Due to public demand, long-standing Joyce performers, The Balloonatics, present another chance to see our dramatised reading, an hour-long gallop following horses through Ulysses in Wynn’s Hotel on Bloomsday, Tuesday, 16th June at 6pm.
Tickets are €18.
For more information contact Paul O’Hanrahan, Balloonatics Theatre Company
https://balloonaticstheatre.com/
Join us at The James Joyce Center on Bloomsday, Tuesday, 16th June at 1pm for some ‘midday mumming madness’ as the extraordinary talent of the Fingal Mummers will explore mummery in Ulysses and other works of James Joyce in their production of Everyman His Own Wife.
Throughout Ulysses, Buck Mulligan calls Stephen “A lovely mummer!”; “Kinch, the loveliest mummer of them all!”; “O, you peerless mummer!” Mulligan declares that “I have conceived a play for the mummers” and launches into the title page of a lewd skit. The James Joyce Centre will be truly transformed as we watch the Fingal Mummers celebrate Bloomsday with comedy, music, mischief and song. Come witness this truly unique Irish tradition during this truly unique Irish festival.
The event is free. No booking required.
Join us as we honour University College Dublin‘s illustrious alumnus, James Joyce, on Saturday, 13th June at 1-6pm at the UCD Student Centre. Immerse yourself in an afternoon of music, film, literature, heritage and the arts
UCD Alumni in Bloom celebrates the best cultural, artistic, musical and literary outputs of the UCD community inspired by Bloomsday. Immerse yourself in a programme which includes the annual UCD Alumni Orchestra concert, spoken word performances of Strolling Through Ulysses!, screenings of In Time: Donál Lunny, and a UCD Special Collections exhibition plus more to be announced…
Kindly note that some timed events have tickets due to capacity. Full details are outlined in agenda below.
Savour and enjoy the heritage and legacy of James Joyce on a summer’s afternoon in Belfield while reconnecting with friends and fellow alumni.
Programme:
1-2.30pm
In Time: Donál Lunny Screening 1
Delve into the life and creative process of this unique artist whose influence and impact on Irish traditional music has been both enduring and far-reaching.
1.15-2.30pm
“Life is the great teacher” Table Quiz
Test your knowledge and win prizes at the table quiz!
1.30-2.15pm
Sculpture and Art Trail with Dr Fernando Sánchez-Migallón Cano
Take a Joycean stroll through leafy Belfield and appreciate the extensive art and sculpture collection on campus. Led by UCD Art Curator, this Sculpture and Art Trail will include commissioned pieces of art inspired by Joyce as well as original photographs from his time as a student at UCD.
2.30-3.15pm
Sculpture and Art Trail with Dr Fernando Sánchez-Migallón Cano.
Take a Joycean stroll through leafy Belfield and appreciate the extensive art and sculpture collection on campus. Led by UCD Art Curator, this Sculpture and Art Trail will include commissioned pieces of art inspired by Joyce as well as original photographs from his time as a student at UCD.
2.45-4.15pm
In Time: Donál Lunny Screening 2
Delve into the life and creative process of this unique artist whose influence and impact on Irish traditional music has been both enduring and far-reaching.
2.45-4pm
Strolling Through Ulysses! by Robert Gogan
Strolling Through Ulysses! tells the fun-filled story of Bloomsday in a humorous, entertaining and informative manner, with extracts from the novel which best illustrate the various aspects of Joyce’s writing.
2.45-4pm
Launch of New Word Order XII – UCD Mary Lavin Centre for Creative Writing
The journal features new fiction, poetry, and non-fiction from Ireland and around the world with the launch including a conversation with one contributing authors, Maggie Armstrong (Old Romantics, 2024).
4-4.15pm
Surviving Ulysses with a Sigh of Relief by Robert Gogan
Join Robert Gogan and journey into the heart of the world’s most famous “unreadable” book and uncover the humour, warmth, and sheer humanity of Leopold Bloom’s Dublin.
4.30-6pm
UCD Alumni Orchestra
Delight in the musical talents of the UCD alumni community brought together for a second annual concert.
Portobello Alive in partnership with Dublin City Council’s South East Area Community Team is proud to present Bloomsday Villages: Portobello.
