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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!

Rosa Chacel and James Joyce: A Portrait of a Joycean Artist

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Bloomsday Festival 2024

6 June 2024 at 6:30pm at the Instituto Cervantes Dublín

The James Joyce Centre and Instituto Cervantes Dublín was proud to present Rosa Chacel and James Joyce: A Portrait of a Joycean Artist with Mónica Galindo González on 6 June 2024 at 6:30pm. The event was held at Instituto Cervantes Dublín on Lincoln House, 6-16 Lincoln Place, Dublin 2.

This year is the centenary of Spain’s first publication regarding the work of James Joyce, which was a review by Antonio Marichalar about the upcoming Spanish translation of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916). Even though the translation was officially published in 1926, some writers were fortunate to get an early copy of the novel and explore its contents. One of these writers was Rosa Chacel, who immediately fell in love with Joyce’s novel and started to experiment with his techniques.

Rosa Chacel (1898 – 1994) is a writer part of the “Generation of ’27” and the Sinsombrero thanks to her participation in the intellectual and cultural milieu of the 20th-century Spain. Due to the close relationship between her life and her writings, her literary innovations made her a nonconformist and subversive writer, always concerned about her style and trajectory. One of her main influences was the writings of James Joyce, which made her recognise that her work is part of “el mundo Joyce” (Joyce’s world).

Joycean scholar Mónica Galindo González guided the audience through Rosa Chacel’s work and its Joycean connections. After a reading of texts by both writers, the event was followed by a Q&A section.

Mónica Galindo González is one of the assistants at the James Joyce Centre in Dublin and a language tutor at University College Dublin. During her Erasmus in Birmingham, she decided to explore Dublin. Her first visit to the James Joyce Centre in 2019 was so inspiring that it gave her the idea to research Joycean traits in the work of Spanish writers for her bachelor’s dissertation. Her passion for James Joyce and the work of Rosa Chacel allowed her to continue this project and bring it to University College Dublin, where she recently submitted a research masters dissertation on the same topic. Mónica has also presented papers in three international conferences in Joyce Studies. In June of this year, she will be presenting a paper at the International Joyce Symposium in Glasglow about the symbol of paralysis in Spain and Ireland.

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.

Secret Space CD Launch and Performance

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Bloomsday Festival 2024

7 June 2024 at 8:30pm

AnnaLiviaCreative was delighted to present 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.

More Than a Friend: LGBTIQA+ and Joyce

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Bloomsday Festival 2024

1 June 2024 at 2pm

‘Circe’ from Ulysses Murals (1996) by Paul Joyce

James Joyce’s work is a product of an era where reflections about gender and sexuality started to reach the general population. Moreover, the fact that Joyce spent most of his life in continental Europe allowed him to live in places where those manifestations were more noticeable than in Ireland. The combination of these circumstances makes Joyce’s work sparkle with a few characters who can be considered part of the queer spectrum.

The James Joyce Centre was proud to offer an alternative exploration of his work via a tour of the museum on Saturday, 1 June 2024 at 2pm. In this one-hour tour, we explored 35 North Great George’s Street as we read passages from Dubliners, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, and Ulysses under these new lenses.

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

The Dubliners Dilemma

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Bloomsday Festival 2024

7 June 2024 at 7pm

On June 7th at 7pm we hosted a “truly mesmerizing performance” (Metro Herald, Dublin) of The Dubliners Dilemma by Declan Gorman.

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.

Welcome O Joyce

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Bloomsday Festival 2024

5 June 2024 at 8:15pm

On June 5th at 8:15pm, the James Joyce Centre hosted a performance of Welcome O Joyce, a play specially commissioned for the James Joyce Association of Ottawa and the James Joyce Centre. It is a montage of pieces from the four great prose works of Joyce, commissioned to mark the 100th anniversary of the first appearance in print of an extract of what would eventually become Finnegans Wake (1939). The 1924 ‘Mamalujo’ fragment is woven into an entertaining short presentation that includes a comic prologue and vivid scenes from Ulysses (1922), A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916) and Dubliners (1914).

