Dublin Writers Museum

The Dublin Writers Museum was a museum of literary history located at 18 Parnell Square in Dublin, Ireland. It opened in November 1991 with the aim of promoting interest in Irish literature as a whole and in the lives and works of individual Irish writers. Hailed as an iconic Dublin institution, the museum closed in March 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic and was permanently brought to an end in 2022 without ever reopening. Its collection has since been transferred to the Museum of Literature Ireland (MoLI) to ensure continued public access to Ireland's literary heritage.

The idea for a dedicated literary museum was first proposed in the 1970s by journalist and author Maurice Gorham, who sought to fill a gap in Dublin's cultural scene by creating a single venue that would offer an overview of the city's dispersed literary heritage. After years of planning, the museum opened on 18 November 1991, run by Dublin Tourism. The establishment represented the first attempt to consolidate Dublin's rich literary legacy into one location rather than across several separate collections. In 2012, Dublin Tourism was merged into Fáilte Ireland, and the museum subsequently came under Fáilte Ireland's management. In March 2020, the museum closed due to COVID-19 lockdown measures. A commissioned report concluded that the museum had become dated relative to modern expectations and no longer met the expectations of contemporary museum visitors. In 2022, the decision was made to end the operation permanently. Two staff retired and two were allocated other Fáilte Ireland duties. The museum's collection was transferred to MoLI, where it remains under Fáilte Ireland's charge. There have been proposals that the Parnell Square building be repurposed as a museum to commemorate stained glass artist Harry Clarke.

The museum's collection spanned the full breadth of Irish literary history from Jonathan Swift to contemporary writers. It gathered rare first editions, manuscripts, letters, portraits, busts, and personal mementos connected to the city's writers. The collection was developed to present a chronological journey through Irish literature, with dedicated rooms for different literary periods and a particular emphasis on personal artifacts that illuminated the lives behind the works. Following the museum's closure in 2020, the entire collection was transferred to MoLI to ensure its future safekeeping and availability for public display. At MoLI, the items are displayed alongside digital installations and interactive exhibits, offering modern context for the historical materials.

The museum owned and exhibited numerous significant items. These included Jonathan Swift's coffee pot, a first edition of Bram Stoker's Dracula, Samuel Beckett's telephone from his Paris apartment, James Joyce's typewriter, and Brendan Behan's union cards and letter. Other personal artifacts included Mary Lavin's childhood teddy bear, Frank O'Connor's spectacles, and Oliver St John Gogarty's flying goggles. The collection also featured letters from Sean O'Casey, rare editions of works by W.B. Yeats, Katharine Tynan, and Edna O'Brien, a replica of the Book of Kells, and specially commissioned bronze busts and contemporary artwork. The French Wikipedia source noted portraits by artists including Patrick Swift, Reginald Gray, Edward McGuire, and Harry Kernoff.

The museum was housed at 18 Parnell Square in two eighteenth-century buildings in the north city centre, opposite the Garden of Remembrance and near the Abbey Presbyterian Church. The main building was a red-brick Georgian-style house that had been used by George Jameson, son of the Jameson Irish Whiskey family. The interior featured plasterwork by Dublin stuccodore Michael Stapleton. The building contained the Gorham Library on the upper floor, commemorating the museum's founder. An annexed building held a coffee shop, bookshop, and lecture room. The splendidly restored Georgian house was noted for its sumptuous plasterwork and decorative stained glass windows.

When operational, the museum was located at 18 Parnell Square at the northern end of O'Connell Street, tucked behind the Rotunda Hospital. It was accessible by multiple bus routes including the 3, 7, 10, 11, 13, 16, 19, 46A, and 123. The museum was open Mondays to Saturdays from 10:00 to 17:00 and Sundays from 11:00 to 17:00, with admission costing €7.50 for adults and €4.70 for children, with family tickets at €20.00. A personal digital audio tour was available in six languages: English, French, Italian, Spanish, German, and Dutch. The museum hosted exhibitions, readings, lunchtime performances, and author talks. Since its permanent closure in 2022, the building no longer welcomes visitors, and those seeking to experience the collection should visit the Museum of Literature Ireland (MoLI) at St Patrick's Cathedral, where the Dublin Writers Museum collection is now on permanent display.