Sunday, 14th June at 2.30pm: A Walk with Eanna Ní Lamhna
Meeting Point: Charlemont Mall at Le Touché Bridge/Portobello Hotel and Bar
Eanna Ní Lamhna will lead a nature tour inspired by the ‘marriage of trees’ from Ulysses. Tour to last 60 minutes.
Tuesday, 16th June at 6.30pm: Seven Scenes from Ulysses
Meeting Point: Outside the Lower Deck Pub
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.
The events are free and open to the public.
I Love Terenure invites you to a morning filled with delicious food, great company, and lively conversations. Step back in time this Bloomsday and celebrate James Joyce in true Edwardian style!
James Joyce had a special connection with Terenure. Joyce was born nearby at 41 Brighton Square in Rathgar on 2nd February 1882, and was baptised at St. Joseph’s Church. His mother, Mary Jane (May) Murray, was born 90 metres from the church at Terenure Cross in 1859 in the pub owned by her father, John Murray, called The Eagle House, Terenure.
To celebrate this special connection and more, join us for a lively literary morning on Bloomsday, Tuesday, 16th June at 10am at Terenure Inn. Our special guest is Art Campion, known for Love/Hate, Derry Girls and How to Get to Heaven from Belfast. His fast-paced entertaining romp through Ulysses cannot be missed!
✨ Dress in your Edwardian finest
🍳 Enjoy a sumptuous breakfast
📚 Soak in the stories, wit, and wonder of Joyce
🎩 Meet fellow Joycean fans and neighbours
A morning of delicious food, delightful company, and Dublin’s literary magic awaits. All are welcome!
Tickets are €12.
Step into the world of James Joyce with an unforgettable week of celebrations in the charming villages of Sandycove and Glasthule, running from 10th June to Bloomsday on June 16th. Discover an exciting lineup of festivities, from lively musical performances and captivating theatrical shows to immersive spoken word events.
10th June
10am & 11.15am – Telemachus at the James Joyce Tower & Museum
11am – Telemachus Breakfast at The Eagle
12th June
11am – Sandycove Readers at The Eagle
13th June
11am – ‘Songs of Joyce’ at The Eagle
2pm – Drumcondra Joycean Jaunts comes a ‘visitin’ to Sandycove at The Eagle
9.30pm – Music from Seán Whelan and Niamh Porter at The Eagle
14th June
11.30am – Seven Scenes from Ulysses at Glasthule
2pm – BBQ and Jazz featuring Drazen Derek at 64 Wines
15th June
7.30pm – ‘Strolling Through Ulysses!’ at The Eagle
16th June (Bloomsday)
7.30am – Joycean Breakfast at Cavistons
7.30am – Telemachus Breakfast at The Eagle
8am – Trumpeter, Niall O’Sullivan, heralds the celebrations. Ribbon cutting by An Cathaoirleach, followed by the cutting of the Gorgonzola. Readings featuring Barry McGovern and others. Outside Cavistons.
10am – Breakfast service begins at 64 Wines
10am – Joycean readings and performances interwoven with authentic songs from the Sandycove Readers at Fizgerald’s
11am – A classic Blooms lunch paired with delicious Burgundies at 64 Wine
12pm – Let the music commence with the Irish Songbook featuring Richie Buckley, Simon Morgan, John Moriarty and Myles Drennan outside Cavistons
1pm – Join the fun with the Ukulele Hooley playing outside 64 Wine
1pm – Wines served by the glass and a food menu available at Mitchell’s
2.30pm – The Luke Cosgrave Session entertain us with their blend of trad and folk outside Cavistons
2.30pm – Enjoy acapella group, The Brook Singers, popping up at different locations across the village.
4pm – Sandycove Stores and Yard will begin serving their delicious menu at Fitzgerald’s
4pm – The Opera Hour with Simon Morgan (Baritone), Sandra Oman (Soprano), Shauna Buckingham (Soprano) and David Wray (Piano) at Cavistons
4.30pm – Follow the music of The Luke Cosgrave Session into The Eagle
6pm – Delight in the beautiful voice of William Byrne at Fitzgerald’s
6pm – Continue the celebrations into the night with lively Irish ballad session with After The Gold Rush at The Eagle
For more information, please go to https://ti.to/the-eagle.
These events are made possible with the generous support of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council.
