Lecture

13 March 2025 at 6.30pm

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.