The James Joyce Centre opens its doors to celebrate the greatest day of the year — Bloomsday!
The James Joyce Centre is proud to organise the Bloomsday Festival on behalf of the city of Dublin. As a token of our appreciation to Dublin and all the participants of Bloomsday, we will be open to the public for free on Monday, June 16th from 9:30am to 4:30pm.Come see Leopold Bloom’s door from No. 7 Eccles Street, where it all began. Browse our exhibitions, parlour rooms, and interactive guides to Joyce’s life and work. Marvel at the beautifully preserved 18th century townhouse, a stunning example of high Georgian architecture. See the Maginni Room, named after “Mr Denis J Maginni, professor of dancing &c,” the real-life dance instructor who used the room as his dance studio and is mentioned in Ulysses! There will be readings, talks, music, children’s events, and fun throughout the day!
Feel free to dress up in your finest bowler hats and Edwardian garb as you join visitors from around the world for an unparalleled literary occasion.
Admission is free and open to the public. No booking is necessary.
Join us at The James Joyce Centre on Wednesday, June 11th at 6.30pm for the formal launch of this year’s Bloomsday Festival!
The Bloomsday Festival is in full-swing this year with up to 100 events on June 11th-16th throughout Dublin. Our reception will feature talks, music, readings and some wine as we celebrate another year of Bloomsday celebrations. Join festival goers around Dublin and the world as we kick off this extraordinary time of the year.
On Bloomsday, we are all Dubliners.
The event is free but booking is essential. Doors open at 6pm.
This Bloomsday, Olann Glas will celebrate James Joyce’s Ulysses with a unique event honouring our street’s literary past. On June 16th from 12 to 6pm, Pearse Street will become Great Brunswick Street once more, as we step back in time to 1904 Dublin — the setting of Joyce’s iconic novel.
Guests will be invited to explore our tailoring studio transformed into an Edwardian-style experience, complete with:
Joycean Styling Corner
Visitors will enjoy tailored consultations and a look at period-inspired fashion — the kind Leopold Bloom or Stephen Dedalus might have worn — alongside demonstrations of traditional techniques still alive in our craft today.
Guided Literary Moments
Throughout the day, we will present live readings from the Hades episode of Ulysses, where Bloom crosses Great Brunswick Street. These performances will connect the physical street outside our doors with the Dublin of Joyce’s imagination.
Stitch in Time Workshop
A hands-on demonstration of early 20th-century tailoring methods will give attendees a glimpse into the making of garments in Joyce’s time.
Participants will take home a small keepsake — a fabric swatch bookmark featuring a quote from the novel.
The Brunswick Display
Our shop window will feature a special Bloomsday exhibit, showcasing historical images of Pearse Street and curated passages from Ulysses that reference the area.
Joyce & Gin (or Tea)
Guests can relax with a complimentary cup of tea or a Joyce-inspired gin cocktail as they soak in the atmosphere.
Join us on June 16th for a celebration of literature, history, and craft — where the past will be stitched into the present. For more information, please visit https://www.olannglas.com/editorial.
Hear the bellringers of Christ Church Taney ring the actual bells from James Joyce’s Ulysses. In Ulysses, the bells of St. George’s Church, Hardwicke Street, appear several times starting when Leopold Bloom hears them from his home at 7 Eccles Street:
“A creak and a dark whirr in the air high up. The bells of George’s church. They tolled the hour: loud dark iron. Heigho! Heigho! Heigho! Heigho! Heigho! Heigho! Quarter to. There again: the overtone following through the air. A third. Poor Dignam!”
In 1990, when St. George’s Church was being sold, the bells were saved by a committee who worked tirelessly to protect them, with storage provided by Taney parishioner George Cooke. This incredible work has ensured that the Christ Church Taney Tower could be a wonderful new home for these very special bells. This Bloomsday, join us for a unique musical event with the bellringers of Taney followed by tea, coffee and a chat until 5pm. After hearing the St. George’s bells being rung from 3-4pm, there will also be an opportunity for visitors to chime a bell. If you are interested in doing this, please send us an email at taneybellringers@gmail.com.
6.30pm: Seven Scenes from Ulysses
Meeting Point: Portobello Harbour, Dublin 8
Portobello is immortalised in Ulysses with Leopold Bloom’s house and birthplace set on Upper Clanbrassil Street. Follow this 60 minute theatrical trail past many of the streets and locations mentioned in the book.
7.30pm: Bloomsday Portobello
Meeting Point: Portobello Community Hall, 46 Bloomfield Avenue, Dublin 8
Wind down on Bloomsday with some light refreshments and entertainment, readings from Eanna Ní Lamhna and a performance from actor Michael Judd, who will recount the story of the 1904 Ascot Gold Cup and the mighty ‘Sceptre’, the greatest filly of all time!
Celebrate Bloomsday with a visit to the iconic Main Reading Room.
Bloomsday celebrates the 16th of June 1904, the day depicted in James Joyce’s world famous novel Ulysses, and is named after the book’s central character Leopold Bloom. The National Library of Ireland celebrates our connection to Ulysses and James Joyce every year. The National Library and its beautiful Reading Room featured in Episode 9: Scylla and Charybdis of Ulysses, in which Leopold Bloom visits the library between approximately 2pm and 3pm.
