At St Patrick’s Close, walk through the main entrance to the cathedral. Given the lively celebrations that take place around the world on St Patrick’s Day each year wherever there is a contingency of Irish descendants, it’s fair to say that Ireland’s patron saint is still a much revered figure in the country’s history. Dublin’s cathedral in his honour dates from 1191 and although it plays something of a second fiddle to the larger Christ Church Cathedral, its literary heritage is linked to Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) who was dean of the cathedral from 1713 to 1745. Having studied at Trinity College, followed by a spell in England, he ordained to the priesthood in the Church of Ireland in 1694. His religious convictions, however, did not prevent him from expressing his strong political views, notably about the Tory government of the time, and he already had a reputation as both a satirist and a political campaigner before he penned his best-known work, Gulliver’s Travels, in 1726. Telling the tale of the giant Gulliver who finds himself shipwrecked on Lilliput, a country of tiny people only 6in (15cm) tall, it is also a subtle allegory on politics and religion, as well as an examination of human nature. In front of the cathedral are the gravestones of both Swift and Esther Johnson, the woman he immortalized in his poetry as Stella. With your back to the cathedral follow St Patrick’s Close round and turn left on to Kevin Street Upper. Take the first right on to Bride Street, and follow this road straight down until it turns into Heytesbury Street. Turn left on to Grantham Street. Cross over Harrington Street and continue down Synge Street where No. 33 is on the left. This is the birthplace of one of the most prolific playwrights of 19th- and 20th-century literature, George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950). Although he spent the majority of his adult life in England, his Irish roots gave him much of the humour that is apparent in his plays as well as a strong conviction about social standards. Among his best-known plays are Pygmalion (probably better known today as the musical My Fair Lady), Arms and the Man and Mrs Warren’s Profession, but in all his works he explored matters of social convention or injustice, from the class system, to education, to women’s rights, to religion, yet managing to add comedic elements that prevent the works from being pure diatribes. A plaque outside his birthplace is rather less eloquent than the man, saying simply ‘author of many plays’, but inside, his first home has been turned into a museum in honour of the Nobel Prize winner. There are the inevitable displays detailing the life and works of Shaw but of rather more interest is the meticulous reconstruction of a house exactly as it would have been in Victorian times.

Retrace your steps along Synge Street and turn right on to Harrington Street, crossing over the junction with Camden Street. Turn left into Harcourt Street. Number 16 Harcourt Street was once home to possibly the most famous horror writer in history, Bram Stoker (1847–1912). Although born in the Dublin suburb of Clontarf (where there is now a rather tacky museum entitled The Stoker Dracula Museum), he attended Trinity College and lived at this address for a time before moving to and settling in London. Fascinated by folklore, which he drew upon in a number of horror novels, the work that has earned him a place in literary history and spawned a whole cinematic genre is Dracula, the tale of the infamous Transylvanian vampire count. A plaque at No. 30 Kildare Street, north of the river, where he also lived, commemorates the famous author. With a chill in your step, move on to an altogether gentler man of letters.

At the top of Harcourt Street turn right on to St Stephen’s Green South, then follow the right fork at the end of this street down Leeson Street Lower. As you get to the canal turn left on to Mespil Road. and continue to walk beside the canal until you reach the statue of Patrick Kavanagh and the canal lock. This is a wonderfully reflective statue of the poet Patrick Kavanagh (1904–67) sitting on a park bench. His works, such as Stony Grey Soil and Canal Bank Walk, explore the desire and need for a simpler life and a return to nature. Kavanagh used to come and sit by the canal after suffering from lung cancer and found its quietness and solitude a great inspiration to him, hence the setting of the statue in tribute.

Walk ahead to the Macartney Bridge, turn left on to Baggot Street Lower, then right on Fitzwilliam Street Lower, and enter Merrion Square. There are various plaques around the buildings of Merrion Square, including one for the poet W. B. Yeats, but the most prominent figure honoured here is Ireland’s wittiest and most sparkling writer, Oscar Wilde (1854–1900). A rather louche-looking statue of the playwright and novelist lounges on a rock in the northwest corner of the gardens. Always a flamboyant figure, and a major presence in 19th-century literary circles, Wilde’s plays such as Lady Windermere’s Fan and his most popular work, The Importance of Being Earnest, are so slickly droll that it’s often easy to overlook the fact that they deal with many social injustices of the day, notably women’s rights. Famously tried and imprisoned for his homosexual affair with Lord Alfred Douglas (‘Bosie’), Wilde’s pitiful final days were spent alone and broke in Paris.

Leaving Merrion Square by the northwest corner, go down Clare Street, pass the National Gallery of Ireland, and continue along Leinster Street South and Nassau Street, turning right at the top to the entrance gates of Trinity College on College Green. Many literary alumni have entered the gates of Trinity College, including Bram Stoker and Oscar Wilde, and in the 1920s it was to be the temporary home of one of Ireland’s great modernist playwrights, Samuel Beckett (1906–89), first as a student, then as a lecturer. Not the most accessible of writers, Beckett made his name in the 1950s with plays such as Waiting for Godot and Endgame.

With your back to the college gates, walk right up Westmoreland Street, over the river at O’Connell Bridge, and then right on to Eden Quay. Turn left on to Marlborough Street and cross Old Abbey Street. Continue on to take the first right on to Abbey Street Lower.  Also known as the Irish National Theatre, the Abbey is something of a literary and theatrical institution in Dublin, and has been since the poet W. B. Yeats established it in 1904. Its opening coincided with the growing nationalist movement in Ireland as well as the Celtic Revival movement that saw a return to old folklore tales. As a result, many of its productions have been as much about Ireland and Irishness as they have been about theatre, premiering works such as Sean O’Casey’s Juno and the Paycock in 1924 to Brian Friel’s Dancing at Lughnasa in 1990. While it also stages international works as well as classics, the Abbey retains the same commitment to promoting Irish drama as it did in its earliest days.