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Author: Conor

The Misadventures of Oliver Goldsmith

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Performance

4-6 July 2024 at 8pm

Antelope Productions in association with
The Goldsmith Festival presents

THE MISADVENTURES OF OLIVER GOLDSMITH

ADAPTED FROM WASHINGTON IRVING’S LIFE OF GOLDSMITH BY MICHAEL JAMES FORD

Starring Ben Wadell, Sinead Murphy
and Michael James Ford

Thursday, July 4th – Saturday, July 6th at 8.00pm

Runtime: 80 mins.

THE JAMES JOYCE CENTRE, 35 N GREAT GEORGE’S STREET, DUBLIN 1

To mark the 250th Anniversary of the death of Oliver Goldsmith, this new comic drama tells the story of the chaotic life of the great Irish writer. From his humble beginnings as the son of a poor parson in Co Longford, it charts his youthful adventures and travels and his gradual rise to prominence as one of the leading lights of the London literary scene.

Continually thwarted by his own impulsive and intemperate nature and often dogged by misfortune, Goldsmith’s life is a rollercoaster of success and failure, euphoria and despair. But for all his eccentricities, he was a man who inspired laughter and affection and enjoyed the friendship of some of the greatest artistic figures of the age.

The Misadventures of Oliver Goldsmith is a fast-paced tragicomedy that promises laughter, tears, songs, music and merriment. It was adapted from Washington Irving’s fond and colourful biography The Life of Oliver Goldsmith, first published in 1840. The show was commissioned by The Goldsmith Festival in Longford and enjoyed a triumphant launch last month in Goldsmith’s old stomping ground of Ballymahon.

Tickets are €20. Doors open at 7.30pm. To purchase tickets, click this link.

The James Joyce Centre is supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.

Screenshot

Hibsen@SmockAlley

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Film – 3 July 2024 at 12pm

A special screening of the music documentary Hibsen@SmockAlley by Canadian filmmaker Godfrey Jordan (BloomsdayRejoyce) was on Wednesday, 3 July 2024 at 12-2pm in the Volta Room. The film highlighted the Irish folk ensemble Hibsen in their creation and performance of original songs inspired by Joyce’s Dubliners. The film contained behind-the-scenes footage of musicians Gráinne Hunt and Jim Murphy as they performed in the Smock Alley Theatre as well as interviews with Frank McNally of the Irish Times, among others.

The James Joyce Centre is supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.

Bloomsday Festival 2024

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11-16 June 2024

This year we celebrated more than 120 years of Bloomsday at The Bloomsday Festival on 11-16 June 2024!

Bloomsday celebrates Thursday, 16 June 1904, the day immortalised in James Joyce’s 1922 novel Ulysses. The day is named after Leopold Bloom, one of the novel’s protagonist (the other being Stephen Dedalus, the protagonist of Joyce’s 1916 novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Joyce’s literary alter ego). The novel follows Bloom’s life and thoughts — as well as those of Stephen and a host of other characters, real and fictional — from 8AM through to the early hours of the following morning.

Bloomsday celebrations come in many different forms, including readings, performances, walking tours, concerts, and even our famous Bloomsday breakfast (pork kidneys, anyone?). One noticeable feature is that people will dress up like the characters in Edwardian fashion. One of the hallmark dress items found on the streets of Dublin that day is the straw boater hat, a fashionable and iconic summer hat donned by many at the time — including none other than Joyce himself!

The James Joyce Centre has hosted the Bloomsday Festival since 1994. The Centre will host several events throughout the week. In addition, we work with several theatres, museums, libraries, art exhibits, collectives, and other institutions throughout Dublin to bring Joyce’s work to life.

The Bloomsday Festival is organised by the James Joyce Centre in partnership with Fáilte Ireland, Dublin UNESCO City of Literature, and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.

Strings in the Earth and Air

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Bloomsday Festival 2024

16 June 2024 at 8pm

ANNA LIVIA CREATIVE in association with the James Joyce Centre brought you ‘Strings in the earth and air…’: The Musical World of James Joyce with Nicole Rourke & Benjamin Dwyer on 16 June 2024 at 8pm.

Join us in a celebration of Joyce’s fascination with music. With excerpts from the early poetry collection, Chamber Music, through the melancholic stories of Dubliners, to the ornate worlds of Ulysses and Finnegans Wake, Rourke & Dwyer offer a captivating programme of Joyce’s musical obsessions.

The show includes excerpts of ‘raw sensuality’ from Nuala O’Connor’s celebrated book Nora: A Love Story of Nora Barnacle and James Joyce as well as the premiere of a new text by Nicole Rourke exploring the sensual worlds of Nora, Molly and Joyce.

Following the show, Director of the James Joyce Centre Darina Gallagher will host a Q&A with Nicole and Benjamin on the role of music in Joyce’s life and writing, and their creation of the programme. Wine will be served.

The Bloomsday Festival is organised by the James Joyce Centre in partnership with Fáilte Ireland, Dublin UNESCO City of Literature, and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.