The Main Reading Room will be open to the public on Bloomsday between 5pm and 7:30pm. NLI staff member Aryton O’Brien will be reading passages from Ulysses in the Reading Room at 5:30pm, 6pm, and 6:30pm.
“He entered Davy Byrnes. Moral pub. He doesn’t chat. Stands a drink now and then. But in a leap year once in four. Cashed a cheque for me once.” Ulysses
Davy Byrnes pub opened its doors in 1889. Thirty-one years later it was thrust in to international fame with the publication of James Joyce’s Ulysses when Leopold Bloom visits for a glass of burgundy and a gorgonzola cheese sandwich in the ‘Lestrygonians’ episode. Bloom stands and chats with the owner, Davy Byrne, about life and his appetite before continuing on his odyssey. Ever since Bloomsday has been celebrated, Davy Byrnes has been at its heart.
This year, the iconic pub will be hosting an afternoon of festivities to mark the day with music, performances, and readings. Bring Ulysses to life (and order a gorgonzola or two) in this historic city centre environment!
11am: Elevenses with Leopold
Venue: Sandymount Community Centre, Newbridge Avenue, Dublin 4
Enjoy an elegant start to your Bloomsday with morning coffee, croissants and a dash of gentle Joycean entertainment. €5 admission with proceeds going to the Centre. Tickets sold at the door.
12.30pm: Seven Scenes from Ulysses
Meeting Point: Sandymount Green, Sandymount, Dublin 4
Enjoy a stroll around Sandymount as you watch pivotal scenes from Ulysses come alive in the company of Leopold Bloom and other characters from the book.
The event is free and open to the public unless otherwise indicated. For more information, please email info@sandymountcommunitycentre.ie.
11am: Ranelagh Readings on Bloomsday
Meeting Point: Ranelagh Arts Centre, 6 Ranelagh, Dublin 6
Enjoy a celebratory coffee morning of literature with Anne Haverty, Deirdre Mulrooney and other writers who will be reading from their own works and Joyce’s work. Feel free to bring along your own favourite passages and quotes from Ulysses and join in on the readings!
Glasnevin Cemetery has been celebrating Bloomsday since 2010 and it is now a firm favourite for Bloomsday pilgrims. On June 16th 1904, Glasnevin was the venue for the funeral of the fictional Paddy Dignam, attended by Joyce’s protagonist Leopold Bloom in Ulysses. This year to celebrate this historic date, Experience Glasnevin will host a performance of the ‘Hades’ episode of Ulysses performed by the Joycestagers and a Joycean tour of the cemetery itself. Explore the ‘underworld’ of Ulysses in one of the most popular Bloomsday events!
11am: Reenactment of the funeral procession of Paddy Dignam from the ‘Hades’ episode. Free to attend. No ticket is necessary.
12pm: A Joycean Tour of the heart of the Hibernian necropolis, Glasnevin Cemetery, which has many significant links to Joyce’s life and writing. Tickets are required: €15 general, €13 concession.
“the thoroughfare hitherto known as Cow Parlour off Cork Street be henceforth designated Boulevard Bloom.”
So says former Lord Mayor of Dublin Timothy Harrington in Chapter 15 (‘Circe’) of James Joyce’s Ulysses. And who are we to object?
The Tenters Celebrated Heritage Group cordially invites you to join us in Cow Parlour off Cork Streetin Dublin 8 for our Boulevard Bloom event on Bloomsday, Monday, the 16th of June at 10.45am. The morning will start with a brief introduction to the history of Cow Parlour, which has been in existence for at least 300 years. We will then be joined by Mr Harrington, who will propose the renaming of Cow Parlour to ‘Boulevard Bloom.’ We are confident that there will be no objections to the proposal and for it to be carried unanimously. After the official business is completed, we will have a cuppa and cake, seated at linen covered tables more suited to the new Boulevard status of Cow Parlour. Music and singing will of course be the order of the morning.
Each year, we are joined by the 6th Class pupils and their teachers from four of the local National Schools.
We are encouraging the wearing of hats to add to the Bloomsday atmosphere. All are welcome. Rest assured, this renaming of Cow Parlour to Boulevard Bloom will only be a temporary one . . . All in the spirit of Leopold Bloom!
3pm: Ulysses Goes Wild in Herbert Park
Meeting Point: Outside Lolly and Cooks Café, Herbert Park, Dublin 4
Get closer to the wild side of Ballsbridge with Eanna Ní Lamhna, star of RTÉ’s The Mooney Show and Virgin Media’s The Six O’Clock Show, for a nature tour inspired by the “marriage of trees” from the Cyclops episode of Ulysses. Tour to last 60 minutes.
4pm: Seven Scenes from Ulysses
Meeting Point: The Bandstand, Herbert Park, Dublin 4
Watch Ulysses come to life on the streets of Ballsbridge in the company of Leopold Bloom, Molly Bloom and Stephen Dedalus!
Belvedere College SJ is delighted to host The Bloomsday Breakfast in association with The James Joyce Centre on Monday, 16th June 2025 at 8am and 11am. Visitors will have a unique opportunity to dine in the very rooms where Joyce studied from 1893 to 1898.
