Skip to main content

Category: Fitness & Yoga

Running Ulysses: The 100km Royal Canal Odyssey

Written by Conor on .

The Royal Canal Odyssey is a truly immersive and unique Bloomsday Festival event. Part literary tribute, part endurance run, the Royal Canal Odyssey is a 100km run that is the first of its kind.

The run starts on Saturday, June 14th at 6am. Our journey begins, as Ulysses does, at the James Joyce Tower & Museum in Sandycove. The route will cover nearly the entirely of Dublin, from Blackrock and Sandymount in the south to Mountjoy Square and Glasnevin in the north. Runners will run along the Royal Canal, beyond the Deep Sinking, Leixlip, Maynooth, Kilkock, and Enfield, passing by several landmarks.

The run will end in Mullingar, where runners will pass Fagan’s Office Supplies, which appears in Ulysses as Shaw’s photographic business where Milly Bloom (daughter of Leopold) is employed. James Joyce probably stayed in the same building when visiting Mullingar with his father in the summers of 1900 and 1901. The run ends when we touch Joe Dolan’s statue on Pearse Street, after which we intend to rest our legs in the Greville Arms Hotel, which Milly mentions in her letter to Leopold in the Calypso chapter. The hotel’s Ulysses bar also houses a life-sized waxwork of James Joyce.

Details:

  • Date: Saturday, June 14th
  • Start Time and Location: 6am at the James Joyce Tower & Museum in Sandycove
  • End Time and Location: 5pm at Pearse Street in Mullingar
  • Distance: 100km

Registration:

  • Click this link to register
  • There is no registration fee.
  • You can start in Sandycove or jump in anywhere along the Royal Canal.
  • Suggested meeting points at Maynooth, Enfield, Kinnegad for those running shorter distances with a detailed list below for other start points.

Support & Logistics:

  • This is a self-supported run, so bring your own water, snacks, and gear.
  • Shops and cafés along the canal provide refuelling options.
  • No official timing, pacers, or medals just a fun day out with a bit of a challenge.
  • Train and bus available back to Dublin from Mullingar and other points along the route.

For more information, please visit the website https://royalcanalodyssey.ie/ or email canalcrew@royalcanalodyssey.ie.

We hope to see you at the Bloomsday’s Festival longest event!

The event is free but registration is required.

Breathe and Bloom: Of Fathers and Figures

Written by Conor on .

Happenings Ireland in partnership with the Bloomsday Festival and James Joyce Centre present Breathe and Bloom: Of Fathers and Figures, a unique celebration of Bloomsday and Father’s Day on Sunday, June 15th at 11am-1.30pm in Brighton Square.

James Joyce was born on February 2nd 1882 in 41 Brighton Square. This Father’s Day, we return to where it all began for a joyful, reflective, and slightly whimsical celebration of fatherhood, physicality, and Ulysses. Join us for a Bloomsday event unlike any other: Breathe and Bloom, where strong bodies, deep breaths, literary minds, and family memories come together in one beautiful park.

Ulysses may not be your go-to wellness guide but Leopold Bloom’s meditations on his body and mind—his Sandow’s exercises, his moments of self-care and doubt—are surprising windows into early wellness culture. This year, we honour those insights with a playful Father’s Day twist. We celebrate not only Bloom’s bodily awareness but also his role as a flawed, compassionate, and deeply human father figure.

Whether you’re a father, have a father, or are just father-curious, come connect with generations past and present through breath, movement, story, and song.

✨ The Slightly Whimsical but also very serious programme:

🧘 11:00–12:00 | Yoga and Breathwork in the Park with Michael Ryan (father of two and yoga teacher to President Michael D Higgins): A grounding, family-friendly yoga session open to all ages and levels. Designed to be welcoming for fathers, daughters, grandads, sons, mentors and mentees. Expect breath, stretch and laughter.

💪 12:00–12:30 | “Sandow’s Ghost: A Return to Strength” with Dr. Conor Heffernan: A lively talk and demonstration on the historical influence of Eugen Sandow, the father of modern bodybuilding and Bloom’s fitness muse. Dr. Conor Heffernan, Lecturer of Social Sciences of Sport in Ulster University, brings insight and humour with interactive exercises and optional participation for anyone brave enough to try out some Victorian dumbbell reps. Our special Father-Child Sandow Showdown is encouraged but not required!

🎭 12:30–1:30 | Readings, Music & The Family Picnic Lawn: Readings of Joycean passages exploring fatherhood, folly and feeling by local artists and special guests. Interspersed with music, children’s readings, and opportunities for attendees to share a line, a lyric, or a toast to their own father figure. Bring a blanket, some sandwiches or whatever you fancy, and make an afternoon of it.

