Within 500 yards of one another, the Trinity College Library and the National Library of Ireland provide a center for Joycean research unequaled anywhere in the world. Seminar participants will enjoy full reading privileges at both Trinity and the National Library on Kildare Street―the setting of the “Scylla and Charybdis” chapter of Ulysses. The Trinity College library is the largest library in Ireland, with collections built up since the end of the sixteenth century, and provides an outstanding general research collection, and very solid secondary materials on Joyce. The National Library, on the other hand, has made a concerted effort within the past two decades to collect one-of-a-kind Joyce manuscripts, and is now one of the two or three richest archives of Joyce material in the world. Be sure to have a look at the Library’s catalogue of these holdings.
Seminar participants will have access to the Trinity Library’s computer facilities; those owning laptop computers will want to bring them to Dublin, however, in part to be able to use them in the National Library. The accommodations we’ve reserved at Trinity will provide guests with wireless Internet access. Seminar participants will enjoy reader privileges at both libraries, but will not be able to borrow library materials. During the summer, the National Library’s Main Reading Room is open Monday-Wednesday, 10:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m.; Thursday-Friday, 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.; and Saturday, 10:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m. The Manuscripts Reading Room closes 30 minutes earlier. Summer hours for the Trinity College library have not yet been set for summer 2012.
Another extraordinary resource for Joyce scholars, depending upon the precise nature of the research project, is the National Photographic Archive on Meeting House Square, in Temple Bar (just five minutes’ walk from Trinity), which is managed by the National Library. The NPAM is open Monday-Friday, 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m., and Saturday 10:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m.