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The National Library
It’s still early in the morning when I walk up the steps to the National Library. Standing on the porch, through the fence I can see TDs totter up the path next door, folders underarm, heading into the Government buildings. This Kildare Street building has housed Dublin’s main public reference library since 1890. In Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, he even describes students gathering here to smoke and chat. The very first time I ever came in here, I got as far as the hall. Inside, it is quieter than even a library should be. Although, there are a few eager types waiting in the lobby. A cleaner polishes around th