Performed by Declan Gorman. Written by Declan Gorman and Des Gunning.

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’s charming play dramatises clearly how Joyce’s writing has embedded itself deeply in Irish culture. His subtle performance reminds us clearly what a masterwork this story is.” – Irish Independent

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.

Closure Dates: 24th & 25th May 2024

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The James Joyce Centre will be closed to visitors on the 24th and 25th of May 2024. This is being done to facilitate the installation of an exciting new exhibition, Gutter Words, by artist Jo Hamill.

The walking tours, Introducing Joyce’s Dublin and Footsteops of Leopold Bloom, will not be effected by this closure and will proceed at the usual time.

More Than a Friend: LGBTIQA+ and Joyce

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Tour

27 April 2024 at 2pm

‘Circe’ from Ulysses Murals (1996) by Paul Joyce

The James Joyce Centre was proud to offer an alternative exploration of his work via a tour of the museum on Saturday, 27 April 2024 at 2pm. In this one-hour tour, assistant Monica Gónzalez Galindo explored 35 North Great George’s Street as we read passages from Dubliners, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, and Ulysses under LGBTIQA+ lenses.

James Joyce’s work is a product of an era where reflections about gender and sexuality started to reach the general population. Moreover, the fact that Joyce spent most of his life in continental Europe allowed him to live in places where those manifestations were more noticeable than in Ireland. The combination of these circumstances makes Joyce’s work sparkle with a few characters who can be considered part of the queer spectrum.

I Must Listen to the Birds

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Reading

26 April 2024 at 6:30pm

The James Joyce Centre was delighted to host the award-winning Palestinian poet Marwan Makhoul on Friday, April 26th at 6.30pm. The reception was presented in association with Poetry Ireland and supported by Irish PEN/PEN na hÉireann. The intimate evening with Makhoul and his translator Raphael Cohen featured poetry readings in both Arabic and Irish and performances of traditional Irish music by Mairead O’Donnell.

“I’m a voice that tells people about our identity, and how we have worked to preserve it as Palestinian, Arab, and in connection with our people,” says Makhoul of his work. Born to a Palestinian father and Lebanese mother, Makhoul grew up in Beqeia surrounded by a mountainous landscape that is omnipresent in his poetry. A Palestinian living within the state of Israel, his poetry deals with the marginalization of its Arab citizens, and with questions of personal and national identity.

He believes there are “no strict forms of prose and poetry anymore,” and his work draws on both esoteric forms and colloquial Arabic. His readings are dynamic and incantatory, and he often delivers his poems with accompaniment from singers and musicians. Makhoul’s poetry collections include Land of the Sad Passiflora, Where Is My Mom, and A Letter from the Last Man.

During the 2023 Gaza war, lines from one of his poems were adopted as a slogan by tens of millions of protestors and written on the walls of cities around the world: “in order for me to write poetry that isn’t / political, I must listen to the birds / and in order to hear the birds / the warplanes must be silent.”

Makhoul and his translator were hosted in Ireland by Donegal poet and editor Annemarie Ní Churreáin. Of the visit, Ni Churreáin says, “I’m delighted that Marwan Makhoul’s work is being translated into the Irish language for the first time. In addition to celebrating Marwan’s poetry, a key focus of this trip is the celebration of poetry across borders and cultures, and the act of bearing witness in poetry to social injustice. Tá mé fíorbhuíoch le gach duine atá páirteach sa chlár seo. Tá muid níos láidre le chéile!”

