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Cometh the Hour, Cometh the Comet


Lecture by Senan Molony

1 November 2025 at 6.30pm

On Saturday, 1 November 2025 at 6.30pm, journalist and Joyce scholar Senan Molony unveiled a striking new celestial discovery hidden within James Joyce’s Ulysses

What if the blazing trail of Halley’s Comet streaks not only through the heavens, but through the very pages of the 20th century’s greatest novel? Join us as Molony explores how Joyce’s fascination with astronomy, astrology, and cosmic symbolism illuminates the intertwined fates of Leopold Bloom, Molly, and Blazes Boylan — each orbiting their destinies like heavenly bodies in an eternal dance.

Timed to coincide with the arrival of a new interstellar visitor to our solar system in late 2025, this lecture invited you to look upward — and inward. Through wit, insight, and meticulous research, Molony revealed Ulysses as not just a Dublin odyssey, but a cosmic one.

Senan Molony is a journalist for Mediahuis Ireland covering the Irish Independent and Sunday Independent. An accomplished author, Molony has written extensively on Irish history, James Joyce and the Titanic.

The James Joyce Centre is supported by the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport.

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