Jonathan and the Jest

Tour St Patrick’s Cathedral and Marsh’s Library in the company Jonathan Swift (actor Damien Devaney) and playwright Alice Coghlan.

As a writer of satire Jonathan Swift needed to ‘hammer out the jest.’  And where better to find that comic material than in the books and pamphlets at Marsh’s Library, one of the world’s oldest public libraries, that still stands adjacent to Swift’s cathedral? In its books and stunning Queen Anne interior, Marsh’s Library preserves the world that inspired Swift’s satire.

We know Swift read the books here as he left his own graffiti on them!  One example is  Clarendon’s History on which Swift scribbles that Scots are ‘cursed, abominable, ever-lasting traitors.’ This is because of their part in the execution of Charles I. Marsh’s library also preserves a valuable first edition of Gulliver’s Travels as well as the ‘tall tales’ travel books, this masterpiece brought to book.

Join Wonderland Productions’ Alice Coghlan (writer of The Jonathan Swift Audio Walk)  as we tour the cathedral and library and its literary treasures.  Throughout our walk together we will enjoy readings from the costumed actor Damien Devaney (Jonathan Swift in the The Jonathan Swift Audio Walk) from the books at Marsh’s Library and the writing which it inspired in Jonathan Swift.

Duration: 70 mins