Glasnevin Cemetery has been celebrating Bloomsday since 2010 and it is now a firm favourite for Bloomsday pilgrims. On 16th June 1904, Glasnevin held funeral of the fictional Paddy Dignam, attended by Leopold Bloom in Ulysses. The scene was inspired by the real-life funeral of Matthew F. Kane, a friend of the Joyce family whose remains are still in the cemetary.
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: €17 general, €15 concession.
Photo: Alan Betson, The Irish Times
Ballsbridge Living Tidy Towns in partnership with Dublin City Council’s South East Area Community Team is proud to present Bloomsday Villages: Ballsbridge on Tuesday, 16th June. Don your best Edwarian costume and join in on the fun!
4.30pm: Seven Scenes from Ulysses
Meeting Point: The Bandstand, Herbert Park
Watch Ulysses come to life on the streets of Ballsbridge with Leopold Bloom, Molly Bloom and Stephen Dedalus! Trail to last 45 minutes.
5.30pm: Ulysses Goes Wild in Herbert Park
Meeting Point: The Bandstand, Herbert Park
Get closer to the wild side of Ballsbridge with Eanna Ní Lamhna for a nature tour inspired by the ‘marriage of trees’ from Ulysses. Tour to last 60 minutes
The events are free and open to the public.
Sandymount Community Centre, Sandymount Tidy Towns Community Association in partnership with Dublin City Council’s South East Area Community Team is proud to present Bloomsday Villages: Sandymount on Bloomsday, Tuesday, 16th June.
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.
1.15pm: Ulysses on the Green
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.
For more information, please email bloomsday@sandymountcommunitycentre.ie or visit www.sandymountcommunitycentre.ie
The Balloonatics’ nightcap performance will be a dramatised reading from James Joyce’s Ulysses at Wynn’s Hotel on Bloomsday, Tuesday, 16th June at 7.30pm.
This year, the big group of five (actors Mark Wale, Paul O’Hanrahan, Mick Greer, Chris Bilton and musician John Goudie) presents “The Dublin Horse Show,” an hour-long gallop through Ulysses which explores how humans project their needs and urges onto their fellow animals. A dramatised reading with a difference!
This performance will be followed by audience readings. All are welcome to participate.
Tickets are €20.
For more information contact Paul O’Hanrahan, Balloonatics Theatre Company
https://balloonaticstheatre.com/
The Balloonatics are hitting the streets of dear, dirty Dublin once again on Bloomsday, 16th June with on-location recreations of Ulysses.
This year we have a big team of experienced performers: Mark Wale, Paul O’Hanrahan, Mick Greer, Chris Bilton and musician John Goudie. We are presenting two theatrical walks, one outdoor performance (no booking required) and two shows in Wynn’s Hotel (booking required).
All our street events are free of charge but we do like to pass the hat at the end to meet our costs!
Schedule
8am 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 immersive tour follows the ‘Calypso’ episode of Ulysses, chapter 4.
11am From Capel Street to Courthouse.
Meet on the wide side of Grattan Bridge over the Liffey
This theatrical tour with commentary visits sites linked with the ‘Sirens’ and ‘Cyclops’ episodes of Ulysses, chapters 11 and 12, and explores Capel Street’s Joyce connections.
3pm Scenes on Abbey Street
Meet at the Irish Life Centre, Lower Abbey Street
A short selection of dramatized excerpts from Ulysses set on Abbey Street: Upper, Middle and Lower. After a scene in Mary’s Abbey and the whirlwind of the newspaper office, we descend from the Abbey Theatre to tall tales told in a cabman’s shelter.
For more information contact Paul O’Hanrahan, Balloonatics Theatre Company
https://balloonaticstheatre.com/
BEWLEY’S CAFÉ THEATRE with Volta Theatre Company and The Bloomsday Festival is proud to present the World Premiere of CYCLOPS by James Joyce. Adapted and directed by Liam Hourican with live period music from two acclaimed musicians!
Leopold Bloom finds himself in the proverbial lion’s den of Barney Kiernan’s, subjected to the simmering antisemitism of the blinkered Citizen and a jeering entourage. A toxic mix of heavy drinking, Dublin pub banter and political discourse culminates in an explosion of xenophobic violence and an assault with a biscuit tin.
In CYCLOPS, Volta draws on its roots in cabaret and sketch comedy to conjure Joyce at his comedic best.
