Bloomsday 100

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Walking in the footsteps of James Joyce’s Ulysses through Dublin is one of the activities currently being promoted to the passengers of Russia’s national carrier Aeroflot, who can only get to the Irish capital from Moscow by flying through Genoa, Italy and taking another flight. “Dublin attracts fans of James Joyce and Saint Patrick’s Day..,” the Aeroflot website states. “Dublin offers theme city tours: you can trace James Joyce’s Ulysses route through Dublin, go on a leprechaun treasure hunt or enjoy a leisurely pub crawl. Plan your James Joyce walking tour for 16 June when the world celebrates Bloomsday, which is the day the novel takes place. Dubliners organize readings, performances and even free breakfast in places that Leonard Bloom, the novel’s protagonist, visited. This is sure to excite any traveller interested in literature. Visit Davy Byrne’s pub at 21 Duke Street, admire the James Joyce Statue and James Joyce Tower. Walk to 7 Eccles Street, which was the home of Leonid [presumably they meant to say Leopold] Bloom, but is now the site of a hospital. To learn some more about Joyce’s background and work, stop at the James Joyce Centre, one of the world’s best literature museum.” Without doubt the Russian people have a deep and rich literary tradition of their own and it is not a stretch to think that many of them would have a genuine appreciation in the Irish example of world class literature. Indeed, Joyce’s most famous book contains much to interest readers of all types and levels, but for all Ukranians the option of celebrating Bloomsday is a luxury they have been deprived of, amongst many other things. But despite its promotion of the literary masterpiece there are at least a couple of references in Ulysses that the Russian state operated carrier would probably like to ignore in the current climate. It is the pub scene in the Cyclops episode (episode 12) on the day trip around Dublin involving an accidential encounter in Barney Kiernan’s in Little Britain Street, Stoneybatter between Joe Hynes and the citizen, two characters already known to each other. Interestingly, the citizen was based on the real life figure of Michael Cusack, the founder of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA).

Kremlin promotes Bloomsday and unleashes Doomsday

“Stand and deliver” citizen said when they saw each other. “That’s all right, citizen, says Joe. Friends here. - Pass, friends, says he. Then he rubs his hand in his eye and says he: “What’s your opinion of the times?. Doing the rapparee and Rory of the hill. But, begob, Joe was equal to the ocassion. “I think the markets are on a rise, says he, sliding his hand down his fork. So begob the Citizen claps his paw on his knee and he says: - Foreign wars is the cause of it. And says Joe, sticking his thumb in his pocket: - Its the Russians wish to tryrannise”. Incredibly Joyce – and history – provides a perfect example of exactly this point with a Ukranian connection in another totally unrelated section of Ulysses. Ulysses is set on June 16 1904 because it was on that date he first stepped out with Nora Barnacle, the Galway girl who he instantly took a shine too and who would become his wife and muse. It is also crammed with real world events – large and small, significant and insignifcant – from across Ireland and other parts of the world that happened on that same date. By the longest and strangest of odds it just so happens that June 16 1904 was the day on which the Russian Governor General of Finland was assassinated. Nikolay Ivanovich Bobrikov was a Russian general who was placed in charge of the neighbouring nation by the Tzar and given the task of ‘Russification’ of the country, to prepare it for reassimilation with the mother country. Bobrikov was given brutal dictatorial powers to carry out his work and could have any government official fired and newspapers shut down. He was a hated figure by the local population who eventually met his end at the hands of a Finnish nationalist who shot him three times before taking his own life. The man who pulled the trigger was one Eugen Schauman, a Swedish speaking nobleman who was born in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city. The incident is referred to in the short section of Ulysses between Lenehan’s Limerick and Omnium Gahterum. “ You look like communards,” [said professor MacHugh]. —Like fellows who had blown up the Bastile, J. J. O’Molloy said in quiet mockery. Or was it you shot the lord lieutenant of Finland between you? You look as though you had done the deed. General Bobrikoff.” On December 6, 1917 Finland officially declared its independence from Russia. Schauman’s resistance to Russian rule and his ultimate sacrifice made him a hero to many Finns then and since.

B100MSDAY Vladimir (Nabokov) was right about Ulysses, says AIHA

Coincidentially the Australian Irish Heritage Association touched on a famous Russian commentator about Joyce’s work in their preparations for this years centenary celebration of the publication of Bloomsday. “It [Ulysses] was loved by Vladimir Nabokov and hated by Virginia Woolf,” the heritage groups flyer for the upcoming event said – more of that in a moment. One of Nabokov’s onnections to Ulysses was that he created a precise hand drawn map of the routes taken by the characters of Stephen Dedalus and Leopold Bloom. He was also a writer himself and was deeply interested in and influenced by Joyce’s writing. But his backstory is also worth nothing, especially in the light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In April it was just over a hundred years since the Nabokov family, who were wealthy and of nobility, were forced to flee their priviliged life in St. Petersburg because of the Russian Revolution. In scenes reminiscent of the refugee crisis caused by the invasion they left their home under a hail of machine gun fire and went to Crimea to seek refuge from the Bolsheviks (the far left Marxist faction founded by Vladimir Lenin) who would have most likely killed them. The Nabokov’s found themselves with hundreds of other desperate people on the quay of a pier at Sebastopol, scrambling to get onto a crowded and filthy Greek cargo ship. The family would make their way to America where Vladimir would become a celebrated writer. “At the Australian Irish Heritage Association, we are inclined to agree with Nabokov while acknowledging that the book can at times be off-putting for its size and archaic use of the English language,” the flyer added. “So, in a bid to make this book more accessible to a modern-day audience we are seeking your help! We are inviting fans, scholars and the curious to take up the challenge of capturing some content of Ulysses in any of four formats (poetry, play, prose or song) as a 15-minute piece that can be presented to a live audience at a celebratory event on June 16th, which is officially known as Bloomsday, named for the hero of Ulysses, Leopold Bloom.” Shortlisted entrants will get to strut their stuff on the night of Bloomsday itself (Thursday June 16) in the Irish Club with the overall winner to be chosen by popular vote. All shortlisted entrants will get a performance fee of $150, which isnt’ too bad at all for an event with free entry. April 22 was the deadline for submissions and shortlisted entries will be announced in mid May.

