The James Joyce Centre was delighted to host an insightful talk about Finnegans Wake by John Dredge on Thursday, 13 March 2025 at 6.30pm as part of our Spring Lecture Series 2025.
This lecture explored how the city of Dublin and its ‘environs’ is knitted into the fabric of James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake. As well as the many references to Dublin and Dublin places, many of the Wake’s set pieces take place in identified and/or identifiable Dublin locales e.g. the Pranquean episode in Howth Castle and the Museyroom episode in Phoenix Park. The lecture had a strong visual dimension but also explored how everyday Dublin speech infuses the rich linguistic fusion that makes the Wake unique in world literature.
John Dredge is the Honorary Secretary of the James Joyce Institute of Ireland. A native of Dublin, John spent many years as a secondary school teacher. He subsequently, worked in curriculum development and teacher professional development. Since 2007, he has been a part-time lecturer in the School of Education of University College Dublin. Since September 2024, he hosts on behalf of the Institute an online reading of Ulysses which attracts a range of local and international participants. His immersion in the Wake continues apace.
The James Joyce Institute of Ireland was founded in Dublin in 1975 by a group of dedicated Joyceans whose mission is to foster knowledge of Joyce’s writings ‘among the ordinary people of Dublin’ in circles outside the universities. This was done through the hosting of public lectures on Joyce and his work (a role later inherited by the James Joyce Centre) and the convening of a succession of reading groups to encourage people to engage with the Joycean canon. The Institute also commemorates notable dates such as Joyce’s birthday and Bloomsday every year, as well as organising trips to places associated with Joyce and his work.
The James Joyce Centre is supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.
The James Joyce Centre was honoured to host reflections on North East Inner City Dublin over the century since the defenestration of Monto on Thursday, March 6th at 7.30pm.
In March 1925, the infamous prostitution trade of Monto (or “Nighttown” in the Circe episode of Ulysses) ended, suddenly and dramatically. Police flooded the area, raiding addresses. More than 120 arrests were made. At the same time, through the streets of Monto, Frank Duff Legion of Mary led a procession in honor of the Sacred Heart, reclaiming the streets.
We heard readings and remembrances by Declan Gorman, Tina Robinson, Des Gunning and Darina Gallagher. Our special guests were the former Head of Special Projects at the National Archives of Ireland Catriona Crowe and Marie Sherlock, TD of Dublin Central.
The James Joyce Centre in association with Anna Livia Creative hosted a celebratory concert of composer Frank Corcoran on Monday, March 3rd at 7.30pm. The concert featured the composer and classical guitarist Benjamin Dwyer, and the leading Irish cellist Paul Grennan. Irish composer John Buckley offered an appreciation of Corcoran’s extraordinary life and work. Corcoran joined actress Nicole Rourke as narrators of a number of Corcoran’s delightful poems. The concert also featured a number of works inspired by James Joyce.
Programme Frank Corcoran: Three Pieces for Guitar (1975) Frank Corcoran: Snap-shot (2010, for cello) Frank Corcoran: Seven Points about Joyce as an Irish Composer (a text narrated by Frank Corcoran) Frank Corcoran: Joyceana (2015, for cello) Georg Hajdu: To Market Music (2024, for guitar & narrator; text by Frank Corcoran) Frank Corcoran & Nicole Rourke narrating. Irish Premiere. Frank Corcoran: ‘Agnus Dei’ from Quasi Una Missa (1999, for tape) Benjamin Dwyer: Sing the Word Only (2024, for guitar & narrator; text by Frank Corcoran) Frank Corcoran narrating. Irish Premiere.
Featuring Composer Frank Corcoran Guitarist-Composer Benjamin Dwyer Cellist Paul Grennan Actor Nicole Rourke Composer John Buckley
We were honoured to host the Honorary Consul for the Republic of Azerbaijan in Dublin Mr. Terry Leyden, his wife Mary, Mr. Reshad Vahabzade (Counsellor), Mr. Kamal Binyatli (Consular Officer), and Mr. Poland Mammadli (First Secretary) of the Embassy of Azerbaijan in London and Ireland for a visit to the James Joyce Centre on February 28th 2025 at 4pm. We presented to Mr. Vahabzade a sample of the first Azerbaijani translation of Ulysses by Joyce scholar and Trinity College Dublin graduate Dr. Halila Bayramova. The translation is forthcoming and will be published by Qanun Publishing.
Mr. Vahabzade presented us with an Azerbaijani carpet and an anthology of Azerbaijani poetry translated into English. One of the poets featured in the anthology is Mr. Vahabzade’s father, Bakhtiyar Vahabzade.
