#576 Dublin libraries

Of course, if a city is going to be my new favorite, it's going to need some libraries and bookshops.  Dublin has them in spades.

One of my favorites is the National Library of Ireland.  The Emerald Isle has a deep literary history and you'll find many writers' papers here in the NLI catalog.  I especially like the ornate reading room and the bold, artistic 'librarian' sign above the reference desk.

If I had to choose a favorite, though, it has to be the Long Room, the main chamber of the Old Library, Trinity College.   Built in the early 1700s and roof raised in the 1800s, the Long Library now contains about 200,000 of the library's oldest books, the country's oldest harp, and a copy of the 1916 Proclamation of the Irish Republic under a beautiful barrel-vaulted ceiling.  And, oh yes, the Book of Kells is on display just downstairs in a special exhibit room.

Inspired by all these books, we couldn't help but do some shopping in some of Dublin's great bookstores such as Hodges Figgis, mentioned in Mr. Joyce's Ulysses.  

Yours in appreciating the literary Dublin,
Mary