🎨 Bonus Experiences | The “Letter to My Da” Tree: Write or draw a note to your dad, past or present, and hang it in our blooming tribute tree.

🏋️‍♂️ Bonus Experiences | Sandow Kids Station: Mini weight-lifting (safely foam-based!) and Victorian mustache crafting for the young and young-at-heart.

Come enjoy a morning and early afternoon of yoga, mindfulness and fun in what is a Bloomsday Festival and Fathers Day first!

The Yoga in the Park class is €10. The other activities are free and open to the public. 

Bloomsday Swim at Sandycove Beach

Written by Conor on .

The Dublin Sea Swimming Club invites you to drive into Ulysses (figuratively) by diving into the waters of Sandycove Beach (literally) on Bloomsday, Sunday June 15th at 1.30pm-4.30pm. Join the likes of Buck Mulligan, who also swam in nearby Forty Foot in the Telemachus episode of Ulysses, and Joyce, who lived by nearby Martello Tower, which served as the basis for the Telemachus episode.

“A voice, sweettoned and sustained, called to him from the sea. Turning the curve he waved his hand. It called again. A sleek brown head, a seal’s, far out on the water, round.”

Straw hats and Joycean attire not compulsory but certainly encouraged. Let’s celebrate Bloomsday by having a swim in Joycean attire.

Read

The final lines of Molly’s soliloquy will be read by the entrance of the James Joyce Tower & Museum.

Swim

Let’s have a dive into the “snotgreen” and “scrotumtightening sea.” The swim is at your own risk! The group has no lifeguards and only arranges the meeting point. Make sure you have enough layers to keep warm before and after the swim, bring something warm to drink too. Some wear wetsuits, others don’t so, some want to swim a bit of distance, others just want dip and get out. It’s your swim, do what you want and meet the group after.

Eat

Having demonstrated our incredible bravery, we will continue our adventure at a local café (time and venue TBC later, will try and source one that hopefully provides Joycean fare). Eating and drinking are at your own risk too.

For more information, please visit https://www.meetup.com/dublin-sea-swimming/events/306887322/?eventOrigin=group_upcoming_events.

The event is free and open to the public.

Breathe and Bloom

Written by Conor on .

Happenings Ireland in partnership with the James Joyce Centre is proud to present Breathe and Bloom, a truly unique Bloomsday celebration of health, wellness, and yoga (yes, really!) on Sunday, June 16th at 11am-1:30pm in Brighton Square.

James Joyce was born in 1882 at 41 Brighton Square. What better way to celebrate Bloomsday than by gathering where it all began! Breathe and Bloom is a unique blend of traditional Bloomsday celebrations and wellness exercises.

Ulysses is not often thought about in terms of health and fitness but the novel provides a glimpse into the burgeoning wellness movement that would develop extensively in the 20th century. Leopold Bloom is conscious of his body and the need to maintain it through exercise and diet, even if he is not so vigilant in doing so! “Got up wrong side of the bed,” he thinks to himself. “Must begin again those Sandow’s exercises.” His wife, Molly, also has this on her mind: “I must do a few breathing exercises[.] I wonder is that antifat any good might overdo it.” The event will show this often-overlooked facet of Joyce’s work by combining a class by Yoga in the Park with a talk about health and fitness in Joyce’s work as well as old-fashioned readings and songs!

The event will start with Yoga in the Park’s regularly-scheduled class with Jo Collins from 11am to 12pm. It will then be followed by a half-hour talk about fitness, wellness and Joyce by Dr. Conor Heffernan, Lecturer in Sport Sociology at Ulster University. This talk will feature demonstrations of gentle stretching, dumbbell raising and deep breathing by Jo Collins. Audience participation is encouraged but not mandatory. After the talk, the park will host music and readings of Ulysses. The audience is welcome to bring food and drink to make a nice picnic!

Schedule:
11-12: Happenings Yoga’s Yoga in the Park class with Jo Collins.
12-12:30: Talk and yoga demonstration by Dr. Conor Heffernan and Jo Collins about fitness, mindfullness, and yoga in Ulysses.
12:30-1:30: Music and readings.

The Yoga in the Park class is €10. Dr. Heffernan’s talk and the music and readings are free to the public. More information about the event can be found here.

Many thanks to the residents of Brighton Square for hosting the event.

Come enjoy an afternoon of yoga, mindfulness and fun in what is a Bloomsday Festival first!