Explore the real-world places that appear in At Swim-Two-Birds by Flann O'Brien. Each location on the map shows what happens there in the novel, the real history of the place, and what's there today. Featured locations include University College Dublin, The Bailey Tavern, Phoenix Park, Trinity College Dublin, St. Stephen's Green and 4 more.
Belfield Campus — The narrator's academic world
The unnamed narrator is a lazy university student who spends more time in bed writing his novel than attending lectures. His academic life provides the frame for the entire narrative, as he struggles with his studies while creating increasingly complex fictional worlds. The university represents the modern intellectual world that contrasts with the mythological Ireland of his imagination.
University College Dublin was founded in 1854 as part of the Catholic University of Ireland. By O'Brien's time in the 1930s, it was located on St. Stephen's Green before moving to its current Belfield campus in the 1960s.
UCD is now one of Ireland's largest universities with over 30,000 students. The modern Belfield campus features contemporary buildings and extensive facilities, quite different from the intimate Georgian buildings O'Brien would have known.
Visit: University College Dublin (historic site)
Duke Street — Literary Dublin's famous pub
While not explicitly named, pubs like The Bailey feature in the narrator's social world and represent the Dublin pub culture that permeates the novel. The narrator and his friends frequent establishments like this, where literary conversation mingles with drink and the boundaries between reality and fiction blur.
The Bailey has been a Dublin institution since 1837, becoming famous as a gathering place for writers including James Joyce, Brendan Behan, and Flann O'Brien himself. The pub was known for its bohemian atmosphere and literary clientele.
The Bailey continues to operate as a traditional Dublin pub, still drawing literary enthusiasts and tourists seeking to experience the atmosphere of Dublin's golden age of letters. The pub maintains much of its historic character.
Visit: The Bailey (restaurant)
Largest enclosed park in Europe — Scene of mythological episodes
Phoenix Park serves as the setting for some of the novel's mythological episodes, particularly those involving the legendary Irish hero Finn MacCool. In the narrator's nested stories, characters from Irish mythology wander through this landscape, blending ancient Celtic lore with modern Dublin geography.
Phoenix Park was established in 1662 as a royal hunting ground and has been Dublin's largest park for centuries. It encompasses over 1,750 acres and includes the residence of Ireland's President and the American Ambassador.
Phoenix Park remains one of Europe's largest enclosed parks, offering walking trails, the Dublin Zoo, and numerous monuments. It continues to be a place where Dubliners connect with nature and Irish history.
Visit: Phoenix Park (park)
College Green — Ireland's oldest university
Trinity College represents the Anglo-Irish literary tradition that O'Brien both acknowledges and subverts in his novel. The college's library and literary heritage form part of the cultural backdrop against which the narrator creates his experimental fiction, challenging traditional narrative forms.
Founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth I, Trinity College is Ireland's oldest university. Its famous Long Room Library houses the Book of Kells and has been a center of Irish learning and literature for over four centuries.
Trinity College remains one of Ireland's most prestigious universities. The campus is open to tourists, with the Old Library and Book of Kells exhibition being major attractions drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors annually.
Visit: Trinity College Dublin (historic site)
City center park — Victorian Dublin's heart
St. Stephen's Green appears in the novel as part of the Dublin landscape that the narrator traverses. The green represents the orderly, respectable Dublin that contrasts with the chaotic fictional worlds he creates in his writing, where cowboys, mythological heroes, and literary characters collide.
Originally a common for public use since medieval times, St. Stephen's Green was redesigned as a Victorian park in 1880 with funding from the Guinness family. It became the elegant centerpiece of Georgian Dublin's social life.
St. Stephen's Green remains Dublin's premier city center park, surrounded by Georgian architecture, hotels, and shops. The park features formal gardens, a lake, and numerous monuments, serving as both a tourist attraction and local gathering place.
Visit: St. Stephen's Green (park)
Premier shopping street — Dublin's social artery
Grafton Street represents the commercial heart of Dublin that the narrator observes as he moves through the city. The street and its bustling life provide realistic detail that grounds the novel's fantastic elements, showing the everyday Dublin that exists alongside the narrator's imaginative creations.
Named after Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Grafton, the street developed into Dublin's premier shopping district during the 18th and 19th centuries. It was pedestrianized in the 1980s, enhancing its role as a social gathering place.
Grafton Street remains Dublin's main shopping thoroughfare, lined with department stores, boutiques, and street performers. It connects St. Stephen's Green to Trinity College, maintaining its historic role as a central artery of Dublin life.
Visit: Grafton Street (landmark)
Dublin's river — Dividing the city
The Liffey flows through the novel as both literal geography and symbolic divide. The river represents the boundary between different aspects of Dublin life and consciousness, much as the narrator's fiction creates boundaries between different levels of reality within his nested narratives.
The River Liffey has been central to Dublin's development since Viking times. The city grew up around fords and bridges crossing the river, with the area becoming known as 'Dubh Linn' or black pool.
The Liffey continues to divide Dublin into Northside and Southside, crossed by numerous bridges including the famous Ha'penny Bridge. The river remains central to Dublin's identity and geography.
Visit: River Liffey Boardwalk (landmark)
Kildare Street — Repository of Irish literature
The National Library represents the institutional preservation of Irish literature that O'Brien both reveres and rebels against in his novel. The library's collections of Irish mythology and folklore provide source material that the narrator transforms in his experimental fiction, breaking down the barriers between high and popular culture.
Opened in 1890, the National Library of Ireland was established to collect and preserve Irish documentary and intellectual heritage. It houses extensive collections of Irish literature, manuscripts, and historical documents.
The National Library continues as Ireland's premier research library, offering public access to Irish literary and historical collections. It frequently hosts exhibitions and events celebrating Irish literary heritage.
Visit: National Library of Ireland (library)
Hill of Tara, County Meath — Ancient seat of Irish kings
The Hill of Tara appears in the mythological sections of the novel, particularly in episodes featuring Finn MacCool and other legendary Irish heroes. O'Brien uses Tara as a symbol of ancient Irish kingship and mythology that collides with modern Dublin reality in his narrator's fantastical stories.
The Hill of Tara was the ceremonial and political center of Gaelic Ireland for over 1,000 years. According to tradition, it was here that the High Kings of Ireland were crowned, making it the most sacred site in ancient Irish culture.
The Hill of Tara is now a major archaeological site and tourist attraction managed by the Office of Public Works. Visitors can explore the ancient monuments and enjoy panoramic views of the Irish countryside.
Visit: Hill of Tara (historic site)
More by Flann O'Brien: All Flann O'Brien books
More novels set in Dublin: Browse all Dublin books on Map A Story
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