Dr. Jarlath Killeen presented with a coin commemorating the writing of the Gothic novel, Dracula

Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform Paschal Donohoe TD, presented Dr. Jarlath Killeen of the School of English with a coin commemorating the writing of the Gothic novel, Dracula (designed by David Rooney), at a ceremony in Glasnevin Cemetery. Dr. Killeen was representing Trinity College, where Stoker was an undergraduate and the only person to be both Auditor of the Historical Society and President of the Philosophical Society. 

Deputy Governor of the Central Bank Sharon Donnery said: “The Central Bank is delighted to be commemorating a renowned Irish author such as Bram Stoker with this €15 silver coin. Bram Stoker created one of the most iconic characters in all of literature and film, and it is only fitting that we should honour him with this coin, which depicts the figure of Dracula looming behind his moonlit castle in Transylvania.”

Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform, Paschal Donohoe TD, said: ‘As one of the most recognised literary characters in the world, Bram Stoker’s Dracula has terrified and delighted audiences in equal measure for generations. It is fitting, especially at this time of the year, as we approach Halloween that Bram and Dracula are commemorated in this way. I am delighted to be here to mark this event with members of the Stoker family and would like to thank the Central Bank of Ireland for paying tribute to one of Ireland’s most revered authors in this way’.

Dr. Killeen praised Dracula as one of the major novels of the 1890s, and an enormous influence on popular culture in the twentieth and twenty first centuries.

Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform, Paschal Donohoe TD and Dr. Jarlath Killeen