Throughout his work, Joyce wrote about his student days at Belvedere College, particularly in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Immerse yourself in the heart of Joycean Dublin, around the corner from where Leopold and Molly Bloom had their home at 7 Eccles Street and close to where Joyce lived until he emigrated with Nora Barnacle in 1904.
Special performances on the day include:
• Dramatic exerts from Ulysses to celebrate the day
• Songs from Ulysses and other works of Joyce
• Special invited guests including The Joyce Family and Lord Mayor of Dublin.
• Ticket price includes admission to the James Joyce Centre, 35 North Great George’s Street, Dublin.
James Joyce was born in Rathgar in 1882. Dress up and come celebrate all things Joyce at Rathgar Village Square, sponsored by Dublin City Council and Rathgar Business Association. They will be readings of Ulysses, jazz from Razzmajazz, food stalls, and face painting and Alpacas for the kids. The event is free of charge and will be outdoors, weather permitting.
The Ringsend & District Historical Society in partnership with Dublin City Council’s South East Area Community Team and with support by the Ringsend & Irishtown Community Centre is proud to present Bloomsday Villages: Ringsend & Irishtown on June 12-16th. Ringsend is where James Joyce and Nora Barnacle had their first date on June 16th, 1904. the date on which Ulysses is set. What better way to celebrate Bloomsday than to spend it where it all began!
Thursday, 12th June
7pm: Launch of the Ringsend Bloomsday Festival 2025
Venue: Ringsend & Irishtown Community Centre, Thorncastle Street, Ringsend, Dublin 4
Start your Bloomsday adventures early with an evening of poetry and short story readings from local writers including local school students who are participating in this year’s “Writer’s Adventure” intergenerational project.
Friday, 13th June
11am: Tour of St. Matthews Church
Venue: St. Matthews Church, Irishtown Road, Dublin 4
Take a tour of the historic and recently renovated St. Matthews Church and its graveyard with Trevor James.
Saturday, 14th June
11am: Ringsend 1904
Venue: Ringsend Library, Fitzwilliam Street, Ringsend, Dublin 4
Take a trip back in time with local historian, Eddie Bohan for a lecture on Ringsend during the days of Ulysses.
12.15pm: Ringsend & Docklands Walking Tour
Meeting Point: Ringsend Library Plaza, Fitzwilliam Street, Ringsend, Dublin 4
Take a stroll with local historian, Eamonn Bohan, as he explores Joyce’s connections to the local area.
2pm: Bloomsday Folk & Ballad Session
Venue: Ringsend Library Plaza, Fitzwilliam Street, Ringsend, Dublin 4
Enjoy a two hour open air music session with live performances from the likes of Mick the Busker, Carmel Weafer and local balladeers, The Pullovers.
Sunday, 15th June
9.30am: Bloomsday Boat Trip
Meeting Point: Poolbeg Yacht & Boat Club, Pigeon House Road, Ringsend, Dublin 4
Hop on board the ‘St. Brigid’ for a one hour trip around Dublin Bay and hear about the history of the Bay with Richie Saunders and Cormac Louth. Bonus live music on offer too! *Advance booking is essential. For bookings, please email ringsenddistricthistorical@gmail.com.
Monday, 16th June
10.45am: Joycean Procession
Meeting Point: Outside St. Patrick’s Church, Thorncastle Street, Ringsend, Dublin 4
Don your Edwardian garb and follow a Horse Drawn Carriage past Strasburg Terrace to the Joyce Bench in Ringsend Park, the location of James Joyce and Nora Barnacle’s very first date.
12pm: Bloomsday Brunch
Venue: Ringsend & Irishtown Community Centre, Thorncastle Street, Ringsend, Dublin 4
Enjoy a chat and refreshments outdoors to a backdrop of jazz from the Emilie Conway Duo, some street theatre and literary readings.
Sweny’s Pharmacy is famously featured in the fifth episode of Ulysses, “Lotus Eaters.” This delightful little shop has survived since 1847 and today still has all its original fixtures and fittings. Now run by volunteers, Sweny’s opens its doors to welcome people on their Bloomsday adventure. Wait by the counter like Leopold Bloom, absorbing the authentic atmosphere. Watch the chemist at work with his herbs and ointments among “all his alabaster lilypots.” Pick up a bar of lemon soap (“sweet lemony wax”) that you can carry with you all day, just like Bloom. Get involved in a reading of Ulysses, enjoy a cup of tea and share epic tales about your own life. You might even get a chance to join in an Edwardian singsong.
From Wednesday 11 to Monday 16 June, a performance and reading will take place in Sweny’s at 12.30pm from “Lotus Eaters.”
On Bloomsday itself, there will be merriment in this hidden Joycean gem throughout the day and into the evening, starting with a Bloomsday Breakfast from 10am at Kennedy’s Pub across the street at which there will be readings and performances.
“Urbane, to comfort them, the quaker librarian purred:
—And we have, have we not, those priceless pages of Wilhelm Meister. A great poet on a great brother poet. A hesitating soul taking arms against a sea of troubles, torn by conflicting doubts, as one sees in real life.”
