Walk the Line

From Beckett’s beloved East Pier to George Bernard Shaw’s homestead in Dalkey, some of the greatest works in the English language were conceived right on Haddington House’s doorstep. Follow in the footsteps of genius with Irish author Aiden O’Reilly’s local literary journey.

“They halted while Haines surveyed the tower and said at last:– Rather bleak in wintertime I should say. Martello you call it?” So go the famed lines in the opening chapter of James Joyce’s masterpiece Ulysses. Setting itself just minutes from the door of Haddington House, at the Martello tower at Sandycove, it focuses on the activities of the three residents of the tower as they rise to face the day on 16 June, 1904. 

Yet it is just one of the great works that has either been inspired, or depicted, within easy reach of the hotel. From iconic surrealist writing by Irish author Flann O’Brien to contemporary fiction by the award-winning Jennifer Johnston, the south side of Dublin Bay has proved a rich source of material for well over a century. 

There are few better ways than to become acquainted with this stretch of the coast than through the eyes of the many great writers associated with it. Best described, perhaps, by one of Ireland’s much-loved authors, and long-time Dalkey resident, Maeve Binchy: “Ever since the days it had been called Kingstown, it had been a lively place to live; tropical palm trees along the coastline made it seem like somewhere more exotic than it really was. The sturdy Victorian houses spoke of a time when this was a place of substance and quality … It was a curious mix of staid respectability with overtones of holiday fun.”

Beckett’s sea song

We’ll follow a general route on foot from Dún Laoghaire to Sandycove and on to Dalkey and Killiney Hill. This is ambitious for a single day’s exploration, but the beauty of the local rail line, the Dart, is there will be a couple of opportunities to cut the ramble short and return in a matter of minutes. 

With its timeless Victorian promenade, Dún Laoghaire shows its grandest side to the sea. Tucked behind, the main thoroughfare of George’s Street is busy with cafés, restaurants and boutique shops. Don’t miss the ‘Last Corner Shop’ with handwritten signs out front promising they sell anything from snuff to yesterday’s newspaper. Just below, and stretching out in front of Haddington House, is the mighty East Pier. There is a plaque to the Nobel-winning Samuel Beckett, who lived in nearby Foxrock. The pier gets a mention in his play Krapp’s Last Tape. Krapp has an epiphany “at the end of the jetty, in the howling wind ... great granite rocks, the foam flying up in the light of the lighthouse and the wind-gauge spinning like a propeller, clear to me at last ...” 

Fittingly, Dún Laoghaire now boasts one of Ireland’s greatest libraries, the rather cryptically named dlr LexIcon, located right next to Haddington House. Its stark tapering architecture cleaves the Victorian seafront, yet it is a warm and welcoming community hub, with a café, art gallery, local history library and gardens. 

A Joycean odyssey

Proceeding southward, the promenade leads you to Sandycove Beach. Families congregate here for a dip, but hardy swimmers go a few strides further to the Forty Foot bathing spot. History records the many struggles of local bathers against bureaucracy and prudery as they defended their immemorial right to swim naked whenever the urge took them. More bookish types will skip a dip here and take the curve of the road up to the squat profile of the Martello tower. James Joyce spent six nights here and used it as the setting for the opening of his masterpiece Ulysses. Every 16 June this area swarms with men in straw boaters and striped blazers, and women in fancy hats and heavy Edwardian dresses. 

They are celebrating Bloomsday, named after the main character in Ulysses, but more broadly celebrating all of Joyce’s work. Here the fictional resident Buck Mulligan looks out to “the snotgreen … scrotumtightening sea”. After a quick check of the veracity of this description, you’ll be keen to continue east along Ulverton Road. It’s about a 15 minute walk to Dalkey – but first take a quick digression at the castle down to Bulloch Harbour and maybe spy some cavorting seals. Playwright and screenwriter Hugh Leonard (best known for Da) lived in an apartment overlooking the harbour. Then resume the road to Dalkey – “a little town with two magic harbours, and hills and views without equal in the land”, as Maeve Binchy described it.

The Dalkey Archives 

The town has a book and coffee vibe to it, which peaks during the June Dalkey Literary Festival. The rest of the year make sure to call by the Dalkey Castle & Heritage Centre, which, besides living history tours, has a special Writers’ Gallery featuring portraits of just about every scribe who took in the Dalkey air — Jamie O’Neill, G.B. Shaw, Joseph O’Connor and Anne Enright being a few of the better-known ones. Get up to the castle battlements to fully appreciate how the town is set like a jewel between the foothills and the Irish Sea. If a speedy return to Dún Laoghaire by Dart doesn’t tempt, follow Sorrento Road until you reach Sorrento Terrace. This is a truly impressive terrace of eight houses that stand in magnificent isolation atop the coastline. The prolific writer Jennifer Johnston lived here with her father, Denis Johnston – also a writer, though his reputation has been overtaken by the daughter’s. Her novel Truth or Fiction is partially set here. 

And so begins the fabulous Vico Road. This is where the main protagonists in Flann O’Brien’s comedy novel The Dalkey Archives encounter the time-travelling De Selby, drink aged whiskey made last week, and chat with Saint Augustine in a secret underwater cavern. “The road itself curves gently upward, and over a low wall to the left by the footpath enchantment is spread – rocky grassland falling fast away to reach a toy-like railway far below.”

But just before the Vico Road begins to turn downward, you’ll notice a flight of steps on the right-hand side. This is the ‘cat’s ladder’ – no less than 237 steep steps up to Torca Cottage, where George Bernard Shaw grew up before making his name in London. “I lived on a hilltop with the most beautiful view in the world – I had only to open my eyes to see such pictures as no painter could make for me.” In an area of imposing Victorian mansions, Torca Cottage is positively humble.

Writer’s Block

Having ascended thus far, you will likely want to continue, following the signs to Killiney Hill and the obelisk at the top. The panorama is stunning, with the Wicklow Mountains to the southwest, Dublin city to the north and the sea sparkling far below. Nobody knows who first compared the gentle bow of the stony coastline below to the Bay of Naples, but the connection is reflected in the many Italian names of local roads – Sorrento, Nerano, Monte Alverno – and the Vico Road itself, named after a 17th-century Neapolitan philosopher of the Enlightenment. It seems this has long been a sophisticated part of Ireland that looks outward to the continent.

The only problem is there’s far more than can be seen in a single day. By climbing to the obelisk you’re missing out on the greater part of the Vico Road. Or you can make your way to the secluded Killiney village. This is home to one of the younger generation of writers, Paul Murray. His uproarious and satirical novels position him as an inheritor of Flann O’Brien. Many celebrities from the worlds of music and arts have chosen this arboreal village to live in.

Perhaps the best part is left: ice-creams at the Café de la Gare at Killiney Dart station, and gorgeous sea views as the train winds its way along the coast, delivering you all the way back to the comforts of the House.