Softguide Dublin

11 items listed:

Chester Beatty Library

Clock Tower Building, Dublin Castle, Dame Street, Dublin 2. (Map l49o51 - M50)
Phone: 4070750
Web: http://www.cbl.ie
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 10.00 - 17.00, Sat 11.00 - 17.00, Sun 13.00-17.00
How to get there: On foot: on the southern edge of Temple Bar, Dublin Castle is halfway between Trinity College and Christ Church. The Chester Beatty is in the Clock Tower building (near the Ship Street entrance).
The Chester Beatty collection in Dublin Castle contains 22,000 manuscripts, rare books and other objects, from cultures all over the world. There are beautiful painted scrolls and jade books from Japanese and Asian collections, Early Christian biblical documents, early Arabic and Turkish manuscripts, and later European prints and bindings.
Free guided tours on Saturdays.
Library, bookshop, cafe; full wheelchair access.

Trinity College Dublin

University of Dublin, Trinity College, Dublin 2. (Map p49s51 - P49)
Phone: 6082320   Fax: 6719003

Opening hours: Book of Kells : Mon - Sat 9.30 - 17.00, Sun (June - Sept) 9.30 - 16.30, Sun (Oct - May) 12.00 - 16.30; closed over Christmas / New Year.
Dublin Experience: 10.00 - 17.00 7 days (24th May - 30th Sept.)
How to get there: Any bus to the City centre. Nearest DART station: Pearse Street.

Not to be missed.

Admission fee, under-12 free.
There are French, German and Italian transalations. There are combined Book of Kells / Dublin Experience tickets; also group rates.

Dublin Writers Museum

18 Parnell Square Dublin 1.
Phone: 87220077   Fax: 8722231

Opening hours: Mon – Sat 10.00 - 17.00; Sun, Public Hols 11.00 - 17.00 Late Opening June thru August : Mon – Fri: until 18.00.
How to get there: 5 minutes walk north from O'Connell St., or Bus routes: to Parnell Square : 10, 11, 11A, 11B, 13, 16, 16A, 19, 19A, 22, 22A, 36. Nearest DART station: Connolly.
Featuring the lives and works of Dublin's most famous writers, including Beckett, Shaw, Joyce, Yeats and others, this small museum is definitely worth a visit; and the Hugh Lane Gallery of Modern Art is just next door.
Admission fee, but concessions for children, students, groups. There's also a combined ticket for this Museum and the Shaw Birthplace, or the Museum and the Joyce Museum
Facilities: cafe and a good bookshop; tours available in several languages.

National Library of Ireland

Kildare Street, Dublin 2. (Map p49s51 - Q51)
Phone: 6030200   Fax: 6766690
Web: http://www.heanet.ie/natlib/contact.ht
Opening hours: Mon - Wed 10.00 - 21.00, Thurs/Fri 10.00 - 17.00, Sat 10.00 - 13.00. Closed Sundays, Bank holidays, Good friday, 23 Dec - 2 Jan.
How to get there: next door to the National Museum of Ireland at Kildare Street. Nearest DART station: Pearse Street.
Bus routes: 5, 6, 7, 8, 44, 47, 47B, 48A, 62 to Merrion Square / Merrion Row.
As the Irish Bibliographical Centre, the National Library holds 5 million items, includes a large reading room, a Genealogy Office and a permanent Heraldic exhibition.
Facilities: genealogical consultancy service; tours by appointment; exhibitions open to the public.

Marsh's Library

St. Patrick's Close, Dublin 8. (Map l52o54 - L52)
Phone: 4543511

Opening hours: Mon, Wed - Fri:10.00 - 12.45, 14.00 - 17.00, Sat 10.30 - 12.45 Closed Tues, Sun.
How to get there: near St. Patrick's Cathedral. By bus: 50, 54A, 56A, 49, 49A, 65, 65A, 77, 77A from Eden Quay.
The oldest public library in Ireland, built in 1701 by Archbishop Narcissus Marsh, it still contains the wired alcoves (cages) where readers were locked in with rare books. Over 25,000 volumes are here, stored in old oak bookcases.
Admission fee