Counterparts & A Little Cloud

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Bloomsday Festival 2024

16 June 2024 at 5:30pm

The James Joyce Centre was proud to host a special Bloomsday showing of the Volta Theatre Company’s Counterparts & A Little Cloud, an adaptation of two short stories from Joyce’s debut work Dubliners, on Sunday, 16 June 2024 at 5:30pm

Joyce’s collection of short stories provides vivid ‘slices of life’ of early 20th century Dublin. Against the backdrop of a society in paralysis, a pair of Dublin lives are revealed in stark, sometimes brutal, scenes. In Counterparts, an ungainly, bad-tempered law clerk is determined to have a heavy night’s drinking, while in A Little Cloud, a sensitive soul is embittered by a meeting with an old university friend back from London. At once funny and tragic, relatable and disturbing, the stories are populated with an array of colourful characters who remain entirely contemporary, despite the bowler hats and Edwardian collars.

Performed by two actors in the iconic setting of the Joyce Centre’s Georgian drawing room, and featuring period music, this is an exquisite, intimate study of Joyce’s Dublin and its lives of quiet desperation.

Volta is a collaboration between classically-trained actors and musicians, combining theatre with cabaret, jazz and sketch comedy. Its remit is to bring classical theatre to a wide audience. Liam Hourican has worked with Shakespeare’s Globe, the Old Vic, and Second Age Theatre company and has written and performed sketch shows and comedy drama for Channel 4, RTE and the BBC. Jim Roche has starred in Normal People, Harry Wild, Blood 2, Vikings, Damo and Ivor, Killinaskully, The Mario Rosenstock Show, The Tudors, and iCandy. Musicians Feilimidh Nunan and Conor Sheil work with all the principal orchestras in Ireland and have collaborated in a wide variety of musical genres ranging from jazz to traditional music.

The Bloomsday Festival is organised by the James Joyce Centre in partnership with Fáilte Ireland, Dublin UNESCO City of Literature, and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.

Bloomsday Readings and Songs

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Bloomsday Festival 2024

16 June 2024 at 3pm

It’s time to don that boater hat and join us for an afternoon of readings and songs from Ulysses as part of the Bloomsday Festival’s flagship event Readings and Songs at Meeting House Square in Temple Bar, 3pm – 6pm on 16 June 2024.

A long-standing and treasured tradition, this afternoon of songs, readings and performances from Ulysses in the heart of the city is an essential part of the Bloomsday experience.

This year, we have actor and writer Tara Flynn at the helm in Temple Bar, to introduce a fabulously chaotic cast of noted Irish actors, musicians, pundits and everyone in between, who will read extracts from Ulysses. The readings will bring to life Joyce’s immortal words, from his description of Dublin’s “snotgreen sea”, to Molly Bloom’s famous “yes”.

This year’s esteemed readers are acclaimed actors Nora-Jane Noone, Gerry O’Brien,  Eimear Keating, Geraldine McAlinden, Rachel Wren, Margaret McAuliffe, Steve Hartland, David Mulcahy, Sinead Murphy, and Mary Murray and writers Conner Habib and Dermot Bolger. The event will also feature the celebrated singer-songwriter David Keenan and the comedic brilliance of  Katherine Lynch and Goblins, Goblins, Goblins.

Musicians Bryan Mullen, Brian Gilligan and Camille O’Sullivan will grace the stage, bringing the music that inspired Joyce back to life. The celebrations will culminate with a reading by beloved Irish author Marian Keyes, as she breathes life into Molly Bloom’s legendary “Yes.”

*This is an outdoor event (the Meeting House Square Umbrellas are currently undergoing maintenance) so rain or shine please dress for the weather.

The running order is as follows:
1. Telemachus— Eimear Keating
2. Nestor— Dermot Bolger
3.Proteus— David Keenan
4. Calypso— Katherine Lynch
5. Lotus Eaters — Camille O’Sullivan
6. Hades— Conner Habib
7. Aelous — Margaret Mc Auliffe
8. Lestrygonians— Geraldine McAlinden
9. Scylla and Charybdis — David Mulcahy
10. Wandering Rocks— Brian Gilligan
11.  Sirens— Mary Murray
12. Cyclops— Gerry O’Brien
13. Nausicaa— Steve Hartland
14. Oxen of the Sun— Sinead Murphy
15. Circe— Goblins, Goblins, Goblins
16. Eumaeus— Rachel Wren
17. Ithaca—  Nora-Jane Noone
18. Penelope— Marian Keyes

The Bloomsday Festival is organised by the James Joyce Centre in partnership with Fáilte Ireland, Dublin UNESCO City of Literature, and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.

