Ireland (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Fionn Davenport [73]
The gallery was founded in 1908 by wealthy art dealer Sir Hugh Lane, who died in 1915 on the Lusitania after that ship was torpedoed by a German U-boat. Following his death, a bitter row erupted between the National Gallery in London and the Hugh Lane Gallery over the jewels of his collection; even now, after years of wrangling, half of the works are displayed in Dublin and half in London on a rotating basis, but for the time being the Hugh Lane will hold on to its most prized possession, Renoir’s Les Parapluies.
DUBLIN WRITERS MUSEUM
You’d think that Dublin’s rich literary tradition would ensure that a museum devoted to Ireland’s greatest scribblers would be a real treat. But somehow the Dublin Writers Museum (Map; 872 2077; www.writersmuseum.com; 18 North Parnell Sq; adult/child/student €7.50/4.70/6.30; 10am-5pm Mon-Sat Sep-May, to 6pm Jun-Aug, 11am-5pm Sun year-round) is something of a damp squib, unless Samuel Beckett’s phone from his Paris apartment or Brendan Behan’s union card will tickle your fancy. The museum is full of vaguely literary ephemera and gewgaws associated with some of the city’s most recognisable names, but the list stops in the 1970s and no account at all is given to contemporary writers who would be more popular with today’s readers; the museum’s decision to omit living writers limits its appeal in our book.
The museum also has a bookshop and an outstanding restaurant, Chapter One. Admission includes taped guides with readings from relevant texts in English and other languages. If you plan to visit the James Joyce Museum and the Shaw Birthplace, bear in mind that a combined ticket (adult/student/child €12/10/7.40) is cheaper than three separate ones.
While the museum concerns itself with dead authors, the Irish Writers’ Centre, next door at No 19, provides a meeting and working place for their living successors.
JAMES JOYCE CULTURAL CENTRE
Denis Maginni, the exuberant, flamboyant dance instructor immortalised by James Joyce in Ulysses, taught in this house. In 1982 Senator David Norris, a renowned Joycean scholar and leading gay-rights activist, bought the run-down house and restored it before opening it as a cultural centre (Map; 878 8547; www.jamesjoyce.ie; 35 North Great George’s St; adult/child/student €5/free/4; 10am-5pm Tue-Sat) for the study of Joyce and his books, as well as a small museum devoted to the author and his times.
There isn’t much period stuff, but its absence is more than made up for by the superb interactive displays, which include three documentary films on various aspects of Joyce’s life and work and – the centre’s highlight – computers that allow you to explore the content of Ulysses episode by episode and Joyce’s life year by year. It’s enough to demolish the myth that Joyce’s works are an impenetrable mystery and render him as he should be to the contemporary reader: a writer of enormous talent who sought to challenge and entertain his audience with his breathtaking wit and use of language.
Some of the fine plaster ceilings are restored originals, others careful reproductions of Michael Stapleton’s designs. For information on a James Joyce–related walking tour departing from the centre, Click here.
Docklands
No urban development program is complete without some kind of docklands revamp, and Dublin is no different: after decades of neglect the eastern banks north and south of the River Liffey (Map) have been given a serious once-over. The result is an impressive array of contemporary buildings, including the snazzy National Convention Centre, designed by Kevin Roche (slated to open in 2010–11; Map); the new home of the Abbey Theatre (Map), a 24,000-sq-metre behemoth on George’s Dock that will include