Readers like you keep news free for everyone.
More than 5,000 readers have already pitched in to keep free access to The Journal.
For the price of one cup of coffee each week you can help keep paywalls away.
snapshot
7 former homes of famous Irish writers that you'd easily walk right past
You’ve probably walked by Oscar Wilde’s house.
WITH JUST A small plaque paying tribute to its previous famous inhabitant, it would be easy to walk by the former birthplace of Oscar Wilde without giving it a second look.
The same applies to Bram Stoker’s previous home in Dublin 3, while there’s no distinguishing feature outside James Joyce’s past abode.
With this in mind, below are seven properties where famous Irish writers once lived – and where to find them.
1. Oscar Wilde
Poet and playwright Oscar Wilde was born on 16 October 1854 at 21 Westland Row, Dublin 2. Some 100 years later, in 1954, a plaque was placed on the wall to commemorate his birth, according to Trinity College Dublin.
2. James Joyce
One of Ireland’s most influential writers, James Joyce was born on 2 February 1882 in 41 Brighton Square, Rathgar, Dublin 6. A small plaque between the top two windows remembers the property’s previous famous inhabitant.
3. Samuel Beckett
While he lived in Paris for most of his adult life, Samuel Beckett grew up in Cooldrinagh, an impressive three-bed in Foxrock built by his father in 1903, according to the Irish Times. The full address of the property is Cooldrinagh, Kerrymount Avenue, Foxrock, Dublin 18.
4. George Bernard Shaw
Oscar and Nobel Prize Winner George Bernard Shaw lived at Torca Cottage, Torca Road, Dalkey, south Dublin, from when he was 10 years of age, between 1866 and 1874. While the interior has been modernised, a small plaque outside pays reminder to its former resident.
5. Bram Stoker
Just across the road from the Castle Dracula attraction is the birthplace of the Dracula novelist, Bram Stoker, at 15 Marino Crescent, Fairview, Dublin 3.
6. Molly Keane
Novelist and playwright Molly Keane moved to Dysert, a cottage overlooking Ardmore Bay, Co Waterford in 1950 with her two daughters following the death of her husband a few years earlier. Today, writers’ retreats take place in the house several times a year.
7. WB Yeats
While it wasn’t his birthplace, acclaimed Irish poet W.B. Yeats lived in 82 Merrion Square between 1922 and 1928, moving in when he was 57. Now home to a property group, passersby can see a simple plaque outside which pays tribute to Yeats.