After three sold-out runs of its critically-acclaimed Counterparts & A Little Cloud, the Volta Theatre Company returns to Bewley’s Café Theatre with an adaptation of the CYCLOPS chapter from Ulysses as part of the Bloomsday Festival 2026. Accompanied by a live band Joyce’s riotous and timely satire on Irish nationalism and Dublin drinking culture leaps blisteringly from the page.
“The little company with big ambitions called Volta… hit the dramatic nail on the head every time.” David Nice, The Arts Desk
“A perfect hour’s entertainment…” Katy Hayes, Irish Independent
“Superbly articulated performances…” Chris O’Rourke, The Arts Review
Duration: 35 minutes
Age Guidance: 14+
CAST AND CREW
ADAPTED & DIRECTED BY: Liam Hourican
FEATURING: Jim Roche and Liam Hourican
MUSICIANS: Feilimidh Nunan on Keyboard and violin & Conor Shiels on Oboe
LIGHTING DESIGN:Colm Maher
GRAPHIC DESIGN: Gavin Doyle
BOOKING INFORMATION
1-16 June
Mon-Sat at 1pm (doors open at 12.50pm) with an extra 3pm show on Bloomsday, 16th June
Tickets: Low-price Mon/Tues €10, Wed/Thurs €12, Fri/Sat €15.
Tickets for both 1pm & 3pm shows on Bloomsday are €15
Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible via the main Grafton Street entrance with a lift to the second floor.
Back by popular demand, Volta Theatre Company’s critically-acclaimed Counterparts & A Little Cloud has been expanded to include adaptations of three stories from Joyce’s debut work — “Two Gallants,” “A Little Cloud,” and “Counterparts” — at The Smock Alley Theatre on 15-20 June at 8pm.
These three short stories are vivid “slices of life” from early 20th century Dublin. Stunningly accompanied by live music, they portray a society in paralysis in immaculately detailed scenes. In “Two Gallants,” a couple of ne’er-do-wells mooch around Dublin on the make. “A Little Cloud” sees a sensitive soul thrown by a meeting with an old college friend back from London, while “Counterparts” takes us on a doomed pub crawl with an ungainly, bad-tempered law clerk.
At once funny and tragic, Joyce’s tales are populated with an array of colourful characters who remain entirely contemporary, despite the bowler hats and Edwardian collars.
‘Exquisite… heart-rendingly perfect’ – Emer O’Kelly, Sunday Independent
‘Superbly articulated performances…’ – Chris O’Rourke, The Arts Review
‘A perfect hour’s entertainment…’ – Katy Hayes, Irish Independent
WRITTEN BY James Joyce
ADAPTED BY Liam Hourican and Jim Roche
DIRECTED BY Liam Hourican and Jim Roche
LIGHTING DESIGN BY Colm Maher
COSTUME DESIGN BY Gillian Roberts
SOUND DESIGN BY Feilimidh Nunan and Conor Shiel
CAST Liam Hourican & Jim Roche
TICKETS €21 | €19 (concession)
RUNNING TIME 1 hr 10 mins no interval
15 – 20 Jun 2026
8pm
Matinée
17 Jun
3pm
ABOUT THE COMPANY
The Volta Theatre Company is a new company with a mission to breathe new life into the classics. It has established a reputation for excellence with adaptations of works from Joyce and Shakespeare. With a residency at the National Opera House, it is a company of highly experienced actors, musicians and designers who have worked extensively in Irish theatre, television and film. The company was founded in 2023 by Liam Hourican and Jim Roche, long-time collaborators in sketch comedy for Channel 4, RTE and The Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Shakespeare productions include Hamlet (2024) and Macbeth (2025) at the NOH and Smock Alley. Joyce adaptations include Counterparts & A Little Cloud at the James Joyce Centre, Bewleys Café Theatre, the Draoicht and the Irish Cultural Centre in Hammersmith, Telemachus at the James Joyce Tower (Bloomsday Festival 2024/2025) and Cyclops at the Lexicon Studio. It has just completed a revival of its popular Macbeth at the National Opera House and Smock Alley.
Sweet Jayne Promotions presents ATHRAITHEOIR on Bloomsday, Tuesday, 16th June at 2pm in the iconic James Joyce Tower & Museum.
ATHRAITHEOIR bends Buile Shuibhne (The Madness of Sweeney) into a multidisciplinary performance of oration, movement and Irish literary echo. Patterns surface, time folds and endings blend into beginnings inside a world that refuses to hold its shape.
