In the footsteps of *Gulliver’s Travels*, which is celebrating its third centenary

The fateful birthday will fall on Wednesday 28 October, exactly three hundred years after the publication, under the provisional title *Travels Into Several Remote Nations of the World* and bearing the fictitious signature of the ship’s surgeon Lemuel Gulliver, of the book that, more than any other, has inspired the imagination and the desire to discover new worlds in millions of people across the globe. For this reason, Dublin and Ireland have planned a number of events from that date until the end of the year, specifically to commemorate Jonathan Swift, the true author, and the book which shortly afterwards took the title *Gulliver’s Travels*. After all, one can hardly blame the London publisher who, to avoid the foreseeable legal consequences of many passages contained in the book – Swift held the post of Dean of St Patrick’s Cathedral at the time – cut out the most compromising political passages. Fortunately, those revisions and annotations can still be admired today at the Robinson Library in the city of Armagh, in Northern Ireland, where this literary journey in pursuit of Gulliver and his author might well begin. This is also because that charming little town will be hosting the Armagh Georgian Festival, which features a packed programme of historical re-enactments in period costume inspired by the 18th century, alongside unmissable light shows and cultural events such as the Rokeby Lecture, the conference dedicated specifically to Swift. Furthermore, the Georgian Mall, a tree-lined avenue in the heart of the city, the fascinating Armagh County Museum, Gosford Forest Park and Gosford Castle – where Jonathan Swift was often a guest of the Acheson family – are all places of undeniable charm.