An Armchair Tour of Dublin’s Libraries

The Postcard #6 With love from Copenhagen and Dublin

People often say that football and boxing are the ways out of the working class and they are your ticket out of that kind of life, if you happen to want to leave it. But, for me, the library is the key. That is where the escape tunnel is. All of the knowledge in the world is there. The great brains of the world are at your fingertips.
—Billy Connolly

The spiral staircases inside The Old Library of Trinity College

Dear friend,

There is something about this turning of the year, October into early November, that makes me yearn for darker and more literary cities like Edinburgh and Dublin.

So even though I am curled up on my sofa in Copenhagen after minor surgery yesterday (feeling sore and a bit sorry for myself since the right side of my jaw looks like Marlon Brando’s in The Godfather), today we will take an imagined arm‑chair journey together to three of Dublin’s breathtaking libraries.

Pour yourself a cup of tea, or perhaps a glass of wine, and walk with me through these places containing such wonderful literary history, and imagine how the great Dublin writers used to walk the city to go and sit in these very libraries: James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker, and so many others. They will be our companions today.

1. Marsh’s Library, St Patrick’s Close

Founded in 1707 and situated right beside St Patrick’s Cathedral, Marsh’s was Ireland’s first public library. The magnificent Gothic gate leading into the library makes it feel as if we are walking through a portal into another world. Inside, the tall bookcases adorned with crowns and gilded mitres stand virtually untouched since the time they were built . This place of calm and mystery is where Bram Stoker used to work at a table which is actually still there.

The magnificently Gothic portal into March’s Library

2. The National Library of Ireland, Kildare Street

The National Library on Kildare Street, established in 1877, holds a pivotal role in Dublin’s literary past and heartbeat. It is a reference library which contains an estimated 8 million items, among them archival papers, personal notes and workbooks of Roddy Doyle, Seamus Heaney, James Joyce, and Edna O’Brien, as well as the greatest collection of William Butler Yeats material in the world.

The domed reading room, green‑glass lamps, and quiet corridors make this library feel like a cathedral where you can sit and feel the echo of countless students and great writers

Every book lovers childhood dream of a library: The National Library of Ireland

3. Trinity College Library & the Book of Kells

The Old Library at Trinity College is absolutely legendary: the 9th‑century Book of  Kells is displayed in a glass case, and the pages are turned regularly. Every time I see it, I find it hard to walk away.

The magical Book of Kells

The shelves in the oak‑lined Long Room hold more than 200,000 volumes. Last time I was there, the library was undergoing conservation, and many of the books were temporarily relocated to be dusted and prepared for secure, climate‑controlled storage.

The Old Library of Trinity College: a must-see for all Dark Academia lovers

The exquisite feeling of being inside this library, even with partly emptied shelves, is an absolute must for all Dark Academia fans. See my Letter from last week for more about Dark Academia.

So on this (for me) quieter, more reflective first day of November, thank you for following me to these three corners of Dublin’s literary world. I hope this made you pause, take a deep breath, and feel the unique pull of the history of Dublin; and perhaps share my longing to go there.

With love from Copenhagen and Dublin 💭,
Annette 🕯️🍂 ☕️🖊️ 📜 🤎

The Postcard 💌

The Postcard is a cozy, personal note from my favourite corners of the world: cafés or parks or bookshops or benches in London, Copenhagen, Paris, Nice, Dublin or Edinburgh. It will arrive in your inbox every month, even if you are on the free plan.

Over a cup of tea or coffee, I will share with you my adventures in the places I travel to, or things that matter to me at the moment: books I am reading, restaurants I love, thoughts I am having, or the simple joys of life.

I hope The Postcard will give you an insight into my life and work and a moment of inspiration and reflection.

Angående den danske version:

Jeg har ikke fået nogen tilbagemeldinger om, at jeg har haft tilføjet en dansk version af mine Letters og Postcards. Hvis du finder dem nyttige, vil du så lade mig det vide nedenfor, så jeg ved, om jeg skal bruge den ekstra tid på at skrive dem?