WRITTEN BY: Jayne Pomplas and Kilian O’Flanagan
DIRECTED BY: Jayne Pomplas
PERFORMED BY: Jayne Pomplas, Kilian O’Flanagan, Cillian Byrne, Aoibhinn O’Dea, Alex Vostokova, Alex Moore, Robbie Reilly, Jason Macnamara, Jack Duffy, and August Kirwan
MARKETING BY: Caoimhe Bermingham
Running Time : 40 mins
Tickets are free but booking is essential. There will be both seating and standing places available.
All the ghosts of Ulysses alight for their play in the guise of the Idrone Players on Saturday, 13th June at 2pm in the iconic James Joyce Tower & Museum. Eighteen actors, dancers, and musicians give an intriguing insight into Ulysses, with the craic, the ceol, the sorrow, and the soul of the Joyce Tower: this is Ulysses aWake.
Tickets are free but booking is essential. There will be both seating and standing places available.
tenderfire in association with The New Theatre presents EPIPHANY – a bold reimaging of James Joyce’s masterpiece “The Dead.”
In this one-woman show, Gretta Conroy takes centre stage at the Misses Morkan’s annual supper party. Gretta has it all: a house on the Kingston line, a gentleman’s family and a romantic night in The Gresham planned with her dutiful husband Gabriel. But when a love song from her past unearths long buried memories, Gretta is compelled to face the choices that molded her and the path that lies ahead. Themes of love, loss and longing are excavated under the ghost weight of the past.
Written & performed by Lesley Conroy, award-winning writer & IFTA nominated actress. Directed by Fiana Toibin.
Developed with support from Mark O’Halloran, The Arts Council, dlr Arts Office, DCC Arts Office, Cork Theatre Collective & Laois Arts Office.
Duration: 60 minutes
Tickets: €22.50 general/€20 concession
Schedule
12 June: 7.30pm
13 June: 3pm & 7.30pm
15 June: 7.30pm
16 June: 7.30pm
Kick off The Bloomsday Festival celebrations at The James Joyce Centre on Thursday, 11th June at 8.30pm with a Joyce-themed cabaret of readings, performance, music and natter, hosted by author David Collard.
Last year’s gathering His Art Belongs to Dada celebrated Joyce’s links to Zürich (where he wrote much of Ulysses) and the anarchic artistic movement known as Dada (which was founded in that city). This year, David returns to the Joyce Centre to host Dada Deux: A Joycean Cabaret. We will be joined by novelist Rónán Hession (aka Mumblin’ Deaf Ro), composer David Bremner, soprano Suzanne Savage, and (live via satellite from Venice, California) Joyce enthusiast and polymath Gerry Fialka.
Surprises and beneficial shocks are guaranteed at this informal one-off gathering, with a nod to 1920s Dada cabaret. There will be music, performance, readings, songs, conversation, audience participation — and maybe a little whiskey. The evening offers a wildly entertaining start to the Bloomsday Festival and will appeal to seasoned Joyceans and newcomers alike. All are welcome!
The Company
David Collard writes for print and online publications including the Times Literary Supplement, Literary Review, 3:AM Magazine, gorse, Exacting Clam, White Review and others. He is the author of Multiple Joyce: One Hundred Short Essays about James Joyce’s Cultural Legacy (2020) and A Crumpled Swan (2025). He lives in London, where he organises cultish online gatherings that showcase contemporary authors, indie publishers and other creative practitioners. His next book, another collection of 100 essays (but not about Joyce), will appear in June 2027.
David Bremner is a composer and musician from West Cumbria who moved to Ireland in 1999 and who now lectures in composition at the Dublin Conservatoire. With soprano Elizabeth Hilliard he runs the music/text production company Béal. He was Assistant Organist at Christ Church Cathedral Dublin until 2019, and has played with ensembles such as the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, Crash Ensemble, and Opera Theatre Company.
Gerry Fialka is an American experimental filmmaker, curator, lecturer, interviewer and writer. He leads workshops on experimental film, avant-garde music and art, subversive social media, books by James Joyce and Marshall McLuhan’s media theory. He was Frank Zappa’s archivist and production assistant for ten years, and worked for the legendary comedian George Carlin. LA Weekly has described Fialka as a ‘cultural revolutionary.’ He lives in Venice, California where he runs a Finnegans Wake reading group.