Flowers of Sleep

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Bloomsday Festival 2024

13 June 2024 at 6:30pm

“Flowers of Sleep”: Bring Paddy Dignan from Sandymount to Glasnevin by Dr. Patrick Callan

The funeral of Paddy Dignam in James Joyce’s Ulysses serves as the pivotal event of the ‘Hades’ episode. Dignam’s funeral cavalcade leaves his home in Sandymount at 11 a.m. on 16 June 1904, taking him across the city to Glasnevin Cemetery. His death and interment allowed Joyce the freedom to consider many of the conventions, rituals and superstitions associated with death and burial in Dublin. Drawing on Ulysses as well as contemporary sources, Dr. Patrick Callan will look at a variety of aspects relating to the domestic and public treatment of the dead body in Dublin, including the practice of the wake, and the traditional offerings of flowers.

Dr. Callan is a Dublin historian and a Visiting Research Fellow at Trinity College Dublin. His book Death in Dublin during the Era of James Joyce’s Ulysses will be published by Routledge.

The Bloomsday Festival is organised by the James Joyce Centre in partnership with Fáilte Ireland, Dublin UNESCO City of Literature, and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.

Poems Ago

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Bloomsday Festival 2024

13 June 2024 at 1pm

The James Joyce Centre was proud to present a lunchtime performance by Poems Ago on Thursday, June 13th at 1pm for the Bloomsday Festival. Poems Ago, the Irish-Dutch musical duo Juliana Hahn and Remco Jacobs, compose and perform music to Irish poetry and play original songs. In this concert, they performed guitar and violin music set to James Joyce’s Chamber Music (1906) as well as poetry by W.B. Yeats, Oscar Wilde, and contemporary Irish poets. The concert conincides with Yeats’ birthday.

The Bloomsday Festival is organised by the James Joyce Centre in partnership with Fáilte Ireland, Dublin UNESCO City of Literature, and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.

Bloomsday Afternoon Tea Bus Tour

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Bloomsday Festival 2024

16 June 2024 at 3:30pm

The James Joyce Centre was proud to partner with Vintage Tea Trips for a special Bloomsday afternoon tea celebrating all things Dublin and James Joyce! Sip on some delicious tea and delicacies while diving into the world of Ulysses and exploring the vibrant city that inspired it on this bus tour on Sunday, 16 June 2024 at 3:30pm.

Whether you are a diehard fan or just curious about this literary masterpiece, this event is perfect for all. Get ready for a fun and enlightening experience that will leave you feeling like a true Dubliner.

Afternoon tea is a much-cherished tea-related ritual from the early 1840s that continued well into the Edwardian era, when Ulysses is set. It was a mini-meal to fill the gap between lunch and dinner and was composed of scones with clotted cream and jam, delicately cut sandwiches, sweets and delicious cakes. In this tour, you may choose from a traditional, vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy free or vegan afternoon tea.

Savour all your favourites — freshly made sandwiches, desserts, cakes, and pastries — as your bus travels through downtown Dublin. Pass sights such as Stephen’s Green, Christ Church, Trinity College, St. Stephen’s Green, Wood Quay, O’Connell Street, Phoenix Park, and the grand buildings of Georgian Dublin.

Our tour guide will point out the varoius references of these places in Ulysses. Feel free to dress up in your finest Edwardian garb as you listen to passages of and explanations of Joyce’s classic novel.

There are many Joycean tours of Dublin, but none of them are quite as comfortable and delicious as this one!

Please note:

  • The tour starts at 3:30pm. The bus is on a strict timetable and can not wait for latecomers. As such, please make arrangements to arrive at least 15 minutes prior to the scheduled departure.
  • The pick-up location is 20-22 St. Stephen’s Green North, Dublin 2, across the road from Stephen Court. The tour will end at St. Stephen’s Green.
  • The tour lasts 70-80 minutes, depending on the traffic.
  • Bus seating is assigned on a first-booked, first-served basis, beginning with filling the upper deck first and then the lower deck. Guests may be required to share a table. For group seating and other options, please email or call the VVT team 72 hours in advance.
  • Any allergies, specific dietary requirements or changes to requirements must be confirmed over email or by phone with the VTT team 72 hours in advance. If the allergy can’t be facilitated, the VVT team will be in contact. For a list of allergens, click this link.
  • For FAQs, click this link.

For more information about Vintage Tea Tours (including full Terms & Conditions), please visit www.vintageteatrips.ie.

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 01 255 1777

The Bloomsday Festival is organised by the James Joyce Centre in partnership with Fáilte Ireland, Dublin

Secret Space

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Performance

7 June 2024 at 8:30pm

AnnaLiviaCreative presented the CD launch and world premiere of Secret Space, a one-hour performance of poetry by American poet Alison Grace Koehler and improvised guitar by Benjamin Dwyer with photographic images by Tony Carragher, on Friday, 7 June 2024 at 8:30pm.

The James Joyce Centre is supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.

Finnegans Wakeshop

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Bloomsday Festival 2024

12 June 2024 at 1pm

Image from Art of the Wake by Carol Wade

The James Joyce Centre was pleased to present a unique experience at the Finnegans Wakeshop during the Bloomsday Festival.