The James Joyce Centre was delighted to foster this special literary and cultural exchange between Azerbaijan and Ireland. We hope it will expand relations between our two countries.
The James Joyce Centre on Thursday, February 27th at 6.30pm hosted a talk by Vincent Altman O’Connor on the possible origins of Leopold Bloom.
Richard Ellmann writes, “When Dubliners asked each other in trepidation after the book appeared, ‘Are you in it?’ or ‘Am I in it?’ the answer was hard to give. A voice sounded familiar for an instant, a name seemed to belong to a friend, then both receded into a new being.”
Joyce’s methods and models in delineating his fictional characters has become a critical obsession for many, with the endeavor reaching its zenith in Vivien Igoe’s in The Real People of Joyce’s Ulysses (2016). Through years of painstaking research, she identifies the living models behind many of the fictional entities we meet in Dublin on Thursday 16th June 1904. And yet, the real-life identity of Leopold Bloom continues to challenge and haunt Joyceans to this day. Many of the contenders share personal qualities, beliefs, and aspects of a pre-Holocaust, assimilated Jewish identity with Joyce’s Jew. Yet none can be described as an Irishman whose experience as a Jew in fin de siècle Dublin was specific to that time and place.
In 2022, an Irish-Jewish model for Bloom was proposed by Neil R. Davison in An Irish-Jewish Politician: Joyce’s Dublin and Ulysses (UP Florida). The Life and Times of Albert L. Altman published by University Press of Florida. Albert Liebes LascarAltman, a Jewish Dublin businessman and nationalist politician born in Prussian Poland, shared certain similarities with Bloom.
O’Connor, a Joycean and relative of Albert, discussed this new model within the broad frame ofCormac Ó Gráda’s (author of Jewish Ireland in the Age of Joyce (2006),observation that knowledge of Altman ‘opens up a whole new vista on Joyce scholarship’.
The James Joyce Centre on Friday, February 21st at 6.30pm welcomed another delightful performance of 18 Ballads from James Joyce’s Ulysses by Val O’Donnell.
This collection of new ballads, based on characters featured in James Joyce’s masterpiece Ulysses, was published in 2024. The collection consists of eighteen ballads written by Val O’Donnell and set to airs of music which are referred to in Ulysses or in other works of James Joyce. The collection includes short quotes from Ulysses, a note on the music and suggestions for accessing the original sheet music and performances of the airs chosen for the ballads.
After an inaugural performance on October 8th 2024, the James Joyce Centre was honoured to host another.
About Val
Val O’Donnell has a connection with the theatre for over 50 years as an actor, director and adaptor of Irish literature.
In 2011, Val established The JoyceStagers theatre company to perform his adaptations from the works of James Joyce. The JoyceStagers have performed “The Funeral of Paddy Dignam,” adapted by Val from the 6th episode of Ulysses, annually on Bloomsday at Glasnevin Cemetary. They have also performed his adaptations from Episodes 8, 12, and 16 at various locations in Dublin around Bloomsday. Val has a lifelong interest in music and plays piano. Email him at [email protected].
The James Joyce Centre is supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.
The James Joyce Centre in association with Poetry Ireland hosted a book launch by acclaimed Irish poet Dairena Ní Chinnéide on Monday, February 17th at 6pm.
Teacht Aniar: Meascra Dánta & Dánta Nua is an anthology of poems composed by Dairena Ní Chinnéide over the past two decades, plus a host of new poems, that give us an insight into the personal, versatile and creative world of the poet. This anthology contains the poet’s own personal choice from the collections she has published — poetry treasures from the first collection onwards. In these poems, we get a taste of the magic of a woman, a play from the clouds of darkness, a story about the search for mental wellbeing from a poet who works under the voice of women and mothers and who captures life as it she imagines it. The meaning of life itself is questioned in these poems. Dairena responds to her intellectual and physical environment in a lyrical, eloquent way that comes from the heart, mind and spirit with precise measure. There is a comeback, in every sense of the word, in this selection of poems that come back to us at times, that reveal the opposite side of life at other times and are full of vitality and originality. This collection provides food for the mind and imagination and by immersing ourselves in it, we get encouragement and hope that helps us all move forward through the rough life ahead.
Dairena was joined by singer Síle Denvir for a relaxed conversation that weaved music, song and poetry together.
The James Joyce Centre is supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.
