Bram Stoker First Sunk His Teeth Into Writing In Greystones

Bram Stoker

erhaps it was the distinct lack of sun that drew Bram Stoker to Greystones…

The man who created Dracula was just beginning to write, and an escape from the hustle agus bustle of Dublin was just what he needed.

And those dull, dark summers we specialise in could have been an inspiration for his greatest creation. We reckon.

Published in 2021, The Dublin Years: The Lost Journal Of Bram Stoker reveals that the young author took his first tentative steps towards becoming a writer right on our sunless shores.

A few decades before Samuel Beckett would start spending his summers at the harbour, his parents now buried at Redford Cemetery on The Grove.

And back in August 1871, Greystones inspired such lines as…

‘The nets as they rise from the water are starred with phosphorescent lights.

‘As the ends of the net come nearer and the lead line comes up upon the beach, the fishes are seen struggling in the net and show their white bellies.‘

Having been passed around the Stoker family unnoticed for over a century, this lost journal – signed ‘Abraham Stoker’ – covers the years 1871 to 1881 and was published with annotations by Professor Elizabeth Miller and the author’s great grandnephew, Dacre.

According to the latter, the above passage was the very first attempt by Bram at writing descriptive prose. So, you know, it was us who inspired one of the greatest writers Ireland has ever produced.

Fact. Or thereabouts.

You can explore other dubious claims of Greystones’ great literary inspirations right about here.