So begins ‘Scylla and Charybdis,’ the ninth episode of Ulysses that takes place in Main Reading Room of the National Library of Ireland from approximately 2 to 3pm. Celebrate Bloomsday at the National Library of Ireland with a visit to the iconic Main Reading Room. Bloomsday celebrates the 16th of June 1904, the day depicted in James Joyce’s world famous novel Ulysses, and is named after the book’s central character Leopold Bloom. The National Library of Ireland celebrates our connection to Ulysses and James Joyce every year.
Fellow Irish Artists is delighted to launch the second part of its documentary In the Footsteps of James Joyce on Bloomsday, Sunday June 16th. The documentary is free and available to the public online.
June 16th, 18:20 – Adam & Paul/An Encounter GET TICKETS
20th anniversary screening of Lenny Abrahamson’s first feature. Written by Mark O’Halloran about the addicts he encountered in Dublin’s inner city, it follows the Ulyssean wanderings of Adam and Paul through the streets of Dublin looking for their next fix. It is an astonishing work shot through with an absurdist and often comic vision in the service of a deeply sensitive portrait of drug addiction with utterly convincing central performances of O’Halloran and the late, wonderful Tom Murphy.
Also screening: An Encounter. An adaptation by Mark O’Halloran of Joyce’s unsettling short story. Dir. Kelly Campbell, 20 mins, Ireland, 2022 35mm.
An introduction by Mark O’Halloran will explore Joycean connections.
‘Whenever I am obliged to lie with my eyes closed I see a cinematograph going on and on and it brings back to my memory things I had almost forgotten.’ – James Joyce.
Ireland’s most literary film festival. Set up as a celebration of cinema, literature, and artistic innovation, inspired by the long reaching arm of Ireland’s patriarch of modernism, James Joyce. The festival is run in partnership with the Bloomsday Festival & the James Joyce Centre and will run between the 11th – 16th June, with screenings taking place at the historic James Joyce Centre and the IFI.
Like last year, we will celebrate the birthday of W.B Yeats on the 13th of June with a selection of Poetry and Literature short films. On the 14th, in keeping with Joyce’s radical and experimental spirit, we will screen the best Experimental Films. On the 15th, the anniversary of the publications of Dubliners, we will dedicate to Dublin with screenings of Joycean short films and Dublin Short Stories. We will also have many more special events between the 11th – 16th, as well as on Bloomsday itself of course, the 16th, and will screen the feature films in the evenings.
We want to encourage artistic innovation within the medium, artists who do things their own way, and films that seek to push the craft forward, as Joyce did so greatly within his own craft of literature.
June 16th, 15:20 – The Disembodied Adventures of Alice GET TICKETS
This hallucinatory trip, an adult fairytale, travels through a long, dark night conjuring otherworldly scenes of kink, gender-swapping, mental illness, loss and loneliness. Reimagining Lewis Carroll’s iconic Alice, the film’s protagonist journeys though a warren of bewildering scenarios where she encounters characters who are at once beguiling and alienating – gliding, writhing, gorging, dancing, and uttering passages from Joyce’s Finnegans Wake. Their world promises as much danger as sensual delight. This is the first feature film from Cléa van der Grijn, an internationally acclaimed, award-winning, visual artist and independent film maker based in Sligo.
Cléa van der Grijn will join a post-screening Q&A with Tommy Creagh, director of the Bloomsday Film Festival.
‘Whenever I am obliged to lie with my eyes closed I see a cinematograph going on and on and it brings back to my memory things I had almost forgotten.’ – James Joyce.
Ireland’s most literary film festival. Set up as a celebration of cinema, literature, and artistic innovation, inspired by the long reaching arm of Ireland’s patriarch of modernism, James Joyce. The festival is run in partnership with the Bloomsday Festival & the James Joyce Centre and will run between the 11th – 16th June, with screenings taking place at the historic James Joyce Centre and the IFI, as well as Online.
Like last year, we will celebrate the birthday of W.B Yeats on the 13th of June with a selection of Poetry and Literature short films. On the 14th, in keeping with Joyce’s radical and experimental spirit, we will screen the best Experimental Films. On the 15th, the anniversary of the publications of Dubliners, we will dedicate to Dublin with screenings of Joycean short films and Dublin Short Stories. We will also have many more special events between the 11th – 16th, as well as on Bloomsday itself of course, the 16th, and will screen the feature films in the evenings.
We want to encourage artistic innovation within the medium, artists who do things their own way, and films that seek to push the craft forward, as Joyce did so greatly within his own craft of literature.
10:00 – Richard Harte in Finnegans Wake: Chapters 1 & 2 GET TICKETS
‘Whenever I am obliged to lie with my eyes closed I see a cinematograph going on and on and it brings back to my memory things I had almost forgotten.’ – James Joyce.
Ireland’s most literary film festival. Set up as a celebration of cinema, literature, and artistic innovation, inspired by the long reaching arm of Ireland’s patriarch of modernism, James Joyce. The festival is run in partnership with the Bloomsday Festival & the James Joyce Centre and will run between the 11th – 16th June, with screenings taking place at the historic James Joyce Centre and the IFI, as well as Online.