Street Poetry

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Walking Tour

25 April 2024 at 1pm

The James Joyce Centre and Poetry Ireland/Éigse Éireann hosted a lunchtime ‘poetry promenade’ on Thursday, 25 April 2024 for Poetry Day Ireland 2024. We celebrate the extraordinary creativity of the poets who lived, worked and studied in the Georgian Streets of Dublin’s North Inner. Starting at the James Joyce Centre, our guide Darina Gallagher along with Sam Ford, Sinead Murphy, David Nash, and Enda Wyley performed a selection of poetry at different stops along the short route. We heard the poets of North Great George’s Street such as Samuel Ferguson, and Olivia Owenson, Belvedere College students such as James Joyce, Donagh McDonagh, and Austin Clarke, and the new poetry of contemporary poets at the Poetry Ireland House on Parnell Square.

Finnegans Wake, Ulster and Partition

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Lecture

23 April 2024 at 6:30pm

‘Lambeg Drums and Pipes on the Way to the Field on the Glorious 12th of July, Ballymena 1910’ by Robert D. Beattie

The James Joyce Centre was delighted to host a presentation about James Joyce’s interrogation of Ulster and partition in Finnegans Wake by Dr. Donal Manning on Tuesday, 23 April 2024 at 6:30pm.

Although Joyce is mostly associated with Dublin, there is a wealth of references to Ulster in his work, particularly in Finnegans Wake: its topography, its myth and legend, and its history. Joyce’s portrayal of Ulster is a characteristically complex amalgam of difference and inclusion. Joyce began to write the Wake, provisionally called Work in Progress, in 1923 and he published the novel in 1939. He was, therefore, ideally placed to interrogate partition and the growing pains of the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland. His portrait is tinged with disappointment and regret. A century after partition, and in the aftermath of Brexit, borders are again physical and symbolic markers of difference and exclusion. Joyce’s critique of intolerance and separatism is as pertinent today as when he embarked on Finnegans Wake a hundred years ago.

Dr. Donal Manning completed his PhD at Liverpool University. His thesis was on Ulster and unionism in Finnegans Wake. He has presented peer-reviewed papers on Finnegans Wake at conferences of the International Association for the Study of Irish Literatures at University of Cork (2018), University of Nijmegen, Netherlands (2018), and Trinity College Dublin (2019) and delivered three courses on Joyce’s fiction (two of which covered Finnegans Wake) at the Continuing Education Department, Liverpool University. His book Finnegans Wake, Ulster and Partition: The Sanguine Boundary Limit was published last year by Cork University Press. It can be purchased via this link: https://www.corkuniversitypress.com/9781782055877/finnegans-wake-ulster-and-partition/

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

When I Think About the Prankquean

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Lecture

19 April 2024 at 7:30pm

The James Joyce Centre hosted a special lecture and reading by famed Joycean Dr. James Keeley on Friday, 19 April 2024 at 7:30pm.

James presented his experiences of reading and studying Finnegans Wake over the years. In particular, he paid close attention to the enigmatic character of the “Prankquean.” He is a pioneer in reading the works of James Joyce on Skype and a long-standing contributor to the Sweny Pharmacy’s Ulysses and Finnegans Wake Reading Groups. For five years, he was the moderator of the Transatlantic James Joyce Reading Group, including the Finnegans Wake Sunday School, involving readers from New York to Dublin. He is a co-founder of the Joyceborough Finnegans Wake Reading Group.

Jim was conferred with a PhD in English and Comparative Literature by Columbia University in 2002. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

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

Madeira: The Secrets of Sisters

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Reading

17 April 2024 at 1pm

The James Joyce Centre in association with the Five Lamps Arts Festival was proud to host a reading of Madeira: The Secrets of Sisters by Michael J. Harnett on Wednesday, 17 April 2024 at 1pm.

Two sets of sisters meet in a Dublin cafe for a casual chat. Suddenly, disturbing news emerged which shatters the atmosphere challenging their lives thereafter. By turns searing and sensitive the women at the heart of the drama display what it is to have courage and fortitude. Starring Geraldine Plunkett, Brenda Brooks and Deirdre Monaghan.

