2 Best Sights in O'Connell Street and Around, Dublin

“If you would know Ireland—body and soul—you must read its poems and stories," wrote W. B. Yeats in 1891. Further investigation into the Dublin way with words can be found at this old-fashioned museum, in a magnificently restored 18th-century town house on the north side of Parnell Square. The mansion, once the home of John Jameson, of the Irish whiskey family, centers on the Gallery of Writers, an enormous drawing room gorgeously decorated with paintings, Adamesque plasterwork, and a deep Edwardian lincrusta frieze. Slightly overshadowed by the opening of the new Museum of Literature Ireland, this smaller venue still houses rare manuscripts, diaries, posters, letters, limited and first editions, photographs, and other mementos—and there are many of them, so leave plenty of time—commemorating the lives and works of the city's greatest writers, including Joyce, Shaw, J. M. Synge, Lady Gregory, W. B. Yeats, Beckett, and others. On display are an 1804 edition of Swift's Gulliver's Travels, an 1899 first edition of Bram Stoker's Dracula, and an 1899 edition of Wilde's Ballad of Reading Gaol. There's a Teller of Tales exhibition showcasing Behan, O'Flaherty, and O'Faoláin. Readings are periodically held, and there's a room dedicated to children's literature. The bookshop and café make this an ideal place to spend a rainy afternoon.

Few may have read him, but everyone in Ireland has at least heard of James Joyce (1882–1941)—especially since owning a copy of his censored and suppressed Ulysses was one of the top status symbols of the early 20th century. Joyce is, of course, now acknowledged as one of the greatest modern authors, and Dubliners, Finnegans Wake, and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man can even be read as quirky "travel guides" to Dublin. Open to the public, this restored 18th-century Georgian town house, once the dancing academy of Professor Denis J. Maginni (which many will recognize from a reading of Ulysses), is a center for Joycean studies and events related to the author. It has an extensive library and archives, exhibition rooms, a bookstore, and a café. The collection includes letters from Beckett, Joyce's guitar and cane, and a celebrated edition of Ulysses illustrated by Matisse. The interactive exhibition James Joyce and Ulysses allows you to delve into the mysteries and controversies of the novel. The center is the main organizer of "Bloomstime," which marks the week leading up to the Bloomsday celebrations. (Bloomsday, June 16, is the single day Ulysses chronicles, as Leopold Bloom winds his way around Dublin in 1904.)