ups and downs of a relationship between two students.
The book’s success led to a television production. You’ll see two of Sligo’s picturesque locations, Tobercurry Village and Streedagh Strand, serve as the backdrop for the T.V. drama.
Notable landmarks include St John the Evangelist Church and Brennan’s Bar in Sligo City.
If you need an excuse to go back to Dublin, then part of the book is set there. Marianne and Connell, the two main characters, embark on separate lives at Trinity College in the city.
The Robert Emmet Theatre, the front square, and cricket pitches there all play their part in the telling of the moving story.
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