Is í ‘Teacht Aniar’ an t-ainm don leabhar nua seo. Is díolaim í seo a eascraíonn as an stór dánta atá cumtha ag Dairena Ní Chinnéide le scór bliain anuas, móide mám de dhánta nua, a thugann léargas dúinn ar dhomhan pearsanta, ildánach, cruthaitheach an fhile. Rogha pearsanta an fhile féin as na cnuasaigh atá foilsithe aici atá sa díolaim seo – seoda filíochta ón gcéad chnuasach anall. Sna dánta seo, faigheann muid blaiseadh den draíocht bhaineann, imir de scamaill an dorchadais, insint ar thóraíocht na sláinte intinne agus go leor eile, ó fhile atá ag saothrú fé ghuth na mban agus na máthar, agus a spíonann an saol mar a shamhlaítear di é. Ceistítear brí na beithsine féin sna dánta seo, freagraíonn an file dá timpeallacht intleachtach agus fhisiceach ar bhealach liriceach, líofa a thagann ó chroí, intinn agus spiorad an fhile agus déanann sí é sin uile go beacht tomhaiste. Tá teacht aniar, i ngach brí den fhocal, sa rogha dánta seo a thagann aniar aduaidh orainn ar uairibh, a nochtann taobh tuathail den saol ar uairibh eile agus atá lán de bheocht agus de dhúchas. Tugann an cnuasach seo lón don intinn agus don tsamhlaíocht agus ar ár dtumadh féin isteach ann, faigheann muid ugach agus dóchas uaidh a chuidíonn linn go léir treabhadh ar aghaidh tríd an saol corrach amach romhainn.
Béidh comhrá, ceoil, agus filíocht i gceist i rith na h-oíche le Dairena agus amhránaí Síle Denvir. Leanóidh an taispeántais le fáiltiú deochanna.
Tugann an Roinn Turasóireachta, Cultúir, Ealaíon, Gaeltachta, Spóirt agus Meán tacaíocht don James Joyce Centre.
The James Joyce Centre was delighted to host the inaugural talk of our Spring Lecture Series 2025 on Friday, 7 February 2025 at 6.30pm.
In BloomEccles Bound! Bloom and his Northside Dublin Exile, Professor Barry Keane introduced how Leopold Bloom is out of sorts professionally, socially and personally because of his decision to reside on the Northside of Dublin, where he has found himself removed from a community culture which he perhaps had once taken for granted, having grown up and entered into marriage in the district of what used to be known as Little Jerusalem, which was on the Southside of Dublin: traditionally, albeit unfairly, thought to be the better half of the city. Indeed, it often seems the case that Bloom is treated poorly because of his loss of centredness. Not only is he the victim of prejudice for being a Jew, but also for being a Wandering Jew, in search of a return to his homeland, that being the environs of Clanbrassil Street where he was born; and indeed where Barry was born also.
A native of Dublin (Bloomsian Lombard Street West), Barry Keane is a Professor of Comparative Studies in the Institute of English Studies at the University of Warsaw. He has written widely in the fields of Classical Tradition, Irish and Scottish literature, and Polish literature, and his book publications include critical editions of the Baroque poetess Anna Stanisławska’s matrimonial saga titled Orphan Girl (New York, Toronto: Iter Press 2016, 2021, and due 2025). He has also written: IrishDrama in Poland. Staging and Reception (Bristol: Intellect 2016).
These books are available to view at https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/author/K/B/au25255687.html. Other lectures on Joyce have come with the titles: “We Can’t Change the World, but We Can Change the Subject. James Joyce’s Ulysses and Finnegans Wake on the Polish Stage,” and “An Unwanted Date With Destiny. James Joyce’s Ulysses and the Assassination of JFK.”
Philip Rainey, The Lightness of Being Seen But Not Shown #1, Oil Pastel on Paper
Profilesis an independent literary and vis-arts journal dedicated to character studies and portraiture edited by Clare Healy & Sarah Sturzel. The James Joyce Centre was delighted to host an exhibition of its artwork from Issue 3 following its successful launch on 30 November 2024. The exhibition features artwork and photography by Aisling Dunne, Éadaoin Glynn, Thom Kofoed, Marie Le Men, Salvatore of Lucan, Juliette Morrison, Glenn Quigley and Philip Rainey.
Profiles is supported by Dublin UNESCO City of Literature and Dublin City Council.
The James Joyce Centre is supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.
Éadaoin Glynn, Self Portrait with Estrogen Patch 1 (Bathroom Mirror Selfie), Acrylic, Pastic on BoardMarie Le Men, Aimée, Watercolour on PaperJuliette Morrison, Estranged Lady Cooking Stew, Oil on Canvas
The James Joyce Centre was proud to host the Irish launch of a phenomenal new collection of Nigerian and Irish poetry on Saturday, February 1st at 6pm.