Like last year, we will celebrate the birthday of W.B Yeats on the 13th of June with a selection of Poetry and Literature short films. On the 14th, in keeping with Joyce’s radical and experimental spirit, we will screen the best Experimental Films. On the 15th, the anniversary of the publications of Dubliners, we will dedicate to Dublin with screenings of Joycean short films and Dublin Short Stories. We will also have many more special events between the 11th – 16th, as well as on Bloomsday itself of course, the 16th, and will screen the feature films in the evenings.
We want to encourage artistic innovation within the medium, artists who do things their own way, and films that seek to push the craft forward, as Joyce did so greatly within his own craft of literature.
‘Whenever I am obliged to lie with my eyes closed I see a cinematograph going on and on and it brings back to my memory things I had almost forgotten.’ – James Joyce.
Ireland’s most literary film festival. Set up as a celebration of cinema, literature, and artistic innovation, inspired by the long reaching arm of Ireland’s patriarch of modernism, James Joyce. The festival is run in partnership with the Bloomsday Festival & the James Joyce Centre and will run between the 11th – 16th June, with screenings taking place at the historic James Joyce Centre and the IFI, as well as Online.
Like last year, we will celebrate the birthday of W.B Yeats on the 13th of June with a selection of Poetry and Literature short films. On the 14th, in keeping with Joyce’s radical and experimental spirit, we will screen the best Experimental Films. On the 15th, the anniversary of the publications of Dubliners, we will dedicate to Dublin with screenings of Joycean short films and Dublin Short Stories. We will also have many more special events between the 11th – 16th, as well as on Bloomsday itself of course, the 16th, and will screen the feature films in the evenings.
We want to encourage artistic innovation within the medium, artists who do things their own way, and films that seek to push the craft forward, as Joyce did so greatly within his own craft of literature.
‘Whenever I am obliged to lie with my eyes closed I see a cinematograph going on and on and it brings back to my memory things I had almost forgotten.’ – James Joyce.
Ireland’s most literary film festival. Set up as a celebration of cinema, literature, and artistic innovation, inspired by the long reaching arm of Ireland’s patriarch of modernism, James Joyce. The festival is run in partnership with the Bloomsday Festival & the James Joyce Centre and will run between the 11th – 16th June, with screenings taking place at the historic James Joyce Centre and the IFI, as well as Online.
Like last year, we will celebrate the birthday of W.B Yeats on the 13th of June with a selection of Poetry and Literature short films. On the 14th, in keeping with Joyce’s radical and experimental spirit, we will screen the best Experimental Films. On the 15th, the anniversary of the publications of Dubliners, we will dedicate to Dublin with screenings of Joycean short films and Dublin Short Stories. We will also have many more special events between the 11th – 16th, as well as on Bloomsday itself of course, the 16th, and will screen the feature films in the evenings.
We want to encourage artistic innovation within the medium, artists who do things their own way, and films that seek to push the craft forward, as Joyce did so greatly within his own craft of literature.
‘Whenever I am obliged to lie with my eyes closed I see a cinematograph going on and on and it brings back to my memory things I had almost forgotten.’ – James Joyce.
Ireland’s most literary film festival. Set up as a celebration of cinema, literature, and artistic innovation, inspired by the long reaching arm of Ireland’s patriarch of modernism, James Joyce. The festival is run in partnership with the Bloomsday Festival & the James Joyce Centre and will run between the 11th – 16th June, with screenings taking place at the historic James Joyce Centre and the IFI, as well as Online.
Like last year, we will celebrate the birthday of W.B Yeats on the 13th of June with a selection of Poetry and Literature short films. On the 14th, in keeping with Joyce’s radical and experimental spirit, we will screen the best Experimental Films. On the 15th, the anniversary of the publications of Dubliners, we will dedicate to Dublin with screenings of Joycean short films and Dublin Short Stories. We will also have many more special events between the 11th – 16th, as well as on Bloomsday itself of course, the 16th, and will screen the feature films in the evenings.
We want to encourage artistic innovation within the medium, artists who do things their own way, and films that seek to push the craft forward, as Joyce did so greatly within his own craft of literature.
11am: Elevenses with Leopold
Venue: Sandymount Community Centre, Newbridge Avenue, Dublin 4
Enjoy an elegant start to your Bloomsday with morning coffee, croissants and a dash of gentle Joycean entertainment. €5 admission with proceeds going to the Centre. Tickets are sold at the door.
1pm: Ulysses Goes Wild in Sandymount
Meeting Point: Sandymount Green, Sandymount, Dublin 4
Join author of “Wild Dublin”, Eanna Ní Lamhna, star of RTÉ’s The Mooney Show and Virgin Media’s The Six O’Clock Show, for a 60-minute nature tour inspired by the “marriage of trees” from the Cyclops episode of Ulysses. This event will be followed by some street theatre in the village. The event is free and open to the public.
It’s time to don that boater hat and join us for an afternoon of readings and songs from Ulysses as part of the Bloomsday Festival’s flagship event Readings and Songs at Meeting House Square in Temple Bar, 3pm – 6pm on 16 June 2024.
A long-standing and treasured tradition, this afternoon of songs, readings and performances from Ulysses in the heart of the city is an essential part of the Bloomsday experience.
