Writers’ Tears turn to joy
Bernard’s Writers’ Tears premium Irish whiskey has provided financial and other support to Sweny’s which had been under threat of closure from rising rent and a special video to launch their partnership featuring “pharmacist” PJ Murphy and whiskey creator Bernard Walsh has been released.
Located on Dublin City’s Lincoln Place Sweny’s features in Chapter Five of Ulysses when lead character Leopold Bloom pays a visit. Sweny’s officially ceased operating as a pharmacy in 2009 but since then, thanks to a dedicated team of volunteers, it has become a shrine to Joyce and Ulysses, preserved just as it was when the author himself visited it in 1904 – as did his literary peers Oscar Wilde and Samuel Beckett in their time.
People come from all over the world to experience living history, to listen to Joycean readings (in five languages) and to buy the same lemony soap that Leopold Bloom notionally bought on the 16th June 1904 and which itself becomes a talisman to the story told in the famous novel.
“The role played by the volunteers who’ve kept Sweny’s open for the last 10 years has been immense in preserving Irish literary heritage for Dubliners and people the world over to experience,” said Bernard Walsh, Managing Director of Walsh Whiskey and creator of Writers’ Tears, “They both need and deserve our support if they’re to carry on.
“I created Writers’ Tears as a homage to Ireland’s literary and creative greats and thankfully, a bit like Ulysses, it has come to be enjoyed by people in countries the world over.
“Writers’ Tears is a rare blend of two premium whiskeys (Single Pot Still & Single Malt). This style of whiskey was extremely popular in Joyce’s time and we designed the bottle to reflect that same Victorian era. So Sweny’s and Writers’ Tears are a good fit for each other on several levels.”
In addition to contributing to the rent, Writers’ Tears will promote Sweny’s need for support in the 50 countries it’s sold in worldwide and to its customers through dedicated content on online channels.
Writers’ Tears has also committed to buying hundreds of bars of the famous lemony soap to help promote interest in the unique venue.
“Bernard’s support through Writers’ Tears is much appreciated,” commented PJ Murphy, a volunteer and Board Member of the FW Sweny and Co Trust (which has charitable status), “It will take our story and those of Ulysses and Mr Joyce himself to new audiences and generations both at home and abroad.”
The Victorian shop is preserved just as it has been since it first opened in 1853 and it’s open to the public for visits and readings of Joyce’s works, Monday to Saturday (11am – 5pm).