Trailing a Sea-Weed Cord: Contemporary Irish and Nigerian Poets on Wole Soyinka’s ‘Ulysses: Notes From Here to My Joyce Class’ is an extraordinary endeavour that fuses Ireland and Nigeria’s rich literary heritages. This year marks the 91st birthday of Professor Wole Soyinka, the Nigerian Nobel Laureate for Literature, who while imprisoned in 1966 wrote a poem entitled “Ulysses: From Here to my Joyce Class.” In honour of Prof. Soyinka, five Irish poets selected by Poetry Ireland and five Nigerian poets each contributed a poem inspired or reacting to his poem.
An initiative of the Embassy of Ireland in Nigeria, the book was published last year by Bookcraft Africa, the publishers of Wole Soyinka’s works and is the second part of a trilogy of publications initiated by the Embassy to promote Irish-Nigerian cultural discourse and understanding.
The first being a collection of poetry, published by Quramo Publishing, called “Things Fall Apart, The Centre Cannot Hold,” also featuring 5 Nigerian poets and 5 Irish poets selected by Poetry Ireland. This collection was launched to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the award of the Nobel Prize for Literature to WB Yeats and was inspired by Chinua Achebe’s seminal novel Things Fall Apart, the title of which was taken from Yeats’ “The Second Coming.”
Trailing a Sea-Weed Cord: Contemporary Irish and Nigerian Poets on Wole Soyinka’s ‘Ulysses: Notes From Here to My Joyce Class’ features a foreword by President Michael D. Higgins and contribution from Darina Gallagher, the Director of the James Joyce Centre. The book is edited by writer and culture activist Aduke Gomez.
The launch featured readings and commentary by Aduke, Darina, Amb. Joseph Lynch, Amb. Ibiyemi Ajiboye-Roberts, and the contributors to the book.
The James Joyce Centre was proud to present a lunchtime performance by Poems Ago on Saturday, January 25th at2.30pm.
Folk duo Poems Ago perform original songs and poetry put to music. At the James Joyce Centre they will present a concert in which they explore the theme ‘Home’: Interweaving the writings by James Joyce with their own experiences of moving and living abroad and coming back home. Join us for an afternoon of acoustic music and poetry inspired by the works of Joyce, W.B. Yeats, Robert Burns, and more.
Poems Ago are Juliana Hahn on vocals, violin and keyboard and Remco Jacobs on vocals and guitar. More information about Poems Ago can be found on their website https://www.poemsago.com/.
The James Joyce Centre is supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.
The James Joyce Centre was delighted to host two captivating performances by acclaimed Irish actor Barry McGovern in association withAnna Livia Creative 23-24 January 2025.
McGovern, celebrated for his mastery of Joyce and Beckett, read from Dubliners, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Finnegans Wake, and Ulysses, along with Joyce’s poetry. As he explained: “I want to offer a potpourri of Joyce’s works for both newcomers and longtime admirers.”
Barry McGovern is one of Ireland’s most distinguished actors, with an illustrious career in theatre, film, and radio. Renowned for his performances of Beckett, including I’ll Go On and Krapp’s Last Tape, McGovern has also earned acclaim in productions like Waiting for Godot and Endgame. His film credits include Braveheart, The General, and the Irish-language Fidil Ghorm. McGovern’s achievements include an honorary doctorate from Trinity College Dublin, the Edinburgh Angel Award, and recordings of Ulysses and Finnegans Wake.
The James Joyce Centre was delighted to host an AboutFACE Theatre production of Orson Welles’ Christmas Carol 12-22 December 2024.
The much-loved festive “radio play within a play” for all the family came back by public demand at a beautiful and evocative new venue. In this fast-moving, heartfelt comedy based on true events, radio superstar Orson Welles and his Mercury Theatre gang are presenting “A Christmas Carol” in New York live ON-AIR on Christmas Eve 1938 . . . having just lost their Scrooge! Can Orson and his overworked cast survive the last minute chaos to give this Christmas Carol a happy ending?
Featuring a 45-minute version of A Christmas Carol in the 1930’s radio style with live sound effects and carols, this was a Christmas treat for the whole family, with a touch of old Hollywood glamour!
“Delightful…Works extraordinarily well.” Sunday Independent “An absorbing success” Business Post “Absolute joy to watch” The Arts Review
Starring Lizzy Morrissey, Michael Mullen, Anna Nugent, Paul Nugent, Eoin O’Sullivan, David Ryan and Tana Walsh Directed by Kathleen Warner Yeates Written by Paul Nugent Costume Design by Tara McKeever Set Design by Jennifer Keane
The James Joyce Centre is supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.