From WA to Washington D.C.

Agood friend of mine – Seth Kaplan – from America hasn’t an iota of Irish ancestry but he has since the 1980’s been a dedicated and regular visitor to Ireland. A keen reader of the Irish classics and a photographic enthusiast Bloomsday is one of his favourite excuses to pilgrimmage to Dublin to take part in the fun and silliness of the day, including of course drinking pints of Guinness in as many pubs with a link to the story that he can manage. When he isn’t at large in Ireland or some other part of the world he lives and works in Washington D.C. Not too far from his apartment is the Irish Embassy, which is highly likely to throw a Bloomsday bash equal to the best in the world. The current ambassador there is Dan Mulhall, a Waterford man with strong personal connections to Perth, Western Australia. He is also a world class expert on Irish literature and history. His latest book – simply called Ulysses A Reader’s Odyssey – was published and on shelves in time for the 100th anniversary of the full publication of the iconic novel at the start of February. “My book aims to help readers in their encounters with #Ulysses,” he tweeted. Most people who tackle Ulysses could certainly do with a crutch to help them navigate the complexities. Mulhall’s guide is the latest in an incredible proliferation of such books by enthusiasts over the years but few could match his deep insights and understanding into the history, politics and forces of Joyce’s life and the Ireland of his times. If you can’t get your hands on a copy of the book then you could always look for his blogs about the different episodes of Ulysses on the website of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade! In late March, after forty years in the diplomatic service for Ireland, Mulhall announced his time as ambassador would end in August, so that he can take up a new role as Global Distinguished Professor of Irish Studies at New York University. He did not become a world class authority on his subject matter overnight and his summiting of this landmark position can in some ways be traced back to his early days as a diplomat, and Perth. Mulhall was a student of Irish literature and history at University College Cork in the 1970s and in 1978 joined the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin where after a couple of years he was posted to his first overseas job in New Delhi India. He was impressed to discover that many Indians had a deep appreciation and love for the works of William Butler Yeats. But it was also there – while visiting an Australian bar – that he met Greta, another young diplomat from Perth, Western Australia, who would become his wife.

Dan and Greta Mulhall.

“I was born in Perth, Western Australia; my mother’s family, the Hennerys of County Armagh, left Ireland in the 1870s to start a new life in Australia,” Greta told the Washington Diplomat newspaper in an interview in May 2018. “I am Irish and Australian … it’s not a contradiction. I can be Australian and Irish at the same time. I am part of two diasporas — equal amounts of Irish and Australian in my own head. I still have retained some of my twang from Australia, but having now lived in 10 different countries, it has softened over the years. A lot of my adult life has been spent in the company of Irish people, so I am sure I use a lot of English words that would be more associated with Ireland and less of the Australian colloquialisms.” They were married just 18 months after they met and while they were still in their relatively early stages of their careers the pair took time out to spend time in her home town. “During a career break in Perth in the 1980s, I became involved with the Yeats Society of Western Australia set up by an exarmy officer, Joe O’Sullivan, who saw it as a way to boost Ireland’s image in 1980s Australia,” Mulhall said on the occasion of becoming honorary president of the Yeats Society in Sligo in December 2019 . “I have fond memories of delivering a Yeats talk at the home of renowned Australian novelist, Mary Durack (1913-1994), in a beautiful garden on the banks of the Swan River.”

Dublin – Ground Zero for Bloomsday

As a Dub myself I might be a bit biased when I say this, but the Irish capital is a great city to visit at any time of the year. But if you happen to be a James Joyce nerd with an enthusiasm for dressing up in period costume and frolicking around ‘de gaff’ then there is nowhere better to be than Dublin on June 16, Bloomsday ground zero! The words, characters and events in the pages of the famous novel spill out into the city’s streets and spots as groups and individuals pay homage to the book and its authors in traditional and increasingly original ways. The possiblities are almost endless. Literary junkies are at serious risk of overdosing on cultural fun during the day long escapade. Anyone lucky enough to be there will be able to celebrate it in just about any way they like. It is worth remembering how Bloomsday started. Close friends of Joyce in Europe are said to be the earliest people to mark the date in private but the first time it was held in Ireland it was as a drunken and sometimes messy pub crawl, in 1954, for the 50th anniversary of the 1904 setting for Ulysses. A close group of friends and associates were organised to come together for the occasion by the owner of the Bailey Pub in Dublin John Ryan. The circle included writer Brian O’Nolan (Flann O’Brien/Myles na gCopaleen), poet Patrick Kavanagh, the Registrar of Trinity College Dublin and a dentist cousin of Joyce. Each man took on the identity of a character from the book and they read or re-enacted scenes from the novle. O’Nolan was already drunk when the group met in the morning at the Sandycove home of architect Michael Scott, close to the Martello Tower, where the opening scene of Ulysses is set. They travelled from one location to the next in two horse drawn carriages, all the while becoming more inebriated and sometimes even quarrelsome. Their ambition to carry on into the red-light district of “Nightown” ground to a halt at the Bailey pub, just off Grafton Street. Its owner - John Ryan – had the idea of filming sections of their adventures on the day, which you can easily find on YouTube! Happy Bloomsday. Fill your boots ladies and gentlemen!