Local writer Rebecca Calderon and Patrick Sacarello are very pleased to announce that Gibraltar is finally going to have its first ever Bloomsday celebration on the 16th June 2025 at the Alameda Gardens. Gibraltar has a very special connection with Ulysses as Molly Bloom is a Gibraltarian (a ‘Llanita’ in local dialect). She was born Marion Tweedy in Gibraltar in 1870, the daughter of an Irish officer, Major Brian Cooper Tweedy, and Lunita Laredo, a Gibraltarian Jewess of Spanish origin. Molly grew up in Gibraltar and there are constant references to it in Ulysses.
Local writer Rebecca Calderon has written an original one-act play, Molly’s a Llanita! and on the 16th June the play will be performed beside the Molly Bloom statue at the Alameda Gardens. It is a free event, and people will be encouraged to dress in costumes of the era. The celebration will continue at the nearby Rock Hotel around the piano, with Irish songs and music. People will be able to recite pieces from Ulysses or any works of Joyce. Saccone & Speed, a local distributor, has donated a barrel of Guinness and some bottles of Jameson Irish whiskey.
James Joyce never visited Gibraltar, but his characters describe it in accurate detail. There is indeed a Luna Laredo (1864-1897) buried in the Jewish section of Gibraltar’s North Front cemetery! A statue of Molly Bloom can be found in the Alameda Gardens and the Irish pub in La Linea, the neighbouring town in Spain, is called Molly Bloom’s. Bloomsday has been celebrated in La Linea for the past few years, and it’s even celebrated by literary circles in Malaga and Madrid, but Bloomsday has never been celebrated in Gibraltar, which is a great shame. A small group of Gibraltar Joyce enthusiasts aim to right this wrong in 2025 and are pleased to announce Gibraltar’s inaugural Bloomsday event.
There is a strong Gibraltar-Irish connection with many Irish people living and working on The Rock. Patrick Sacarello, whose mother is Irish and whose father is Gibraltarian, states: “Mine and Rebecca’s aim is to kick-start Gibraltar Bloomsday celebrations with the hope of making it an annual event attracting tourists and locals alike.” Patrick has invited noted Ulysses expert P.J. Murphy to Gibraltar at the end of May after a chance meeting at Sweny’s in Dublin in 2022. P.J. will be offering his expert advice and endorse what will no doubt be an entertaining Bloomsday on the Rock of Gibraltar.