Cover image: Evanna Lynch as Lucia Joyce in Deirdre Mulrooney’s short film Lucia Joyce: FULL CAPACITY
A special limited edition book Lucia Joyce: Full Capacity by Deirdre Mulrooney (Grand Canal Publishing) supported by the James Joyce Centre has been born in time to celebrate and share the hidden artistic achievements of Lucia Anna Joyce, James Joyce’s daughter, on Saint Lucia’s Day (December 13th) 2024! Winter solstice in the Julian calendar, this feast day was traditionally celebrated in the Joyce family to honour Lucia and the origin of her name, which means ‘light’, at the darkest time of the year.
The James Joyce Centre continued this Joycean family tradition by launching Deirdre’s meticulously researched illustrated booklet, which originally appeared in Joyce Studies Annual 2021 as “Fail Better: Lucia Joyce and the Abbey Theatre Ballets, on Saint Lucia’s Day 2024 at 1pm. The event featured readings by Deirdre and Prof. Luke Gibbons as we enjoyed a lunchtime tea and coffee.
Deirdre is a dance historian and documentary maker, and author of books including Irish Moves, an illustrated history of dance and physical theatre in Ireland (Dublin: The Liffey Press, 2006).
Copies of Lucia Joyce: Full Capacity are available for purchase in our giftshop and for shipping worldwide. Email us at [email protected] for more information.
The James Joyce Centre on Friday, December 6th at 6.30pm held a special presentation of a fascinating social study entitled Araby House, James Joyce and all the Neighbours on North Richmond Street, Dublin, 1820-1998 by Dr. Michael Quinn.
Since the 1800s, Araby House and North Richmond Street have been part of the built heritage of Dublin’s characterful north inner city neighbourhood. They have also been home to generations of citizens — some famous, many forgotten. Michael’s book demonstrates why out of all the streets that the Joyce family lived on, North Richmond Street and its environs commands the most attention in his great novels and short stories. At the same time, the study rescues from the dusty records of history dozens of other gallant women, men and children who lived, worked and played here.
Michael graduated from Maynooth University with a B.A. degree in local studies and a Ph.D for an international relations topic. In this work he has deployed his skills as a historian to investigate the historical context and semi-autobiographical nature of the short story ‘Araby‘ in Joyce’s Dubliners, and in related aspects of Ulysses. Michael also leads, with fellow Joycean Billy Fitzpatrick, the popular Fr. John Conmee, S.J. Walking Tour every year on Bloomsday.
The book was first published privately during the Covid-19 pandemic by the Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed (INOU), which is headquartered in none other than Araby House, and where Michael worked for a number of years prior to his retirement. The book has now been republished by the James Joyce Centre. The launch featured guest speakers Brian Trench and Brid O’Brien, the Director of the INOU.
At €15 per copy (2 for €25), it offers the perfect Christmas gift for Joyceans and all those with an interest in Dublin’s local history. Copies are also available for purchase in our gift shop and for shipping worldwide.
Profilesis an annual literary and vis-arts journal dedicated to portraiture in prose and visual art. The James Joyce Centre was delighted to celebrate the launch of Issue 3 of Profiles with readings and discussions from contributors on Saturday, November 30th at 6.30pm. Writers Tom Roseingrave (Gracias a la vida) and Jordan Lillis (The Oyster Pearl) and artists Éadaoin Glynn (Self Portrait with Estrogen Patch 1 (Bathroom Mirror Selfie) and Philip Rainey (The Lightness of Being Seen But Not Shown #1) were in conversation with editors Clare Healy and Sarah Sturzel.
The launch also included an exhibition featuring works by Aisling Dunne, Éadaoin Glynn, Thom Kofoed, Marie Le Men, Salvatore of Lucan, Juliette Morrison, Glenn Quigley and Philip Rainey.
Profiles is sponsored by Dublin City Council and Dublin: UNESCO City of Literature. The launch event is kindly sponsored by Hope Beer.
Speakers
Éadaoin Glynn is a Cork-based painter who studied literature. She explores ideas of intimacy, memory and hidden female narratives in her work. Her work has been exhibited in the UK, USA and extensively in Ireland. In 2023, she founded The Warrior Artist Podcast as a resource for visual artists. Instagram: @eadaoin_glynn Web: eadaoinglynn.com
Jordan Lillis was runner-up in the Wild Atlantic Words short story competition and longlisted for the Fish Poetry Prize (both 2021). She is currently undergoing a PhD in Creative Writing in UCC, as part of which she hopes to publish a collection of short stories. She lives in Galway.