Carol Wade of Art of the Wake and Des Gunning of Joyceborough looked back at ‘FW85,’ the 85th anniversary of the publication of Finnegans Wake and a headsup on plans to mark ‘Mamalujo 101’ in 2025. Des Gunning has been running the Joyceborough Finnegans Wake Reading Group for fifteen years and Carol Wade has been illustrating the Wake for as long. This year, they and others combined forces for the first time to mark the occassion of FW85.

In Finnegans Wakeshop, they reflected on that experience and look ahead to the coming 15 years, which will bring us to FW100. A copiously-illustrated with live performance of the text and plenty of audience participation. A short film, ‘On the Calends of Mars,’ will be screened.

A Blooming Great Day with Úna Woods

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Bloomsday Festival 2024

16 June 2024 at 1pm

It seems like just another ordinary day for Rosie and her grandad. But as soon as they step outside, they find themselves on a blooming great adventure around Dublin on the 16th of June, 1904!

The James Joyce Centre presented A Blooming Great Day with Úna Woods, children’s event of fun, mischief, and Joyce! Author and illustrator Úna Woods will read from her new children’s book A Blooming Great Day (The O’Brien Press) and lead a drawing workshop on Bloomsday (June 16th) at 2pm. The children will draw scenes from the book and design their own hats! This is a great way for children to be introduced to Joyce and to partake in Dublin’s great literary tradition.

Úna Woods is a children’s book illustrator and author who lives in Dublin with her husband and two children and their ginger cat. Her previous books include Have You Seen the Dublin Vampire? and A Spooktacular Place to Be, both published by The O’Brien Press. Úna loves working with bright colours and patterns. She also loves reading and running.

The Bloomsday Festival is organised by the James Joyce Centre in partnership with Fáilte Ireland, Dublin UNESCO City of Literature, and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.

Breathe and Bloom

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Bloomsday Festival 2024

16 June 2024 at 11am

Happenings Ireland in partnership with the James Joyce Centre was proud to present Breathe and Bloom, a truly unique Bloomsday celebration of health, wellness, and yoga (yes, really!) on Sunday, June 16th at 11am in Brighton Square.

James Joyce was born in 1882 at 41 Brighton Square. What better way to celebrate Bloomsday than by gathering where it all began! Breathe and Bloom is a unique blend of traditional Bloomsday celebrations and wellness exercises.

Ulysses is not often thought about in terms of health and fitness but the novel provides a glimpse into the burgeoning wellness movement that would develop extensively in the 20th century. Leopold Bloom is conscious of his body and the need to maintain it through exercise and diet, even if he is not so vigilant in doing so! “Got up wrong side of the bed,” he thinks to himself. “Must begin again those Sandow’s exercises.” His wife, Molly, also has this on her mind: “I must do a few breathing exercises[.] I wonder is that antifat any good might overdo it.” The event will show this often-overlooked facet of Joyce’s work by combining a class by Yoga in the Park with a talk about health and fitness in Joyce’s work as well as old-fashioned readings and songs!

The event will start with Yoga in the Park’s regularly-scheduled class with Jo Collins from 11am to 12pm. It will then be followed by a half-hour talk about fitness, wellness and Joyce by Dr. Conor Heffernan, Lecturer in Sport Sociology at Ulster University. This talk will feature demonstrations of gentle stretching, dumbbell raising and deep breathing by Jo Collins. Audience participation is encouraged but not mandatory. After the talk, the park will host music and readings of Ulysses. The audience is welcome to bring food and drink to make a nice picnic!

Schedule:
11-12: Happenings Yoga’s Yoga in the Park class with Jo Collins.
12-12:30: Talk and yoga demonstration by Dr. Conor Heffernan and Jo Collins about fitness, mindfullness, and yoga in Ulysses.
12:30-1:30: Music and readings.

Many thanks to the residents of Brighton Square for hosting the event.

The Bloomsday Festival is organised by the James Joyce Centre in partnership with Fáilte Ireland, Dublin UNESCO City of Literature, and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and

Dubliners by Hibsen

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Bloomsday Festival 2024

11 June 2024 at 7:30pm

The James Joyce Centre was delighted to host a unique musical interpretation of James Joyce’s Dubliners on Tuesday, 11 June 2024 at 7:30pm. Irish folk ensemble Hibsen payed homage to Joyce with performances of their critically acclaimed album “The Stern Task of Living.” The album is a collection of 15 songs, one for each short story in Dubliners. Through their original music and lyrics, Hibsen brings the stories to life.

For lovers of Joyce, these concerts provided a unique perspective on Dubliners. For those not familiar with the stories, the performances provided an ideal opportunity to get to know them in an intimate surrounding.

