Built in 1847 as a GPs consulting room and later adapted to include an apothecary and then a pharmacy, this location has altered very little since that day.  It has been preserved through neglect in memory of James Joyce.  It has had several owners since the Sweny family, but the ‘Sweny’ trading name still remains. Joyce’s readings are cherished here and read aloud daily by literature lovers who take pleasure in the clarity of Joyce’s memories. 

Leopold Bloom, the epic hero, can be seen through the shop window making his way to Swenys. The sweet scent of lemon soap remains in the air; potions remain unopened and forever mystical. Unclaimed, unnamed portraits remain in their frames watching while the pharmacists read aloud and recall romantic Dublin through the words of Joyce.

In 1904 the young student James Joyce called to this very store.  He consulted with the then pharmacist Frederick William Sweny in such detail that it is possible to recreate the prescription he describes in Chapter 5 of his famous novel Ulysses. 

While waiting for the pharmacist Bloom smells the lemony soap on the counter and takes a bar with him.  

The soap becomes the talisman for Bloom's journey and is re-created every year in June, on Bloomsday.

In 2009 Swenys ceased trading as a pharmacy and the doors closed.  While there was photography being taken of the interior of the shop some months later, people began wandering inside in search of the famous scented lemon soap.  Sweny’s had no plan to trade, it just evolved, and the doors are still open today.

The interior of this historical hub is small and quaint, approximately 11ft wide by 14ft long with beautiful high ceilings, much of the floor space is taken up by the mahogany counters and there is also a small room at the rear of the store.

Sweny’s was and will forever be a historical landmark which served James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, Oscar Wilde and the residents of Fenian Street and Westland Row for over one hundred years. This unique and mysterious property is absolutely ideal for any vintage photo-shoots and or filming opportunities.

“Mr Bloom raised a cake to his nostrils. Sweet lemony wax.-              I’ll take this one, he said.”   Ulysses, J. Joyce (1922)