Philip Rainey is a visual artist based in Northern Ireland. Their practice incorporates lens-based art alongside text and installation. They are interested in how art can be encountered as a spatial and sensory experience. Their work has been exhibited in Flax Art Studios; Arcade Studios and Pollen Studios. Instagram philip_rainey
Tom Roseingrave (he/they) is a Dubliner. His writing has appeared in The Stinging Fly (2022 & 2024), Banshee, Profiles, The Honest Ulsterman, and elsewhere. In 2024, Tom was awarded a place on the Irish Writers’ Centre National Mentoring Programme. He is the founder and editor-in-chief of Frustrated Writers’ Group.
Exhibitors
Aisling Dunne is a multi-disciplinary artist from North County Dublin and has a BA (Hons) Fine Art Sculpture from NCAD. She was shortlisted for the Zurich Portrait Prize 2023. She has exhibited widely and is supported by the Arts Council and Fingal Arts Office.
Thom Kofoed studied Fine Art at the University of Brighton, graduating in 2009. He is predominantly a portrait artist with an obsessive preoccupation with camp pop culture. His hope is that with time the work can stop being a desperate yearning for what’s gone and start being a celebration of it instead.
Marie Le Men is a visual artist based in Dublin. She loves watercolour for its lightness and translucent quality. Originally from France, she is a self-taught artist inspired by photography, books and cinema. Her work is mainly figurative and revolves around empathy and emancipation from norms. She was shortlisted for the Zurich Portrait Prize 2023.
Salvatore of Lucan‘s paintings attempt to create expansive domestic scenes where realism meets the uncanny and the familiar broaches the magical. His recent solo exhibitions include Fancy Situations, Kevin Kavanagh (2024), Dead Present, Kevin Kavanagh (2022) and Melodrama, Hang Tough Contemporary (2021). He was the winner of the National Gallery of Ireland’s Portrait Prize in 2021.
Juliette Morrison is a multidisciplinary artist based in London. At the heart of her creative exploration lies the practice of autoethnography – this involves using self-reflection and photography to explore anecdotal and personal experience. This introspective journey connects the individual experience to broader cultural and social contexts.
Glenn Quigley is an author and artist originally from Tallaght in Dublin, and now living in Lisburn with his husband. His work in both print and paint celebrates the gay bear subculture.
The James Joyce Centre is supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.
Cover art: ‘The Lightness of Being Seen But Not Shown #1’, oil pastel, by Philip Rainey.
The James Joyce Centre hosted a special musical performance from Ruby Mae and Ewan Shiels on Friday, 29 November 2024 at 7.30pm.
Ruby Mae Shiels and her father Ewan have been playing music together professionally since she joined the family band in her early teens, initially as guitarist and eventually as multi-instrumentalist and harmony vocalist. The recent format as a duo came about as a means to showcase their repertoire of original compositions for fretted instruments as well as renditions of pieces from the myriad genres that have influenced them. Currently preparing their first album of original tunes as a two-piece, live audiences can expect a dynamic visceral performance from these seasoned veterans of the stage with lashings of virtuosity, humour and twisted poetry, not to mention the hot moves and crowd participation!
Ruby Mae Shiels: After a typically chaotic show business upbringing, Ruby began playing concerts with her parents while barely into her teens. Her prodigious skills as a multi-instrumentalist and singer/performer soon earned her an international reputation. She currently can be heard/seen in The Shiels (the family trio with her parents), The Village Vandals (the experimental rural hip hop duo) and as a solo performer.
Ewan Shiels: Began performing at 10 years as the straight man in his older brother’s Punch & Judy Show. He has since worked in theatre, films and television both as actor and composer as well as numerous bizarre music formations.
The James Joyce Centre was pleased to host the launch of The Joyce of Everyday Life (Bucknell University Press, 2024), a new book about the ordinary, extraordinary and everything in between in Joyce’s work.
On Tuesday, 19 November 2024 at 6.30pm, author Prof. Vicki Mahaffey (Urbana-Champaign) joined us for a conversation with fellow Joyce scholars Prof. Anne Fogarty (UCD) and Prof. Sam Slote (TCD), followed by a musical performance by Darina Gallagher, Director of the James Joyce Centre.
Part of James Joyce’s genius was his ability to find the poetry in everyday life. For Joyce, even a simple object like a table becomes magical, “a board that was of the birchwood of Finlandy and it was upheld by four dwarfmen of that country but they durst not move more for enchantment.” How might we learn to regain some of the child-like play with language and sense of delight in the ordinary that comes so naturally to Joyce?
