Coming to Ireland, I only knew the island for its
drinking of Guinness and stories of deception and tales of the supernatural. Recently
I adventured on the Dublin Literary Pub Crawl by accompanying three
professional actors as they performed renditions of some of Ireland’s famous
writers like James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, Brendan Behan, Oscar Wilde, and many
others.
This insightful tour gave me knowledge of past writer’s
ideals through the portrayal of their famous works. I now can see the Irish for
more than just the drinking I once believed was their talent. The voice and
passion of the Irish now stand out most. Having both the intelligence and the
charisma to produce such beautiful literature truly opened a different
perspective to me.
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| Two actors performing "Waiting for Godot" at Dukes Pub |
If the stories about the writers were not engaging
enough for some, there was an added incentive to paying attention along the
tour. When the pub crawl started at the Duke Pub in Dublin, the actors
announced there would be a trivia challenge at the very end with two potential prizes
to those who could answer the most correct answers about both the writers and
their literary movements. Anyone with a competitive mindset was truly engaged
after this point. After proclaiming the challenge, one actor then broke out
into a famous interactive Irish song “Waxie’s Dargle.”
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| True Irish actor playing an Irish song in Dublin |
The pub crawl then proceeds to tell more tales and
famous songs of Irish history, most of which I was hearing for the first time.
The most notable lectures tome where those by Oscar Wilde while we strolled
through Trinity College. What we heard of his work through adversity was
pervasive in a positive manor. His influence to me can be seen as having a
voice and standing out even when others may not want to hear it. Wilde
definitely had an impact of future writers.
The tour continued to go through M.J. O’Neill,
then to The Old Stand, and finally concluding to Davy Byrnes. It was outside of
this last pub where everyone regurgitated their brief trivial knowledge. Our
class at IUSB worked semi-collectively to take one of the two prizes showing
our commitment to excellence. Overall in regards to the Dublin Literary Pub
Crawl, I would definitely recommend everyone to indulge on this tour to not
only see the city from an insider’s view, but to gain some knowledge on the people
who helped shape literature in Ireland and made an impact on the city for the
better. The tour has also received brilliant reviews!
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| Pictured is myself, actor (I believe Finn was his name), my classmate David, and the other two awesome actors! |
Special thanks to the three gentlemen actors that led
our tour (whose names now escape me)…
