Welcome O Joyce

The James Joyce Centre is proud to present Welcome O Joyce, a staged reading by Declan Gorman of a new performance to mark 100 years since the first appearance in print of an extract from Finnegans Wake.

Welcome O Joyce (co-written by Declan Gorman and Des Gunning) has been specially commissioned for the James Joyce Association of Ottawa and the James Joyce Centre, Dublin, and is the curtain-raiser to this year’s international Bloomsday Festival. 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)

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.

Praise for previous work

“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 event is free but booking is essential.