The Joyce of Everyday Life teaches us how to interpret seemingly mundane objects and encounters with openness and active curiosity in order to attain greater self-understanding and a fuller appreciation of others. Through a close examination of Joyce’s joyous, musical prose, it shows how language provides us with the means to revitalize daily experience and social interactions across a huge, diverse, everchanging world.
Prof. Mahaffey demonstrates how his writing might prompt us to engage in a different kind of reading, treating words and fiction as tools for expanding the boundaries of the self with humor and feeling. A book for everyone who loves language, The Joyce of Everyday Life is a lyrical romp through quotidian existence.
The event was followed by a wine reception.
Vicki Mahaffey is a professor emerita at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She is a Guggenheim Fellowship recipient and the author or editor of several books, including Collaborative Dubliners: Joyce in Dialogue, Modernist Literature: Challenging Fictions, and States of Desire: Wilde, Yeats, Joyce,and the Irish Experiment.
The James Joyce Centre is supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.
The James Joyce Centre was proud to host once again a performance of the Volta Theatre Company’s Counterparts & A Little Cloud, an adaptation of two short stories from Joyce’s debut work Dubliners, on Thursday and Friday, 14 and 15 November 2024 at 7.30pm.
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 James Joyce Centre along with Poetry Ireland and IMRAM were proud to present the launch of Máire Mhac an tSaoi’s Amhráin Amhairgin, An Chailleach Bhéarra, agus Amhra Choilm Cille: Three Medieval Irish poems into Contemporary Irish. The editor of the book, Louis de Paor, read a selection of passages along with songs from Síle Denvir.
‘Tá údarás agus uaisleacht in uachtar sna dánta seo… mar atá sa chuid is fearr dá cuid dánta féin, an teanga á feacadh agus á lúbadh i gcúrsaí friotail agus comhréire agus í ag cruthú uair amháin eile gur uirlis lánacmhainneach í don té atá inniúil ar í a ionramháil mar is cóir…tá cúis eile againn a bheith buíoch go raibh Máire Mhac an tSaoi ag obair chomh fada is chomh flaithiúil sin inár measc.’ – Louis de Paor
The James Joyce Centre was proud to offer once again its popular six-week Dear, Dirty Dublinerscourse this past autumn!
Dubliners, James Joyce’s debut collection of short stories, is considered one of the finest short story collections ever written, laying bare the intrigues, dirtiness, and indignities of life in Dublin at the turn of the 20th century. Joyce got at the “heart” of Dublin with penetrating insights into its denizens, using innovative styles and techniques that would come to define the Modernist movement and beyond.
Dear, Dirty Dubliners is a unique, six-week course that guided participates through the stories in great detail. Particular focus was paided to issues of gender, poverty, colonialism, nationalism, globalization, the Catholic Church, and sexuality, just to name a few. The course also went over its troubled publication history as well as its enduring legacy and adaptations, such as John Huston’s 1987 film The Dead.
The characters in the 15 stories vary in many ways but one quality they all have in common is paralysis: not physical paralysis per se, but rather emotional, financial, familial, and spiritual. His struggle to get the book published (it took more than seven years) would shape Joyce as a young artist: a man who challenged the literary and cultural establishments both in and outside of Ireland.
The course was led by Dr. Josh Q. Newman, an academic and assistant at the Centre. The course consisted of readings, group discussions, presentations, and guest lectures. Students were provided with contextual and scholarly materials via Moodle. You do not have to be an academic or so familiar with Joyce’s work to enjoy the class!
Each session was recorded and available for view on Moodle. Recordings are done with the consent of the attendee in accordance with GDRP. Please email[email protected] for more information.
The James Joyce Centre is supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.
The James Joyce Centre was proud to host the book lauch of Classroom Hero by David Graham on Tuesday, 5 November 2024 at 6.30pm.
Classroom Hero is the story of one boy’s quest to fit in – in a world that makes him stand out. Fionn is often made to sit on his own at school, but he does not understand why. Now in second class, he spends more time alone than ever. He is the only pupil who is not making his communion. A school visitor calls him a ‘classroom hero’, and everything seems to make sense. When Fionn sees his classmate Sophie being bullied, he comes to her rescue and a close friendship is born. But he is still not treated the same as the other children.
“Tender, engaging and insightful.” Fintan O’Toole, The Irish Times
David Graham is a parent and campaigner for equality in Irish education. He has written about the controversial role of religion in schools across the print and online media for many years and is a regular guest on the topic on Irish radio. He has advocated tirelessly in favour of a truly inclusive education system that treats all children with equal respect, regardless of their faith or belief background. Classroom Hero offers a child’s-eye view of the pervasive impact of religious patronage on Irish schools, and of the experience of ‘opting out’.