The James Joyce Museum

The Joyce Tower, Sandycove, Co. Dublin.
Phone: 2809265/8722077   Fax: 8722231

Opening hours: April - Oct: Mon - Sat 10.00 - 17.00, Sun & Public Hols 14.00 - 18.00. VIEW BY APPOINTMENT ONLY.
How to get there: By DART to Sandycove, or by Bus 8 from Burgh Quay.
One of 15 defensive towers built against Napoleonic invasion, this tower at Sandycove in south Co. Dublin dates from 1840; Joyce used it as the setting for the 1st chapter of ‘Ulysses', and it now houses the James Joyce Museum.
Facilities: book shop. Admission fee, further concessions for groups or families. Combined ticket with Dublin Writers museum and Shaw Birthplace available.
Fans of Joyce might also enjoy a visit to The James Joyce Centre or the Dublin Writers Museum, see the Literary section.

National Photographic Archive

Meeting House Square, Temple Bar, Dublin 2. (Map l49o51 - N49)
Phone: 6030200   Fax: 6777451
Email: photoarchive@nli.ie
Opening hours: Mon - Fri 10.00 - 17.00
How to get there: In Temple Bar. Nearest DART station: Pearse Street.
The National Library of Ireland's photographic collection.

The James Joyce Centre

35 Nth Great Georges Street, Dublin 1.
Phone: 8788547   Fax: 8788488
Email: joycecen@iol.ie   Web: http://www.jamesjoyce.com
Opening hours: Mon - Sat 9.30 - 17.00, Sun 12.30 - 17.00. Closed 24 - 26 Dec.
How to get there: Close to the north end of O'Connell Street. By bus: 3, 10, 11, 13, 16, 16A to the north end of O'Connell Street, then 3 minutes walk.
This centre is housed in a restored Georgian house, and promotes the works of James Joyce through tours of the house and walks through Joyce's inner city Dublin; includes the Paul Leon Exhibition.
Facilites: exhibition rooms, bookshop, cafe.
Admission fee, group and family rates.

The Shaw Birthplace

33 Synge St., Dublin 8 (Map l55o57 - M56)
Phone: 8722077   Fax: 8722231

Opening hours: May - October: Mon - Sat 10.00 - 17.00, Sun & Public Hols 11.00 - 17.00
How to get there: By bus: 16, 16A, 19, 19A, 155, from Dame Street, to Harrington St. / Sth Circular Rd.
George Bernard Shaw, one of Ireland's Nobel prize-winners for literature, was born in 33 Synge Street, and spent his early childhood here. The house has been restored, and gives us a glimpse of everyday life in Victorian Dublin.
Facilities: tours in foreign languages, bookshop. Admission fee, group and family reductions available.
Combined ticket with Dublin Writers Museum and James Joyce Museum available.

Literary / Georgian Walk

starts at Bewleys Cafe, Grafton Street. (Map l49o51 - O51)
Phone: 4960641 / 4909341

Opening hours: June - Sept. : Mon, Wed, Fri and Sat 10.30
How to get there: Any bus to the city centre. Nearest DART station: Pearse Street.
Meet at the James Joyce Room, in Bewleys Cafe, Grafton Street, the tour cost includes a cup of coffee or tea at Bewleys, and introduces Georgian Dublin where Joyce, Shaw, Wilde, Yeats and others lived.
Group walks can be pre-booked.

Jameson Literary Pub Crawl

37 Exchequer Street, Dublin 2.
Phone: 6705602   Fax: 6705603
Email: colm @dublinpubcrawl.com   Web: http://www.dublinpubcrawl.com
Opening hours: Easter - Oct : nightly 19.30, Sun 12.00 and 19.30.
Winter: not on Mon, Tues, Wed. closed over Christmas/New Year.
Pub crawl starts at The Duke pub on Duke St., off Grafton St., Dublin 2. Lasts 2 1/2 hours; an introduction to both pubs and Irish literary history: actors perform works of Dublin's famous writers as they guide you around their favourite pubs.
Ticket from Dublin Tourism office; concession at the door only.