Martin Healy pictured at the 'Writers from the Rooftop' tour at Croke Park.
By Cian O’Connell
For Martin Healy is it a labour of love delivering the ‘Writers from the Rooftop’ tour at Croke Park.
Passionate about reading and Dublin, Healy’s offering which commenced in recent weeks is beginning to acquire attention.
Originally from Pearse Square near Ringsend, Healy has lived on the Navan Road for 38 years. For three decades he worked as a firefighter and paramedic, so his knowledge of Dublin’s characters is vast. “I'm lucky, I've been around since the 60s,” he laughs.
“I met great people along the way that I've worked with in my younger years, they gave me a great introduction to certain aspects of literary Dublin,that I'll always be appreciative to them for that.”
From an early age Healy was interested in reading and exploring. “I was always a reader, I can't ever remember not reading,” he explains. “I'd have always loved Dublin. The social histories of Dublin, I've read them all. The characters and my favourite writers, they'd have all been or 99 per cent of them would've been associated with Dublin. All through my life I'm reading about Dublin in some form.”
So, how did Healy come up with the idea of a literary angle on the Skyline tour? “You're looking at Dublin all of the time,” he says. “Over the course of my lifetime, I'd have read an awful lot about Dublin, its characters, and the city.
“While up there on the Skyline, I came to the conclusion, that surely, we could do a tour of Dublin, mentioning writers and characters and the literary stance Dublin has from up here. It was just a concept that has grown within me during the years doing the Skyline.”
Five viewing platforms exist on the Skyline. “Basically, as we're going around from platform to platform, we look out, talking about what we can see,” he says.
The Writers from the Rooftop tour is proving to be a success story.
“In the literary tour we look out, talk about what we can see, and incorporate writers and their work into the views that we see below us.”
Healy has relished the early tours. “You'd hone in on certain aspects of Dublin literature,” he says. “You cannot do a tour of Dublin from the rooftop of Croke Park and talk literature without mentioning James Joyce. You'll come up with a Joyce story on every platform.
“Then, you'll take in O'Casey, obviously, James Plunkett, Brendan Behan, Patrick Kavanagh, Flann O'Brien. You name it.
“They're all there in the city. As you walk around looking out on the city, various aspects of the city will remind you of these people, and what they were up to, from the literary pubs and places like that throughout the city. You'll always have something to talk about regarding one of these individuals.”
Passing stories through the generations matters to Healy. “I'd agree certainly, it is like a song, a song shouldn't be left in a book on a shelf,” he says.
“A song should be sung. The same with stories and these characters, who lived in Dublin. They shouldn't be forgotten about, they should be kept in the mind’s eye and in memory, in my opinion.
“If anybody can get up to tell a tale about some of the characters that have wandered the streets of this city, yes, why not? Keep it going for the next generation to latch on to and appreciate it as much as my generation have.”
Is there any sport talk on the tour? “The literary tour is based on literary Dublin, while your Skyline Tour is a tour of Dublin from the rooftops of Croke Park,” Healy replies.
A view from the Skyline Tour at Croke Park.
“What we will be doing in our Skyline Tour is picking out various things like the Customs House, the Spire, and things like that, giving a history and the stories that go along with them.
“The literary tour is based on literary Dublin, nothing else. These objects you see will come into it certainly, but it will be on the literary side of Dublin.”
For the past eight years, Healy has thoroughly enjoyed working at Croke Park. There is a willingness to embrace ideas. “I thought about this for a while,” he says. “I had a chat with Julianne (McKeigue) in the Museum, she thought it was a great idea, she was all for it.
“So, she left me to my own devices, to come up with a tour. At certain times, I gave it over to her, she threw her eyes over it, and then we agreed the tour was a runner. It went to marketing, they decided the tour was a runner. That is where we are now.”
Is it empowering to be facilitated? “Not only are you being facilitated, you're being encouraged, which is great,” he responds.
“You're being encouraged to come up with these things. I think that is a great aspect of our job. You don't go in and it is mundane.
“If you want to do something, there will be people, who will always listen to you and encourage you. If it is a runner, they're more than likely to back you on it.”
The tour reflects that there is pleasure in the journey. “I would say so,” Healy says. “I enjoy it, and it is great to be able to put my thoughts out there, and for myself to enjoy it, and hopefully other people to enjoy it, also.”
Click here to book a Writers from the Rooftop Tour.