“The arrangements . . . and lyrics come from the pen of people who have spent a lot of time in Joyce’s world.” John Meagher, Irish Independent

“One might almost sense the spirit of Joyce himself strolling through these tracks. Better still, you don’t have to know the stories to savour this as a musical experience in its own right.” Jackie Hayden, Hot Press Magazine

Hibsen are a contemporary folk music ensemble formed by Irish artists Jim Murphy and Gráinne Hunt. They released their debut album “The Stern Task of Living” on 26 May 2023. The album was inspired by the book of short stories Dubliners by James Joyce and it comprises 15 songs, one for each short story. It was launched at Bloomsday Festival 2023 and it has received critical acclaim. Some of the songs from the album received extensive national and regional radio play with one of the songs (Eveline) reaching number 2 on the RTE Radio 1 Airplay Chart. The Stern Task of Living was also selected as a featured album on RTE Lyric FM and on BBC Radio Ulster.

Bloomsday Festival 2024 Launch & Reception

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Bloomsday Festival 2024

11 June 2024 at 6pm

On Tuesday, June 11th at 6pm the formal launch of this year’s Bloomsday Festival took place. The Bloomsday Festival was in full-swing this year with close to one-hundred separate events on June 11th-16th throughout Dublin. Our reception featured talks and readings (and some wine!) and celebrated another year of Bloomsday celebrations. We were joined by British artist Jo Hamill as she introduced our new art exhibition Gutter Words. French artist Rémi Rousseau was also on hand as he introduced his new art exhibition Ulysses: Illustrations. Join festival goers around Dublin and the world as we kick off this extraordinary time of the year!

The Bloomsday Festival is organised by the James Joyce Centre in partnership with Fáilte Ireland, Dublin UNESCO City of Literature, and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.

Midday Mumming Madness

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Bloomsday Festival 2024

16 June 2024 at 12pm

On Bloomsday, Sunday June 16th at 12pm The James Joyce Centre hosted some ‘midday mumming madness’ as the extraordinary talent of the Fingal Mummers explored mummery in Ulysses and other works of James Joyce in their production of Everyman His Own Wife.

Throughout Ulysses, Buck Mulligan calls Stephen “A lovely mummer!”; “Kinch, the loveliest mummer of them all!”; “O, you peerless mummer!” Mulligan declares that “I have conceived a play for the mummers” and launches into the title page of a lewd skit. The James Joyce Centre will be truly transformed as we watch the Fingal Mummers celebrate Bloomsday with comedy, music, mischief and song. Come witness this truly unique Irish tradition during this truly unique Irish festival.

The Bloomsday Festival is organised by the James Joyce Centre in partnership with the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Fáilte Ireland, and Dublin UNESCO City of Literature.

Modality of the Visible: Ulysses VR Premiere

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Bloomsday Festival 2024

11 June 2024 at 3pm

The James Joyce Centre was pleased to premiere the highly anticipated new exhibition Modality of the Visible: Ulysses VR for the Bloomsday Festival. Step into the world of James Joyce’s masterpiece like never before with cutting-edge virtual reality technology. Immerse yourself in the sights and sounds of Dublin as you follow in the footsteps of Leopold Bloom.

Modality of the Visible: Ulysses VR is an immersive VR project that takes you on a journey through the Dublin of 1904 so beautifully described in Joyce’s novel. The project aims to educate, entertain, and familiarise viewers with Joyce’s text in an interactive and visual way. Using state-of-the-art VR headset technology, you will be able to mount the gunrest of the Martello Tower, walk along Eccles Street, hang around the gentlemen at Barney Kiernan’s, and explore other settings of Ulysses. The purpose of this project is to merge the world of literature with an increasingly technological world. With an experimental design approach, Ulysses VR offers a novel understanding of Joyce’s writing, creating a unique learning experience in an immersive virtual environment.

The exhibition will be on permanent display at the James Joyce Centre. The project was developed by a team of Greek programmers and academics in collaboration with the University of Patras. We will be joined by Thanos Makris, the creator and project coordinator of Ulysses VR, and Christina Vassilaki, a project officer. Prof. Ahuvia Kahane (Department of Classics, Trinity College Dublin) will deliver a talk about the classical and contemporary Greek references in Ulysses. The attendees, of course, will be welcome to try out the headset for themselves!

Ulysses VR Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HqXBAT7AI8

The Bloomsday Festival is organised by the James Joyce Centre in partnership with the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Fáilte Ireland, and Dublin UNESCO City of Literature.

James Joyce and Antonio Smareglia

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Bloomsday Festival 2024

15 June 2024 at 6:30pm

“Smareglia (who lives beside me) is held by many to be the most original of the living Italian musicians.” James Joyce, 1911

The James Joyce Centre was pleased to host James Joyce and Antonio Smargelia, a special Bloomsday Festival concert event that illustrates the connection between James Joyce, Antonio Smareglia, Trieste, and Pula, on June 15th at 7pm. The concert features performances of music excerpts from operas by Smareglia, the Italian-Croatian composer who was a friend and neighbour of Joyce while they both lived in Trieste.

Maltese pianist Charlene Farrugia-Božac and Croatian soprano Sofija Cingula will bring to life some of the music from operas that Joyce would have heard and admired at the time, from Smareglia’s student work Caccia lontana and Nozze Istriane (which Joyce heard in Trieste in 1908) to fragments from Oceana, Smareglia’s most novel work of music theatre known as teatro di poesia.

