Dublin Literature Tour: Joyce, Wilde and Yeats

Strolling through Dublin's idyllic streets, it can be easy to question whether you're walking through an actual city or a fantastic, novelistic version of it, as so many great books have been written and set here. During this 3-hour Dublin Literary Tour, we'll look at the city's most illustrious writers, including James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, W. B. Yeats, and Oscar Wilde, visit some key sites where they either worked or were depicted, and explore how they shaped Dublin, and vice versa.

Our tour begins in Merrion Square, once home to Oscar Wilde and a cornerstone of Dublin’s cultural life. Here, we’ll explore the religious and social dynamics of 19th- and early 20th-century Dublin and their influence on literary greats like Wilde, James Joyce, and W.B. Yeats. Moving on to the National Library and Trinity College, we’ll delve into the academic and cultural institutions that shaped Dublin’s literary scene, visiting locations frequented by these authors and their contemporaries. Along the way, we’ll immerse ourselves in the cityscapes that inspired their works, uncovering the personal and professional circles that defined their lives.

Our journey will center on James Joyce, whose deep connection to Dublin resonates throughout his works, particularly Ulysses. Together, we’ll explore locations tied to his life and fiction, including the hotel where he met Nora Barnacle and a historic shop lovingly maintained by Joycean scholars. We’ll bring the novel to life by reading an excerpt in its original setting, followed by a discussion over drinks at a nearby pub. By the tour’s end, we’ll have woven together Dublin’s literary heritage and the enduring legacy of its remarkable authors.

Book with confidence — see Context's flexible cancellation policy here.