Saints and Scholars: The Willoughby Book Club Visits Dublin

Ah, Ireland. The ‘Land of Saints and Scholars’ and birthplace of Wilde, Joyce, and Beckett. For a small country with less than six million inhabitants, Ireland has produced some of the world’s most well-respected authors, playwrights and thinkers.

The Willoughby Book Club team were very lucky to visit Dublin recently and spent a wonderful day exploring some of the capital city’s rich literary history, visiting the stunning Trinity College Library, home of the Book of Kells, and the National Gallery. Alongside all this, we made sure to successfully eat and drink our way around the place!

We started out bright and early, flying from Birmingham airport to Dublin International just as the sun was rising. On our arrival, our first priority was coffee and food…lots of it. Think of the biggest traditional Irish breakfast you can, and you’ll be only just close. Alisha and Aishah were seemingly in competition to eat the greatest portion of smoked salmon in one sitting. Liv ate more asparagus than was previously thought conceivable for a human. Nic was tactical in her doubling up of the caffeine and Marianne was quite content with her lovely and indulgent French toast.

After breakfast, we headed straight to the permanent Book of Kells exhibit at Trinity, the illuminated manuscript of the Four Gospels of the New Testament, which was created in around the 9^th century by Irish Catholic monks. It was fascinating to learn about the history and preservation of the book over the centuries.

Strolling around the leafy grounds of Trinity, we immediately started thinking about Sally Rooney’s Normal People, imagining her characters Marianne and Connell wandering the paths, just as we were.

Trinity is known worldwide for its impressive collection of books and letters, ranging from religious texts to the drafts of Bram Stoker. The hushed atmosphere of the Long Room in the Old Library was a wonderful thing to experience, with all the visitors in joint reverence at this bastion of Irish history and literary culture.

Next was a mooch around the shops, taking in O’Connell Street, Grafton Street and the like. Books and claddagh rings were bought, as were ice creams and Irish snacks. Our favourite bookshops included Hodges Figgis, Dubray Books, and Books Upstairs.

We then went to Dublin’s National Gallery, which is a must-visit for any day trippers. Note: if you laugh slightly too loudly at the portraits of medieval babies, you might be followed around by some suspicious gallery staff members. It’s home to a wide array of inspiring works, from Caravaggio and Vermeer to Picasso and Degas and entrance was free- even better!

After a busy few hours of culture, we reset with a much-deserved picnic break in the park. Marianne proceeded to attract the attention of most of Dublin’s seagulls with her packet of Taytos.

Lastly, we ventured to the docklands to see the replica famine ship ‘The Jeanie Johnston’, and then headed on back to the airport for several rounds of Bananagrams and burgers, while waiting for our flight.

Dublin is a beautiful city, full of life, students, chicken fillet rolls, and most important thing of all to Willoughby… bookshops! If you fancy a spontaneous trip, we thoroughly recommend visiting soon. Oh, and if you do, bring us back a loaf of soda bread, please.