The event will include presentations by Croatian scholar Dr. Vito Paoletić (University of Pula) about Joyce’s time in Pula, as well as the city’s links to and celebrations of Bloomsday. Introduction about the musician Antonio Smareglia and his connection to James Joyce will be given by Dr. Juliana Licinic van Walstijn (Queen’s University Belfast), President of the Association Smaregliana.

The concert will be followed by a wine reception provided generously by the Embassy of the Republic of Croatia in Dublin.

The concert is presented by Association Smaregliana in cooperation with the University of Pula and the James Joyce Centre and sponsored by the Embassy of the Republic of Croatia in Dublin.

The Bloomsday Festival is organised by the James Joyce Centre in partnership with the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Fáilte Ireland, and Dublin UNESCO City of Literature.

John, May, James and Me by Eddie Naughton

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Bloomsday Festival 2024

11 June 2024 at 1pm

The James Joyce Centre was proud to present a performance of John, May, James and Me by Eddie Naughton.

Stanislaus Joyce was the younger brother of James Joyce. Born in Dublin, Stanislaus was considered a “Whetstone” by his more famous brother, who shared his ideas and his books with him. He was three years younger than James and was his constant boyhood companion. Stanislaus rebelled against his native Ireland as his brother had done, and, in 1905, he joined James’s household in Trieste. He wrote an unfinished memoir called My Brother’s Keeper, on which the play John, May, James and Me by Eddie Naughton is based, along with other writings.

The play looked at the Joyce family dynamic through the eyes of Stanislaus, from their father, John, a feckless Cork character with notions, to the long-suffering mother, May. It also looks in depth at the relationship between the two brothers over many years. Their trials and tribulations. The good times and bad. What was it like having a literary genius as a brother? How do you stop him from destroying his gift and even himself?

Performed by Pat Nolan. Directed by Bairbre Ni Chaoimh.

Eddie Naughton is a playwright based in The Liberties area of Dublin. His play John, May, James and Me is a Joyce family memoir, based on the writings of Stanislaus Joyce. Other plays he has written include Bullfight on Third Avenue, Joxer Daly Esq, The Exiling of Sean O’Casey, Adrian Phelan is Going Home, and a trilogy of drug plays (Franner and Joey, The Boy with the Halogyn Hair and The Trouble with Bobo).

Bairbre Ni Chaoimh is an actor, director and writer. She has toured nationally and internationally with all the major Irish theatre companies. She was an Associate Artist at the Abbey Theatre for three years and while Artistic Director of Calypso Productions she received an Irish Times award and a MAMA. Directing credits include three plays for The Gate Theatre’s Beckett Festival, which toured to The Barbican, London and The Lincoln Center, New York and Catalpa by Donal O’Kelly, which has won awards on three continents. She directed Noni Stapleton’s one-woman show, Charolais which received a host of awards including The Stewart Parker Award and The Little Gem Award. She recently directed the Irish premiere of Stumped, a play about Pinter and Beckett, for Bewleys Café Theatre.

Pat Nolan trained at DYT and The Focus Stanislavski Studio and appeared in many of their shows. He has an MA in Theatre from GSA/Maynooth University. He has acted, directed, and produced shows nationally and internationally. Stage work includes Cinderella and Borstal Boy at the Gaiety, 12 Angry Men at the Olympia, Risk Everything with Whirlygig, Uncle Vanya at the Gate, Oedipus and The Wake at the Abbey. He toured extensively with Take Off Your Cornflakes. Probably best known to audiences for playing Barry in Fair City, for which he won the Rose d’Or award in Switzerland.

The Bloomsday Festival was organised by the James Joyce Centre in partnership with Fáilte Ireland, Dublin UNESCO City of Literature, and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.

The Other Mrs Joyce on the Day Before Bloomsday

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Bloomsday Festival 2024

15 June 2024 at 1pm

On June 15th at 1pm The James Joyce Centre was pleased to host The Other Mrs Joyce on the Day Before Bloomsday. Award-winning novelist Mary Morrissy will talk about and reads from Penelope Unbound (Banshee Press), her recently published counterfactual novel about Nora Barnacle. In it, she splits the Joyces up and gives Nora a wholly different life without him; she also plays matchmaker for Joyce and finds him a new wife. This event is about her.

On their arrival in Trieste in 1904, James Joyce left Norah Barnacle outside a railway station while he went to scare up money. He got embroiled in a fight with a couple of sailors and was locked up for his troubles. A penniless Norah was left alone for almost an entire day and night sitting on their suitcases at the station in a city where she knew no one and where she didn’t speak the language. In real life, Norah waited for him. This novel asks – what if she hadn’t? In Penelope Unbound, one of our greatest living novelists weaves a spellbinding speculative history. By unhooking Norah from her famous husband, Morrissy gives her a compelling new voice, with heartbreak and humanity all her own. Sensual, inventive and uproariously funny, Penelope Unbound reimagines a Joycean heroine for the 21st century.

