The Poetry Stroll: A Literary Walking Tour (Sweny's Pharmacy)

About This Tour

The Poetry Stroll explores James Joyce’s Dublin through poetry and music, using the artist’s footsteps as a compass through the city. While best known as a writer, Joyce was also a singer and a poet, and it is through this lens that we encounter his world: Dublin at the beginning of the twentieth century.

As we walk the streets and visit the places that shaped him, the stroll shines a light on Joyce’s artistic aspirations, creative life and places he later immortalised in Dubliners, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, and Ulysses.

What’s Included

• Live Music
• Guides In-person

What’s Not Included

• Alcoholic Beverages

Itinerary

1. Sweny’s Pharmacy was a working pharmacy from 1847 until 2009. Its Victorian interior is preserved and the pharmacy is mentioned in James Joyce’s book Ulysses. In chapter five, the protagonist Leopold Bloom buys a piece of lemon soap there. Today, Sweny’s Pharmacy is a monument to James Joyce (one of Ireland’s most celebrated writers) and many people from all over the world travel there to step into this unique cultural Time Machine and to buy a piece of lemon soap there (the original recipe!!). (20 min)
2. In Merrion Square Park we visit the statue of Oscar Wilde. The renowned writer, poet and playwright is reclining on a rock and looking towards the house in which him and his family used to live. In the park I’ll perform some of his poetry put to music as well as poetry composed by his mother Lady Jane Wilde, better known as ‘Speranza’. (15 min)

Meeting point: Go to Sweny’s Pharmacy, 1 Lincoln Pl, Dublin at 3pm. There’s a sign outside above the door and in the windows you’ll see many black and white pictures (of James Joyce and Oscar Wilde), as well as books and other paraphernalia. I will meet you inside, the guy with the guitar, that’s me.

Good to Know

• Wheelchair accessible
• Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
• Service animals allowed
• Public transportation options are available nearby
• Specialized infant seats are available

Maximum group size: 10 travelers. Available in: en.