Marshs library, Dublins best secret

Some of Irelands greatest stories and characters, including the worlds

favourite vampire, started in a little-known library with secrets of its own.
Mairead Fanning takes us on a tour.

ave you ever caught

a sudden glimpse of
a ghostly figure or a
disembodied orb? Maybe you
have experienced an inexplicable
chill or quickened your pace
when passing a crumbling
building. For centuries, people
across the globe have blamed
these supernatural phenomena
on witches, warlocks, ghosts,
ghouls and goblins in tales as old
as time.
In Ireland, the prolonged dark
and damp winter weather
provided the perfect backdrop
for writing such ghost stories and
nursing a culture of storytelling.
Ireland has produced its fair
share of creative minds including
James Joyce, Samuel Beckett
and Oscar Wilde. Today, many
are surprised to hear that one
of the most famous figures of
literary history, Count Dracula,
was also penned by an Irish
author, Bram Stoker. Many
of these world famous writers
used one of Dublins best kept
secretsMarshs Libraryfor
their research.
Located just a stones throw
away from the capitals Christ
Church Cathedral, Marshs
Library remains one of the few
18th century buildings still used
for its original purpose. The
library was built by Archbishop
Narcisscus Marsh and houses an
impressive collection of books

and manuscripts. Its estimated

that the librarys towering
oak bookshelves are home to
300 manuscripts and more
than 25,000 books, including
original works by Galileo
and Cervantes. The collection
contains scriptures in a variety
of languages, including Hebrew,
Greek and Latin.
The library is recognised as
one of Europes first public
libraries, although at the time
of its establishment, neither
women nor anyone without a
gentlemans status was permitted
entry. A select number of notable
women were eventually allowed
access to the library in the 1840s.
The library attracts just 23,000
visitors a year, compared with
the 1.25 million who flock to the
Guinness factory, Irelands most
popular tourist attraction.
Ireland is known as the land of
the Saints and Scholars because
of the considerable number of
talented writers it has produced.
Marshs library provided the
creative fuel to ignite many of
these brilliant literary minds.
The extensive library logs
show that James Joyce browsed
Marshs librarys shelves, as
did Gullivers Travels author
Jonathon Swift. Swift made the
most of the librarys impressive
collection of maps to conjure
his own imaginary world.
Another author of considerable
literary fame, Stoker, also

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drew inspiration from the

gothic atmosphere and gloomy
surroundings of the library to
create the towering figure of
Count Dracula. The librarians
visitors log registers his scrawled
signature over a period of a year
and a half. The log book also
provides us with an illuminating
insight into the literature that
Stoker was researching when
writing Dracula, his gothic
masterpiece.
Like Swift, Stoker took
advantage of the librarys
extensive range of maps to
research
the
geographical
landscape and makeup of the
faraway lands of Transylvania.
In a fascinating twist, Stoker
used some of the same source
materials that Shakespeare used
to write Macbeth. The text in
question was penned by a close
acquaintance of Shakespeare
and discusses dark magic and
witchcraft. Its fascinating to
consider that Shakespeare and
Stoker used the same source
material to pen their masterpieces
almost 300 years apart.
The building itself has a couple
of eerie stories up its sleeve, the
most famous of which involves
the librarys founder and onetime
archbishop of Dublin, Narcissus
Marsh. Marsh was a committed
bachelor and never had any
children of his own but was
fond of one of his nieces, Grace.
In fact, Marsh decided to bring
Grace with him from England
upon accepting the position as
archbishop at Dublins Christ
Church. Legend tells that shortly
after arriving in Ireland, Grace
fell head over heels in love with
another member of the clergy.
Marsh strongly disapproved of

the match and forbid Grace from

seeing her lover. Despite her
uncles wrath, Grace continued
to meet with her lover in secret
and eventually eloped to England
leaving a distraught Archbishop
Marsh behind. To this day, it
is claimed that when the clock
chimes
midnight,
Marshs
tormented ghost appears to roam
the passageways and alcoves of
the library. It is said that Marshs
spirit searches for a handwritten
note from Grace justifying her
sudden disappearance.
Another curious event in the
librarys captivating history
occurred at the beginning of the
20th Century when one librarian
made a most astonishing
discovery, an Egyptian mummy.
The unfortunate librarian made
the unexpected find when
clearing out the dusty corners
of some of the librarys oldest
vaults. The chief librarian was
justifiably startled and decided to
get rid of the mummy as soon as
possible. As time passed, people
lost interest in the story, and little
was known of the mummys
whereabouts. It is only in the last
20 years that the story has risen
to public consciousness once
more. It was while scrounging
deep in the pits of Trinity
College, Dublin s oldest and
most prestigious university,
that the mummys whereabouts
were rediscovered. Today, it
reposes alongside other Egyptian
mummies in the Egyptian
Exhibition at the National
Museum in Dublin. However,
historians remain dumbfounded
as to how an Egyptian mummy
ever came to reside in Marshs
library in the first place.

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Dublin, Irelands capital city,

boasts a lively tradition of
dance, music and storytelling
as well as outstanding sites of
historical interest. Tourists from
all over the world fall in love
with the citys quirky corners,
winding cobblestone streets and
captivating architecture.
Marshs library remains one of
the most interesting attractions
in Dublin city. Today it plays an
important role in Dublins annual
Dracula Festival which occurs
on Halloween, October 31st. On
this day, the library hosts a range
of activities from childrens
workshops to reenactments of
extracts from some of Stokers
other works, including The
Judges House. The role that
Marshs library has played in
the Irish tradition of storytelling
cannot be overstated. Its gothic
architecture and eerie ambience
sparked many creative minds to
publish great works. However,
perhaps the most enthralling
aspect of the librarys charm is
the various inexplicable events
that have occurred throughout its
murky past.

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Facts
Tourism is a growing industry
in
Ireland
and
employs
approximately 220,000 people,
mainly in Dublin and in the
surrounding areas.
In 2015, an estimated 9.3
million visitors came to Ireland,
generating revenues of about
4.7 billion.
Irelands capital city, Dublin,
took its name from the Gaelic
dubh linn or black pool which
refers to the point where the
citys River Liffey formed a deep
pool at Dublin Castle.

200 films have been made about

Dracula. Writers of popular
TV series, such as Buffy the
Vampire Slayer also drew
inspiration from Stokers work,
as did the prolific American
author Stephen King.
Stokers lineage on his mothers
side includes the legendary
Sheriff of Galway, who hanged
his own son. Stoker used this
material to create his fiction.

The origins of the city stretch

back over 1,000 years but the
city was established as a Viking
stronghold around 841AD.
The first Vikings arrived on
Irish shores around 790 AD
and Dublin became a trading
point halfway between Viking
settlements in Scandinavia and
Constantinople.
Today, archaeologists still come
across remainders of the original
Viking settlement, including
cooking utensils, weaponry and,
on one occasion, an almost intact
Viking longboat.
Dracula was published in
1897, eight days after Stoker
released the stage play at the
Lyceum Theatre, London. Stoker
ran the theatre and directed
many plays alongside his wife,
Florence Balcombe, an actress.
According to The Telegraph,
more than 1,000 novels and
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DEUTSCH
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ESPAOL
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FRANAIS
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