St. Patrick's Cathedral and Marsh's Library

If you're a writer, and happen to visit Dublin, there are two places that you should not miss because of the literary history behind it. One is St. Patrick's Cathedral, and the other, Marsh's Library. They are next to each other, and you only have to pay once to see both.

Saint Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin has been around since the late 12th century, and is where the Irish writer, Johnathan Swift, who wrote Gulliver's Travels, is buried. I remember reading Swift's book in Farsi when I was a kid, and getting lost in his story.

 

Swift's companion, an Englishwoman named Esther Johnson aka Stella, who died before he did, was the first to be buried at the cathedral. Swift had a difficult time handling her death, and asked to be buried next to her upon his death. So, was it a love story, or a friendship? There have been speculations that the two were married secretly, but no one can verify it. History just refers to the two as being "close friends," or having a "deep friendship."

There was a wedding going on, and the staff had roped off a section. Everyone had to wait before they were allowed in. 

Ireland's first public library, Marsh's Library, was built in the early 1700s, and carries rare, and unusual books dating back to the 16th century. Before this library, access to libraries usually belonged to scholars, clergymen, and the upper class. For more than 100 years, this was the only public library in Ireland. The picture you see hanging on the wall is a photo of Arch Bishop Narcissus Marsh who founded the library.

Legend has it that the ghost of Marsh walks around at night, looking for a letter that his niece left him. His niece fell in love, and eloped with a sea captain, because Marsh didn't approve of him. She wrote a letter to her uncle, asking for his forgiveness, and left it in a book that he never found.

The librarians also serve as custodians who work hard to preserve the library, and the books. The books are located in the same location where they were hundreds of years ago.

It's a small Library. People were allowed to use it, but due to theft, researchers must now make an appointment to use the reading room. Bram Stoker, James Joyce, and Oliver Swift visited the library for literary research. There are library cages where readers were locked in to prevent theft. Some books have bullet holes from the 1916 Easter Rising when the Irish rose against British rule. In the late 18th century, an Egyptian mummy—a man with a missing head and partial arm—was found in a cupboard. The staff named him Maurice.