Over the past five years, Dublin Touring Theatre has written, produced and staged The Noble Call, The CloudSpotter and Bullied in local theatres (Sean O’Casey, Clasac, Viking, Bewleys Cafe Theatre), care homes, community centres, schools, and theatres abroad.

The reading was part of the Five Lamps Arts Festival. The James Joyce Centre is supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.

Cut & Paste: Remembering Arthur Griffith

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Book Launch

28 March 2024 at 4pm

The James Joyce Centre was proud to host the launch of the 7th volume of Cut & Paste: Remembering Arthur Griffith with guest speaker Ronan McGreevy on Thursday, March 28th at 4pm.

Ronan McGreevy is a historian and journalist with The Irish Times. His most recent book was Great Hatred: The Assassination of Field Marshall Sir Henry Wilson MP.

Published by Printwell Books, Cut & Paste is an annual publication that focuses on Arthur Griffith and his times. Edited by Cormac O’Hanrahan with Des Gunning (Joyceborough), this year’s edition includes articles by Colum Kenny, Felix M. Larkin, Brian Maye, Lisa O’Neill, and Alan Phelan.

Copies were available for purchase. You may also order online at printwellbooks.com.

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

Himself and Nora

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Performance

21 & 22 March 2024 at 7:30pm

After the great success of Culture Night 2023, the James Joyce Centre was proud to host another performance of Jonathan Brielle’s acclaimed off-Broadway musical Himself and Nora on March 21st and 22nd at 7:30pm. The musical celebrates in song the love story of James Joyce and Nora Barnacle. Broadway writer and composer Jonathan Brielle performed numbers from the show in person and was accompanied by the Director of the James Joyce Centre, Darina Gallagher.

This bawdy, funny, uplifting, and melodic musical, sings the contemporary love story of James Joyce, the brilliant and hard-drinking Irish novelist, and Nora Barnacle, the woman who became his lover, partner, and muse for 37 years. Their love survived exile from Ireland, and the condemnation of the Catholic Church, and ultimately helped to create some of the greatest writing of the 20th century.

The performance coincided with Nora’s 140th birthday.

“A lively, sometimes lusty, spin through the love life, troubles and literary times of the great Irish writer…a robust romantic musical . . . The enjoyable score by Mr. Brielle, a veteran composer . . . meshes neatly with his libretto and embraces a rhythmic variety of ardent and melodic songs.” – The New York Times

Broadway composer and lyricist Jonathan Brielle has worked with many hit shows including Foxfire with Jessica Tandy and is the former National Projects Director of the Songwriters Guild of America. Jonathan is the Artistic Director and Founder of Vala, a new platform dedicated to launching new musicals.

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

Community in a World of Limited Good

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Lecture

11 March 2024 at 7pm

Tá an áthas orainn cuireadh a thabhart duit chuig léacht leis tOllamh Ray Cashman, ar an Luan, 11 Márta, ag 7.00 PM, sa James Joyce Centre ar Sraid Sheoirse Thua.

An Cumann Le Béaloideas éireann/The Folklore of Ireland Society and the James Joyce Centre were delighted to host a presentation by the distinguished folklore scholar, Professor Ray Cashman (University of Indiana, Bloomington), at the James Joyce Centre on Monday, 11 March 2024 at 7pm. This was a rare opportunity to hear the internationally renowned folklore scholar give a presentation in Dublin about Irish folklore and an Gorta Mór.

“Luck’s Pennies, Butter Witches, and the Hungry Grass: Community in a World of Limited Good”

Many examples of Irish folklore reflect and instill enduring conceptions about the workings, vulnerability, and viability of community, a project in need of continual maintenance. Arguably, there has been no more devastating blow to the vernacular understanding of community than the mid-nineteenth-century Famine. If folklore provides models for contemplating and reproducing ideas about how community may be enacted, it also bears witness to the haunting consequences of abandoning this social contract for mutual support.

Professor Ray Cashman is director of the Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology at the University of Indiana, Bloomington. He is currently Visiting Professor at NUI Galway.