Praise for Penelope Unbound:

“A novel of great brilliance and inventiveness, a remarkably – and mysteriously – moving story of what might have been. . . a stylistic tour de force that Joyce himself would surely have admired.” – John Banville, The Observer

“Given Nora’s iconic status, I’d say it took considerable courage and chutzpah to carry this novel off.” – Carlo Gebler, Irish Independent

“(a) compellingly reimagined Norah, who is, like the novel itself, richly compelling and startlingly alive” – Kevin Power, author of White City

Mary Morrissy is the author of four novels, Mother of Pearl, The Pretender, The Rising of Bella Casey and most recently, Penelope Unbound. She has also published two collections of stories, A Lazy Eye and Prosperity Drive. Her work has won her the Hennessy Prize and a Lannan Foundation Award. A member of Aosdána, she is a journalist, teacher of creative writing and a literary mentor. She blogs at https://marymorrissy.com and curates a website dedicated to the work of Dublin painter, Una Watters: https://unawattersartist.com.

The Bloomsday Festival is organised by the James Joyce Centre in partnership with Fáilte Ireland, Dublin UNESCO City of Literature, and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.

Wroclaw Baroque Ensemble

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Concert

8 June 2024 at 8pm in Christchurch Cathedral

The James Joyce Centre was delighted to endorse the Wroclaw Baroque Ensemble’s marvalous concert at Christchurch Cathedral on 8 June 2024 at 8pm.

During this, people embarked on a journey to timeless beauty with the exquisite works of Mikołaj Zieleński, transporting you to 17th century Venice, where his music captivates the soul with its depth and richness. An enchanting evening as we journeyed through Zieleński’s “Offertoria et Communiones,” a breathtaking collection of compositions published in 1611. From Zieleński’s extensive repertoire of 113 surviving works, the Emsemble carefully selected pieces to craft a captivating narrative steeped in the rich tapestry of salvation history. Let yourself be transported through the ages with texts inspired by the grandeur of Old Testament tales, the poignant narratives of the Gospels.

An unforgettable evening of musical mastery, where Zieleński’s compositions proudly stand alongside those of the greatest masters of the era. Don’t miss this extraordinary celebration of classical music brought to you by the Wroclaw Baroque Ensemble, under direction of ndrzej Kosendiak, renowned for their expertise in period instruments.

Mutliple awards winning Wroclaw Baroque Ensamble specializes in historical performance, uncovering lesser-known repertoire from Central Europe, particularly Polish Renaissance and Baroque music. Founded in 2012 by Andrzej Kosendiak, the ensamble operates under his artistic direction at the National Forum of Music in Wrocław. Comprising exceptional instrumentalists and vocalists from Poland, the Czech Republic, Great Britain, and Germany, the group has a rich recording history. Their albums, featuring works by Polish baroque composers, are available on Spotify and distributed worldwide by Naxos. The ensemble has graced major international festivals and performed across Poland and Europe.

The project is generously funded by the Arts Council, and the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.

Berenice Abbott, Joyce and the Creative Women

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Bloomsday Festival 2024

14 June 2024 at 6:30pm

Images: Berenice Abbot, Portraits of Sylvia Beach, James Joyce, Lucia Joyce, and Nora Joyce, 1926-27, courtesy Clark Art Institute. Centre photgraph by Charles Norton, courtesy of A.G. Norton.

On June 14th at 6:30pm The James Joyce Centre was please to present Berenice Abbot, Joyce and the Creative Women, a personal Bloomsday Festival presentation on Berenice Abbott, a pioneering 20th-century photographer who took some of the most iconic portraits of Joyce and his family, and the community of creative, queer women who supported his career.

A chance discovery of a box of family photos in a basement in New Jersey led one woman to uncover Abbott’s seldom told artistic legacy. Follow storyteller, archivist, and social activist A.G. Norton on her personal journey through Abbott’s private archive revealing: letters written by Lucia Joyce to Berenice, personal commentary made by Berenice about her multiple photography sessions with the beloved author, and the intersections between the publication of Ulysses and the community of queer women who supported it.

Throughout the 1920s, Berenice Abbott’s life crisscrossed between Greenwich Village and Paris where, in addition to the Joyce family, she photographed and befriended fellow queer women including Margaret Anderson, Jane Heap, Djuna Barnes, Jannett Flanner, and Sylvia Beach. Hear of how their friendships and artistic endeavors all entwined with one another and the lessons and blessings their legacies leave behind.

Delighted to be joining the Bloomsday Festival from Connecticut, Norton will share her research into Abbott’s fascinating life which all started with the discovery of photos taken by her late grandfather and went onto interviews with both of Abbott’s biographers and personal friends, Julia Van Hafften and Hank O’Neal.

A.G. Norton has over 15 years experience in London as a social worker and children’s rights activist where she used her voice to publicly advocate for underserved, marginalized communities.