This year, we have actor and writer Tara Flynn at the helm in Temple Bar, to introduce a fabulously chaotic cast of noted Irish actors, musicians, pundits and everyone in between, who will read extracts from Ulysses. The readings will bring to life Joyce’s immortal words, from his description of Dublin’s “snotgreen sea”, to Molly Bloom’s famous “yes”.
This year’s esteemed readers are acclaimed actors Nora-Jane Noone, Gerry O’Brien, Eimear Keating, Geraldine McAlinden, Rachel Wren, Margaret McAuliffe, Steve Hartland, and Mary Murray and writers Conner Habib and Dermot Bolger. The event will also feature the celebrated singer-songwriter David Keenan and the comedic brilliance of Katherine Lynch and Goblins, Goblins, Goblins.
Musicians Bryan Mullen, Brian Gilligan and Camille O’Sullivan will grace the stage, bringing the music that inspired Joyce back to life. The celebrations will culminate with a reading by beloved Irish author Marian Keyes, as she breathes life into Molly Bloom’s legendary “Yes.”
This event is kindly supported by Fáilte Ireland, Dublin UNESCO City of Literature and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.
*This is an outdoor event (the Meeting House Square Umbrellas are currently undergoing maintenance) so rain or shine please dress for the weather.
3pm: Ulysses Goes Wild in Herbert Park
Meeting Point: Outside Lolly and Cooks Café, Herbert Park, Dublin 4
Get closer to the wild side of Ballsbridge with Eanna Ní Lamhna, star of RTÉ’s The Mooney Show and Virgin Media’s The Six O’Clock Show, for a nature tour inspired by the “marriage of trees” from the Cyclops episode of Ulysses. Tour to last 60 minutes.
4pm: Seven Scenes from Ulysses
Meeting Point: The west/Donnybrook end of the Pond, Herbert Park, Dublin 4
Watch Ulysses come to life on the streets of Ballsbridge in the company of Leopold Bloom, Molly Bloom and Stephen Dedalus!
This year’s Bloomsday collides with our music showcase on Sundays, meaning there will be a line up of unique and exciting talents in traditional dress. We have just booked “The Gramophone Social” from 1pm-3pm, playing genuine original records from the early 1900s.
The day will feature some exciting signature cocktails including the ‘Nora’, our gin and elderflower sour to add to the festivities. We are also giving away pints for the customers in dress and will have prizes for best dressed.
Balloonatics are back once again on June 16th and will be spanning the day with onlocation recreations of Ulysses in Dublin City Centre. This year’s performers are: Mark Wale, Chris Bilton, Paul O’Hanrahan and musician, John Goudie. Join us on Bloomsday throughout the day: we are presenting three theatrical walks (no booking required) and our traditional evening performance in Wynn’s Hotel for which advance booking is advised.
Street Theatre Tours:
8 am Breakfast at the Blooms
Meet at the corner of Eccles and Dorset Street.
Bloom prepares separate breakfasts for himself and his wife and takes a stroll to the nearby butcher. This tour follows the ‘Calypso’ episode of Ulysses, chapter 4.
10.30 am Bloom collects a secret letter
Meet at Westland Row, opposite Pearse Station entrance, under the bridge.
This tour follows Bloom’s journey to church and chemist in the ‘Lotus-Eaters’ episode of Ulysses, chapter 5.
3 p.m. Bloom’s afternoon dodges
Meet on the wide side of Grattan Bridge over the Liffey.
This tour visits sites linked with the ‘Sirens’ and ‘Cyclops’ episodes of Ulysses, chapters 11 and 12, and explores Capel Street’s Joyce connections.
(Street theatre tours are free of charge; cash contribution at end appreciated)
Joyce Performance and Readings:
7.30 pm Humid Nightblue Fruit
Wynn’s Hotel, Lower Abbey Street
Barcaroles and Barreltones: Men in the Ormond – A dramatised reading adapted from the ‘Sirens’ episode from Ulysses by Paul O’Hanrahan, performing with Mark Wale, Chris Bilton and musician John Goudie. End your Bloomsday evening at this convivial Joyce gathering in this historic hotel. The performance will be followed by audience readings, all welcome to participate.
Tickets €13 plus booking fee
(€15 on door, if not sold out)
“the thoroughfare hitherto known as Cow Parlour off Cork Street be henceforth designated Boulevard Bloom.”
So says former Lord Mayor of Dublin Timothy Harrington in James Joyce’s Ulysses. And who are we to object?
On Thursday 13th of June, ‘The Tenters Celebrated’ heritage group would like to cordially invite you to join us in Cow Parlour off Cork Streetin Dublin 8 for our Boulevard Bloom event. The morning will start with a brief introduction to the history of Cow Parlour, which has been in existence for at least 300 years. We will then be joined by Mr Harrington, who will propose the renaming of Cow Parlour to ‘Boulevard Bloom’. We are confident that there will be no objections to the proposal and for it to be carried unanimously. After the official business is completed, we will have a cuppa and cake, seated at linen covered tables more suited to the new Boulevard status of Cow Parlour. Music and singing will of course be the order of the morning.
We are encouraging the wearing of hats to add to the Bloomsday atmosphere. All are welcome. Rest assured, this renaming of Cow Parlour to Boulevard Bloom will only be a temporary one……All in the spirit of Leopold Bloom!