Professor Cashman has carried out extensive folklore and ethnological research in Ireland. His books include Packy Jim: Folklore and Worldview on the Irish Border (2017) and Storytelling on the Northern Irish Border: Characters and Community (2011), and many articles. The numerous awards he has received for his work include the Michael J Durkan Prize for Books on Language and Culture and the Donald Murphy Award for Distinguished First Book, both of which were awarded by the American Association for Irish Studies, and the Chicago Folklore Prize. He is a Fellow of the American Folklore Society.

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

Keys to Dreamland

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Concert

9 March 2024 at 7:30pm

Internationally-renowned musical artist Lila Tirando a Violeta performced at her first concert in Ireland at the James Joyce Centre on March 9th at 7:30pm. She performed a live set that went from ambient to experimental dance music with synthesizers that were inspired by James Joyce’s iconic novel Finnegans Wake. Using intricate soundscapes and ethereal melodies, Lila transported the audience into the dreamlike world of Joyce’s masterpiece, where reality and fantasy intertwine in a mesmerizing blend of music and literature.

Lila Tirando a Violeta is a musical artist from Montevideo, Uruguay who is recognized for her experimental and versatile style. Her N.A.A.F.I. debut ‘Limerencia’ was highly praised in 2020, making several end-of-the-year lists. In 2022, she released ‘Desire Path,’ which was highlighted by Pitchfork, DJ MAG, Bandcamp, and The New York Times. Lila has performed live at renowned festivals such as Primavera Sound and Mutek ES in Spain. She recently signed with London’s notable label Hyperdub and has done custom mixes for KEXP & NTS radios as well as collaborating with artists such as Loraine James, Nick León, and Nicola Cruz.

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

Anna Livia Plurabelle

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Reading

8 March 2024 at 11am

‘Anna Livia Plurabelle’ by Carol Wade (https://artofthewake.com/)

In honour of International Women’s Day, the James Joyce Centre hosted a public reading of the ‘Anna Livia Plurabelle’ chapter from Finnegans Wake in the Maginni Room. This extraordinary episode brings out all the wit and passion of one of the finest passages of feminine writing in modern literature.

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

Happy Birthday Mr. Joyce!

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Birthday Celebrations

2-3 February 2023

Come celebrate James Joyce’s 142nd birthday by visiting the James Joyce Centre on Friday, February 2nd and Saturday the 3rd for free!

As a birthday gift, the James Joyce Centre will be open to the public free of charge on February 2nd and 3rd during our normal opening hours (10:30am to 4:30pm). See our exhibitions and installations and partake in several activities as we enjoy the man’s special day.

On Friday evening at 6:30pm, enjoy some wine, tea, and yes, a cake, as we raise a glass to Joyce and to those he brings together. As part of the evening, we will launch the Volta Exhibition: a film installation gathered from the best of the best Joycean films from the celebrated Bloomsday Film Festival. This will run permanently in the Volta Room for visitors to the Centre to view. Tickets are free but booking is essential. Spaces are limited so be sure to book soon.

For the Friday evening birthday party, click here for tickets.

We will also be running our popular walking tours for free. Explore the city that shaped Joyce’s life and would be immortalised in his work. We will be offering the Introducing Joyce’s Dublin tour on both days at 11am and the Footsteps of Leopold Bloom tour at 2pm. Tickets are free but booking is essential. Spaces are limited so be sure to book soon.

For the free walking tours, click here for tickets.

Celebrate with family, friends, and fellow travellers on this special weekend. We look forward to seeing you all!

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

For the Love of Brigid

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Performance

1 February 2023 at 7:30pm

Join us at the James Joyce Centre for a delightful celebration of Saint Brigid’s Day. Immerse yourself in the rich Irish culture and traditions surrounding this beloved holiday dedicated to the patroness saint of Ireland.