Rónán Hession is a writer, musician and civil servant from Dublin. He has published three acclaimed novels: Leonard and Hungry Paul (2019), Panenka (2021) and Ghost Mountain (2024). The first of these was adapted as a six-part BBC television series in 2026. His next novel is Richard Heart Julianne (2027).
Susanne Savage is a Belfast-born singer, songwriter, violinist, and dynamic live performer whose musical journey spans continents and genres. Suzanne toured internationally as Principal Soprano Soloist with Riverdance and has since performed or recorded with major artists such as Paul Brady, Eleanor McEvoy, Roseanne Cash, Van Morrison, Jimmy Cobb, Ernie Watts Quartet, and emerging talents like David Lyttle and Matteo Addabbo. Based in Belfast and Dublin, she is a vital presence on the Irish and European music scenes.
Tickets are €20.
The Bloomsday Festival is organised by The James Joyce Centre in partnership with Fáilte Ireland and the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport.
Cover image: Anne Marie Hantho
Step inside the iconic James Joyce Tower & Museum in Sandycove, Dublin, and experience the opening episode of James Joyce’s Ulysses brought to life with this extraordinary production by Volta Theatre Company.
This adaptation will transport you back to 1904 and the intense, impecunious lifestyle of two young men with literary ambitions. This is an exuberant, ambient production that will faithfully recreate the first episode of Ulysses in the very location it took place.
Cast
There will be two performances a day on 10-15 June at 10am & 11.15am. 45 minutes running time.
Tickets are €20.
The James Joyce Centre opens its doors to celebrate the greatest day of the year — Bloomsday! We will be open to the public for free on Bloomsday, Tuesday, 16th June from 9:30am to 6pm.
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 open our doors to the public for free. 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!
Seedcake will be provided by the Parnell Street Bakery for visitors to enjoy. An appearance by “Alice,” a vintage car built in 1904, will grace North Great George’s Street. Eileene McLoughlin, Noel O’Grady and Maja Elliott will be performing in the morning in Classical Joyce. We will also be visited by the Fingal Mummers for a special mumming celebration at 1pm.
Come watch Adam Seelig’s epic episodic film series James Joyce, Finnegans Wake of the Bloomsday Film Festival at 10am and a special AI premiere by American musical composer Jonathan Brielle at 12pm.
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 all over the world for an unparalleled cultural celebration.
Admission is free and open to the public. No booking is necessary.
We hope to see you there!
Don’t miss this hilarious, sharply satirical production by Volta Theatre Company of James Joyce’s CYCLOPS at the DLR Lexicon on Sunday, 14th June at 7pm.
Leopold Bloom finds himself in the proverbial lion’s den of Barney Kiernan’s, where the ‘broadshouldered deepchested stronglimbed’ Citizen demonstrates the ugly side of Irish Nationalism. Inflammatory speeches over afternoon pints, decrying the British Empire and ‘foreigners’ in general, lead to an antisemitic rant against Bloom and an assault with a biscuit tin.
Cast
Tickets are €20.
This play performed by the Idrone Players brings theatre to the heart of Blackrock. Eighteen actors, dancers, and musicians give an intriguing insight into Ulysses, with the craic, the ceol, the sorrow, and the soul of James Joyce: this is Ulysses aWake.
All welcome, admission free. Come early, take a seat, enjoy Poems Ago’s prequel inside the amphitheatre that Blackrock Village Centre becomes for Blackrock Bloomsday.
Strolling Through Ulysses! is a one-man show that tells the fun-filled story of Bloomsday – June 16th 1904 – the iconic day around which James Joyce’s Ulysses is based.
Written and performed by Robert Gogan, Strolling Through Ulysses! guides you through the curious events and quirky characters of Ulysses, in a humorous, entertaining and informative manner, with extracts from the novel which best illustrate the various aspects of Joyce’s writing – the comical, the descriptive and the complex – without compromising the integrity of the great book. Bawdy, irreverent and great fun!
So hold on to your hats and take a deep breath as Robert Gogan takes you on a 75 minute whistle-stop tour through the fun and laughter which is the backbone of James Joyce’s extraordinary and celebrated novel.
I Love Terenure invites you to a morning filled with delicious food, great company, and lively conversations. Step back in time this Bloomsday and celebrate James Joyce in true Edwardian style!