Come join us at the James Joyce Centre on Tuesday, June 11th at 6pm for the formal launch of this year’s Bloomsday Festival. The Bloomsday Festival is in full-swing this year with close to one-hundred separate events on June 11th-16th throughout Dublin. Our reception will feature talks and readings (and some wine!) as we celebrate another year of Bloomsday celebrations. We will be joined by British artist Jo Hamill as she introduces our new art exhibition Gutter Words. French artist Rémi Rousseau will also be on hand as he introduces his new art exhibition Ulysses: Illustrations. Join festival goers around Dublin and the world as we kick off this extraordinary time of the year!
Come celebrate Bloomsday in MoLI – Museum of Literature Ireland on St. Stephen’s Green. MoLI is situated in the Newman House, where James Joyce (and Stephen Dedalus) went to university when it was the campus of University College.
5PM: Dedalus Lecture with Fintan O’Tolle
Journalist and author Fintan O’Toole delivers the museum’s annual lecture inspired by Ulysses.
Fintan O’Toole is a writer and author. His books include We Don’t Know Ourselves: A Personal History of Ireland Since 1958, Heroic Failure: Brexit and the Politics of Pain, and Ship of Fools: How Stupidity and Corruption Sank the Celtic Tiger. A member of the Royal Irish Academy, he is a winner of the European Press Prize and the Orwell Prize. He is also professor of Irish letters at Princeton University.
Tickets are €18.
7-10PM: MoLI Bloomsday Garden Party
Round off your Bloomsday celebrations at the MoLI Bloomsday Garden Party – held across the museum’s beautiful exhibitions and gardens. Celebrate 102 years of Joyce’s Ulysses with a glass in hand, and live music from Ireland’s most exciting musicians and rappers, whose adventure with language echoes Joyce’s own fearlessness with words. A guaranteed highlight of the summer!
Includes a welcome drink on arrival. Presented in partnership with the Dublin Liberties Distillery. Under 18s must be accompanied by an adult.
Offica has redefined what it means to be an Irish rapper, breaking records with a run of classic singles and game-changing freestyles. He has carved a niche for himself by seamlessly incorporating Irish and Yoruba slang into his lyrics, providing a unique window into his culture and identity. Watch video
Celine is a talented musician known for her unique style and storytelling in true rap. She has gained a strong following for her emotional lyrics and captivating performances. Watch video
Emmy Shigeta is a Japanese DJ whose love for music developed while working in a record store in Tokyo. Now based in Dublin, she loves to play ambient (環境音楽), city pop, and the latest underground J-pop in various venues and on her monthly Dublin Digital Radio show.
Glasnevin Cemetery has been celebrating Bloomsday since 2010 and it is now a firm favourite for Bloomsday pilgrims. On June 16th 1904, Glasnevin was the venue for the funeral of the fictional Paddy Dignam, attended by Joyce’s protagonist Leopold Bloom in Ulysses. This year to celebrate this historic date, Experience Glasnevin will host a performance of the ‘Hades’ episode of Ulysses performed by the Joycestagers and a Joycean tour of the cemetery itself. Explore the ‘underworld’ of Ulysses in one of the most popular Bloomsday events!
11am: Reenactment of the funeral procession of Paddy Dignam from the ‘Hades’ episode. Free to attend. No ticket is necessary.
12pm: A Joycean Tour of the heart of the Hibernian necropolis, Glasnevin Cemetery, which has many significant links to Joyce’s life and writing. Tickets are required: €14 general, €12 concession.
“He entered Davy Byrnes. Moral pub. He doesn’t chat. Stands a drink now and then. But in a leap year once in four. Cashed a cheque for me once.” Ulysses
Davy Byrnes pub opened its doors in 1889. Thirty-one years later it was thrust in to international fame with the publication of James Joyce’s Ulysses when Leopold Bloom visits for a glass of burgundy and a gorgonzola cheese sandwich in the ‘Lestrygonians’ episode. Bloom stands and chats with the owner, Davy Byrne, about life and his appetite before continuing on his odyssey. Ever since Bloomsday has been celebrated, Davy Byrnes has been at its heart.
This year, the iconic pub will be hosting an afternoon of festivities to mark the day with music, performances, and readings. Bring Ulysses to life (and order a gorgonzola or two) in this historic city centre environment!
The Ringsend & District Historical Society in partnership with Dublin City Council’s South East Area Community Team is proud to present Bloomsday Villages: Ringsend/Irishtown on June 15th and 16th. Ringsend is where James Joyce and Nora Barnacle had their first date on June 16th, 1904 — the date on which Ulysses is set. What better way to celebrate Bloomsday than to spend it where it all began!
Saturday, June 15th
11 am: Ringsend Library
A lecture by the DCC Historian in Residence Cormac Moore, ‘The Life of Constance Markievicz’
12pm: Ringsend Library
A walking Tour with Eddie Bohan, ‘In The Footsteps of Joyce 1904.’ Departs & ends at the Ringsend Library.
1.30pm: Bus Tour
A 45-minute bus tour courtesy of the Big Bus Open Top. The tour takes place in Sandymount Strand, the Green and Irishtown.