Fable Family Festival presented an immersive experience through authentic storytelling as young and old were invited to re-connect with their storytelling roots. Fable celebrates the power of storytelling, inspiring the next generation of seanchaí by re-imagining the traditional storytelling experience in ambitious and imaginative ways that engage young and curious audiences.
On Sunday, 3 November 2024, Fable hosted a series of workshops, mythic tales, and songs in the James Joyce Centre.
1pm: WHAT’S YOUR TALL TALE WITH STORYTELLER ALAN NOLAN
Do you have a story you want to bring to life?
This workshop aimed to reconnect children with their storytelling roots inspire the next generation of seanchaí by teaching them about the Irish tradition of storytelling and working to bring tall tales to life with little legends.
Children’s author Alan Nolan took children on a magical journey through the art of storytelling using imagery and words as ancient mythology were given a contemporary new twist.
Alan Nolan was awarded the 2024 Children’s Books Ireland Annual Award for his outstanding contribution to children’s books. Alan grew up in Windy Arbour, Dublin and now lives in Bray, Co. Wicklow with his wife and three children. Alan is the author of the Molly Malone and Bram Stoker series. He is also the author and illustrator of Fintan’s Fifteen, Conor’s Caveman and the Sam Hannigan series, and is the illustrator of Animal Crackers: Fantastic Facts About Your Favourite Animals, written by Sarah Webb. Alan runs illustration and writing workshops for children, and you may see him lugging his drawing board and pencils around your school or local library.
2:30pm: CELEBRATE OUR HEROES THROUGH ART WITH KIKI NA ART
What are legends without heroes? Those characters that have gone before us but are eternal.
Heroes are made through their deeds but live on through the tales we tell.
Acclaimed Dublin based artist Kiki Na Art as lead a legendary workshop for children.
As her own handcrafted jewellery and artwork has demonstrated, Kiki was all about being proud of our heroes, so who better than to invite children to tell stories and use their imagination to create their own artworks based upon inspirational people in their lives. Characters of old in Irish folklore or family members and friends who have changed the world for the better, heroes young and old, past and present were celebrated in a kaleidoscope of colour of the page.
Dublin born artist Ciarna Pham, who works under the name Kiki Na Art is the creator of unique pieces of handcrafted jewellery which have been gaining quite a bit of attention in recent times. The idea behind the jewellery is to allow people to wear and show their own modern icons, ranging from musical icons such as Bowie, artists such as Frida Kahlo, political figures, writers, actors, vintage images and even old photos. This year, Fable, with thanks to The Arts Council, commissioned Kiki to bring some of the iconic creatures mythical Irish legends to life.
4pm: STORIES & SONGS WITH WREN DENNEHY AND SHAUNA CAFFREY
Featuring actor, singer and storyteller Wren Dennehy and musicologist Shauna Caffrey.
“Stories & Songs” retold Irish myths and legends for young ears, our seanchaís brought to life colourful tales of the fearsome Caorthannach (a monstrous dragon monster) and the heroic Cú Chulainn. Children sang along to the tale of Molly Malone and made the sound effects as we wemt on a “Puca Hunt.”
The James Joyce Centre was proud to host a literary gathering with the Portuguese writer Teolinda Gersão on the subject of her book The Word Tree on Tuesday, 29 October 2024 at 6.30pm. The event was organised by the Embassy of Portugal to Ireland in partnership with Literature Ireland. It was moderated by the Director of Literature Ireland Sinéad Mac Aodha.
“The Word Tree is a portrait of Lourenço Marques, before and during the colonial war. It is a book about the fascination of Africa and African culture, about the mix and clash of cultures and also a disturbing story about paradise that turns into a nightmare. A magical book about childhood, to which one cannot return, except through the miracle of literature.” (Porto Editora)
Margaret Jull Costa’s translation was awarded the Calouste Gulbenkian Portuguese Translation Prize for 2012.
Teolinda Gersão is the author of 12 novels and short-story collections, which have been translated into various languages. Her work has brought her many prizes, including the Pen Club Prize for best novel (twice), the Literature Prize from the International Critics’ Literary Association and the Grand Prix for Novel and Short-Story from the Portuguese Writers´ Association. The Word Tree is the first of her novels to be published in English.
Photo: Homem Cardoso
This year’s edition of the EUNIC European Book Club series, entitled “Europe!”, will showcase the work of eight European authors from Poland, Italy, Romania, Ireland, Estonia, Portugal, Slovenia and France. For more information please visit the following webpage: https://www.facebook.com/EUNICireland/
The James Joyce Centre is supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.