Returning to New York in 2018 she discovered her family’s personal connection and photographs of photographer Berenice Abbott and has spent the last three years gathering research into her remarkable life. Norton has written several performance pieces based on the photographic legacies she inherited and has toured them at the Brighton, Camden, and the Edinburgh Fringe Festivals. Norton was the 2023 recipient of the Brighton Pride Award to support queer storytelling.

For more information on her work and international performances can be found at www.vivelapin.com or @notyouraverageslideshow on Instagram.

The Bloomsday Festival is organised by the James Joyce Centre in partnership with the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Fáilte Ireland, and Dublin UNESCO City of Literature.

The Dubliners Dilemma

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Bloomsday Festival 2024

7 June 2024 at 7pm

A “truly mesmerizing performance” (Metro Herald, Dublin) of The Dubliners Dilemma by Declan Gorman was on June 7th at 7pm.

The Dubliners Dilemma was premiered in Ireland in 2012 and has toured to Norway, USA, India, Russia (pre-Ukraine invasion) and all over Ireland. The play finds London publisher Grant Richards re-reading the manuscript of Dubliners in 1914, eight full years after he initially rejected it on the grounds it might breach strict obscenity laws. Joyce’s Dublin comes to wild life around him, a city of innocence and perversion: of sexual predators, gigolos, gamblers and drinkers mingling among street children, housemaids and exquisite concert singers. Entranced again by the literary gifts of the truculent Irish author who refused to change a single word, Richards must decide whether to take the risk second time around, and be the one finally to bring the genius of Joyce to the world.

Written and performed by Declan Gorman. Directed by Gerard Lee.

Declan Gorman is a highly regarded writer, director and performer. His previous Joyce performances The Dubliners Dilemma (2012) and Falling Through the Universe (2022) have toured widely in Ireland and overseas. In the week of Bloomsday, Declan will travel on to Ottawa, Toronto, and Hamilton, Ontario with a selection of his Joyce works.

“Gorman holds the audience enraptured throughout with a truly mesmerising performance. This original adaptation is by no means exclusively for die-hard Joyce fans, making a brilliant introduction for newcomers!” Metro Herald, Dublin

“Gorman is a compelling performer, at his best when undertaking childhood roles and in his element with Joyce’s obsequious characters … an animated and intelligent performance.” Irish Theatre Magazine

The Bloomsday Festival is organised by the James Joyce Centre in partnership with the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Fáilte Ireland, and Dublin UNESCO City of Literature.

Ulysses for All 2024

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Course

31 January — 5 June 2024

We were delighted to announce our annual Ulysses for All course. Join our global readership and guest speakers at the James Joyce Centre where Dr. Caroline Elbay will lead Ulysses for All 2024: “What is a Nation?” Ulysses and the World Today.

Course Details:
-Hybrid Zoom/In-Person at the James Joyce Centre
-Start Date: January 31st
-End Date: June 5th
-Time: Every Wednesday at 6-8pm GMT
-Fee: €200

The course description is below:

As we commence 2024 faced with myriad crises of humanity ranging from war and conflict in Europe and the Middle East, internal political unrest within the EU, continuing refugee crises, post-truth, fake news, etc., the sentiments of Yeats’s poem “The Second Coming” provide a chilling sense of prescience: “Turning and turning in the widening gyre…the centre cannot hold…Things fall apart…The best lack all conviction while the worst are full of passionate intensity.”

In an attempt to consider the current world situation and attendant issues, Ulysses for All 2024 will focus on the question “What is a Nation?” and aim to arrive at a point where, even at a microcosmic level, an opportunity for what protagonist Leopold Bloom proclaims “I stand for the reform of …morals…New worlds for old…Union of all, jew, moslem and gentile…universal language with universal brotherhood” may be identified.

Ulysses is, without doubt, a pedagogic text – one that invites us to look into our own humanity and where Leopold Bloom undoubtedly constitutes Joyce’s attempt to embody the most humane attributes of a modern identity in a world engulfed by chaos due to religious, nationalist, and imperialist aggression – ideologies which Joyce would later dub “the wisdom of the old world.” Indeed, the idea of belonging to multiple “nations” simultaneously or, concentric nationalities, manifests nowhere better than in the character of Leopold Bloom, Joyce’s wandering, womanly, non-Jewish Jew.

While Joyce was among the hopeful integrationists of the era, his attitude is somewhat coloured by an underlying suspicion that fear and hatred are more enduring in humans than acceptance…hence the situations we face, again and again, over a century later; and whilst the target group or perceived “other” may have changed, the essentialist rhetoric remains the same.

The future has never been more unpredictable, depending on political forces that cannot be trusted to follow the rules of human interest or even common sense. Mankind appears divided between those who believe in human omnipotence (Supermen), and those for whom powerlessness has become the principal experience of their lives. It is not sufficient that we merely lament and theorise the problems of our era, but rather imperative that we, as human beings, shape the necessary and humane response.

We look forward to seeing you in Ulysses for All 2024!