3pm: Ringsend Library
An outdoor ballad/folksong session.
Sunday, June 16th
10.30am: Thorncastle Street
A horse and carriage parade to Ringsend Park, departing from Thorncastle Street. Tour route: Irishtown Road, Pembroke Street, Strasburg Terrace with a Ulysess performance, Ringsend Park, return via Caroline Row, Fitzwilliam Street to the RICC Centre. The event will feature the unveiling of a plaque and seat dedicated to James Joyce and Nora Barnacle commemorating their first date with thanks to Dublin City Council.
12.30pm: RICC Centre
The Bloomsday Brunch featuring live music, food and period dress.
4 pm: CYMS Hall, Ringsend
The Writers Adventure, ‘Remembering Ringsend.’ A short story and poetry prize presentation. Books tokens (€200, €100 & €75) awarded courtesy of Savvi, Irishtown.
The James Joyce Centre welcomes you to its doors to celebrate the greatest time of the year — Bloomsday!
The James Joyce Centre is proud to organise the Bloomsday Festival on behalf of the city of Dublin. As a token of our appreciation to Dublin and all the participants of Bloomsday, we will be open free of charge on Sunday, June 16th from 9:30am to 4:30pm. Come see Leopold Bloom’s door from No. 7 Eccles Street, where it all began. Browse our exhibitions, parlour rooms, and interactive guides to Joyce’s life and work. Marvel at the beautifully preserved 18th century townhouse, a stunning example of high Georgian architecture. See the Maginni Room, named after “Mr Denis J Maginni, professor of dancing &c,” the real-life dance instructor who used the room as his dance studio and is mentioned in Ulysses! There will be readings, talks, music, children’s events, and fun throughout the day!
Feel free to dress up in your finest bowler hats and Edwardian garb as you join visitors from around the world for an unparalleled literary occasion. For more information, visit our website at www.jamesjoyce.ie.
Dress up and come celebrate all things Joyce at Rathgar Village Square, sponsored by Dublin City Council and Rathgar Business Association. They will be readings of Ulysses, jazz from Razzmajazz, food stalls, and face painting and Alpacas for the kids. The event is free of charge and will be outdoors, weather permitting.
The Hole in the Wall pub proudly hosts the book launch of Here Comes Everybody’s Karma by Shaharee Vyaas. The subject of this book launch is the fruit of an artistic endeavor that aimed to merge the most beautiful book in English literature, The Kelmscott Chaucer, with its most enigmatic one, Finnegans Wake. In this retelling the foreign language idiosyncrasies have been replaced by their English equivalent and Joyce’s sibylline prose has been streamlined into a more fluid syntaxis. the title of this retelling and the naming of the chapters want to inspire the readers to rethink the whole tale from the perspective of the Asiatic philosophical concepts of Karma and Dharma, which are interacting cyclical principles. Information where the book can be obtained can be found here.
Attendance is free. No booking required. Copies of the book will be sold at a reduced price. The event includes a welcome drink and snack buffet.
For those wanting to have a second look at the presentation, just click on this link.
Hear the bellringers of Christ Church Taney ring the actual bells from James Joyce’s Ulysses. In Ulysses, the bells of St. George’s Church, Hardwicke Street, appear several times starting when Leopold Bloom hears them from his home at 7 Eccles Street:
“A creak and a dark whirr in the air high up. The bells of George’s church. They tolled the hour: loud dark iron. Heigho! Heigho! Heigho! Heigho! Heigho! Heigho! Quarter to. There again: the overtone following through the air. A third. Poor Dignam!”
In 1990, when St. George’s Church was being sold, the bells were saved by a committee who worked tirelessly to protect them, with storage provided by Taney parishioner George Cooke. This incredible work has ensured that the Christ Church Taney Tower could be a wonderful new home for these very special bells. This Bloomsday, join us for a unique musical event with the bellringers of Taney followed by tea, coffee and a chat until 5pm. After hearing the St. George’s bells being rung from 3-4pm, there will also be an opportunity for visitors to chime a bell. If you are interested in doing this, please send us an email at taneybellringers@gmail.com.
Sweny’s Pharmacy is famously featured in the fifth episode of Ulysses, known as “Lotus Eaters.” This delightful little shop has survived since 1847 and today still has all its original fixtures and fittings. Now run by volunteers, Sweny’s opens its doors to welcome people on their Bloomsday adventure. Wait by the counter like Leopold Bloom, absorbing the authentic atmosphere. Watch the chemist at work with his herbs and ointments among “all his alabaster lilypots.” Pick up a bar of lemon soap (“sweet lemony wax”) that you can carry with you all day, just like Bloom. Get involved in a reading of Ulysses, enjoy a cup of tea and share epic tales about your own life. You might even get a chance to join in an Edwardian singsong.
From Monday 10 to Saturday 16 June, a performance and reading will take place in Sweny’s at 12.30pm from “Lotus Eaters.”
On Bloomsday itself, there will be merriment in this hidden Joycean gem throughout the day and into the evening, starting with a Bloomsday Breakfast from 10am at Kennedy’s Pub across the street at which there will be readings and performances.
Further information can be found on www.sweny.ie. The events are free.