Indulge in the captivating tales of Brigid of Kildare’s life and her significance in Irish folklore and Joyce’s work. Come (in Joyce’s words) “romp round brigidschool,” enjoy snacks and fine wine as we celebrate wise and wily women. The event will include stories, songs, music, and readings from Nicole Rourke, Dr. Caroline Elbay, Jess Traynor, and Darina Gallagher, among other amazing women. It will explore all the life-affirming elements of creativity that Brigid gives us: healing, nurturing, wisdom, mischief, and ritual.

The event starts at 7:30pm. The event is free but booking is essential.

Click here for tickets

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

Eveline & Clay

Written by Conor on . Posted in News.

Performance

11 January 2024 at 7:30pm

The James Joyce Centre was pleased to present a musical theatre performance based on two short stories from James Joyce’s Dubliners, Eveline & Clay, on Thursday, 11 January 2024 at 7:30pm. The performances showed how two women, leading restricted lives in a newly modern Dublin, make journeys towards an elusive freedom. First presented in 2009, the show is a revival of the collaboration between the accomplished composer, Michael Holohan, and the award-winning Joyce interpreter and actor, Paul O’Hanrahan.

Written by Joyce when he was a young man between the ages of 22 and 23, ‘Eveline’ and ‘Clay’ were both significant stepping stones in his development as a writer. ‘Eveline’ was initially published in the Irish Homestead in September 1904, not long before Joyce himself left Ireland with Nora Barnacle. ‘Clay’ was completed by December 1905 but it would not be until 1914 that both were published in the collection, Dubliners. The stories show a remarkable ability in a young writer to understand and represent how women’s lives were regulated and controlled by the patriarchal family, work, and religion.

Music in these stories is a form of memory and a means of socialisation; an intrinsic part of Dublin society at the time, it is already embedded in Joyce’s writing. Michael, who is from Drumcondra, has scored new piano music for these performances, drawing on an affinity with the setting of the stories on the city’s north side.

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

Paul O’Hanrahan, director of Balloonatics Theatre Company, is an actor and theatre director who specialises in re-enactments of the works of James Joyce. He has won Fringe First awards for theatrical adaptations of both Ulysses and Finnegans Wake at the Edinburgh Festival. He has produced, in Dublin, street and venue performances of Joyce’s Ulysses on Bloomsday, June 16th. He also regularly performs Telemachus at the Tower, his solo show based on the opening episode of Ulysses at the Joyce Tower in Sandycove, including seven performances in 2023.

Michael Holohan, an accomplished composer and pianist, has resided in Drogheda since 1983. He has won numerous prizes as well as Arts Council awards for attending master classes, in the 1980s, with Messiaen, Boulez, Xenakis, Berio, and Lachenmann in France. His compositions have been performed and broadcast both at home and internationally.

It’s a Sign! Zodiac Christmas Variety Show

Written by Conor on . Posted in News.

Performance

17 December 2023 at 7pm and 8pm

The stars aligned on Sunday, December 17th at 7pm and 8pm for the premier of It’s a Sign!, Dublin’s first and only Zodiac Christmas Variety Show. It was a festive evening of music, astrological acts, and cosmic events. Each performer played their very own star sign, the roles they were born to play!

OUR FULL ZODIAC, ALL STAR CAST:

SAGITTARIUS- Lile Donohue

CAPRICORN- Méabh McKenna

AQARIUS- Isadora Epstein

PISCES- Cal Folger Day

ARIES- John Francis Flynn

TAURUS- Stephane  Béna Hanly 

GEMINI- Robbie Kitt

CANCER- Mary Keane

LEO- Ruan  Van Vliet

LIBRA- Aoibhinn O’Dea

VIRGO- Sinéad Onora Kennedy 

SCORPIO- Benjamin Stafford

Costumes by AMIE EGAN

Isadora Epstein writes and makes performances from her research of art history and mythology. Her work brings together a multidisciplinary ensemble of artists working in visual art, experimental music, and dance.

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