Join us for a lively literary morning on Bloomsday, Monday, June 16th at 10am in Eaton 6W in Terenure featuring a special Bloomsday breakfast and the incomparable Robert Gogan and his fast-paced, entertaining romp through Ulysses — a performance not to be missed!
✨ Dress in your Edwardian finest
🍳 Enjoy a sumptuous breakfast
📚 Soak in the stories, wit, and wonder of Joyce
🎩 Meet fellow Joycean fans and neighbours
A morning of delicious food, delightful company, and Dublin’s literary magic awaits. All are welcome!
Registration is free. Payment for the breakfast will be paid directly to the restaurant on the morning.
Sandycove and Glasthule Bloomsday Schedule from Friday 13th until Monday 16th 2025
In conjunction with the James Joyce Tower, the Eagle will be serving the Telemachus Breakfast from Monday 9th June until Monday 16th June. James Joyce Tower ‘Telemachus’ 9.30am + 11am daily – 40 minutes run time
Friday 13th June
9:30 -12.15pm Telemachus Breakfast at the Eagle
11:00 – 12:30pm Join us for Telemachus Readings and Discussion at the Eagle,
led by Andrew Basquille, accompanied by the Sandycove Readers
Evening Gala Dinner at Killiney Castle in aid of Dublin Neurological Institute
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Saturday 14 June
11.30am On stage at the Eagle – ‘Strolling thru Ulysses’
written and performed by Robert Gogan
Free, registration essential via www.theeagle.ie
Duration: 75/80mins – Over 16’s only
Strolling Through Ulysses! is a one-man show that tells the fun-filled story of Bloomsday – June 16th, 1904—the iconic day on which James Joyce’s Ulysses is based.
Given the burnished Victorian interior of the pub and Gogan’s pitch-perfect balancing of narrator, actor and observer, it turned out to be a wonderfully bawdy experience – and one that certainly enlivened our dinner conversation afterwards. – The Irish Independent
2 pm Gather at the Eagle to experience ‘Drumcondra Joycean Jaunts’
Free, registration is essential via www.theeagle.ie
Join us for a delightful stroll through the charming gem of Sandycove, as we make our way from Lower Glasthule to Upper Glasthule, celebrating everything Joycean. Along the way, we’ll be accompanied by a lively group of characters reciting poetry, singing songs, and sharing stories related to James Augustine Aloysius Joyce. A joyful atmosphere is guaranteed! Jollification is the order of the day
9.30 pm Enjoy jazz and swing from the Amorim Trio at the Eagle
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Sunday 15th June
12 pm Join us for ‘Seven Scenes from Ulysses’
as we set off from outside Cavistons Restaurant
Leopold Bloom – Les Doherty
Molly Bloom / Mrs. Josie Breen – Elaine Reddy
Stephen Dedalus – Seán McDermott
Free, registration is essential via www.theeagle.ie
Take a stroll through the charming streets of Glasthule as you witness seven pivotal scenes from Ulysses come to life alongside Leopold Bloom and other characters from the novel.
12-6pm Enjoy a pre- Bloomsday BBQ from 12-6 pm at 64 Wine featuring
live ‘French Hot Jazz’ from 4pm until 6pm
2-4 pm The Jazz Session at Cavistons
Celebrate Father’s Day in style. Head to Cavistons for a delightful lunch complemented by the enchanting sounds of Richie Buckley, Simon Morgan and Drazen Derek
4-6 pm Get on your feet with live ‘French Hot Jazz’ at 64 Wines.
5-7 pm Follow the music by strolling over to the Eagle
Relax back and enjoy listening to a swing and jazz set from the Susan Porter Trio
8-10 pm Enjoy the beautiful voice of Paul McGuiness performing at the Eagle
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Monday 16th June – Bloomsday
7.30-9.30 am Joycean Breakfast at Cavistons
7:30–12.15 pm Telemachus Breakfast at The Eagle
10-10:30 am Trumpeter, Niall O’Sullivan heralds the celebrations
Ribbon cutting by An Cathaoirleach
Gorgonzola cutting by Jennifer Carol McNeill
Fitzgerald’s Pub will be open from early til late; pop by for a drink and a great time
Mid-Morning Readings from Barry McGovern, Phelim Drew + others
10-7pm Head to 64 Wines for delicious food and beverages whilst enjoying the live performances from the stage
10-6pm Enjoy the vibe outside Mitchells as you sip wine and soak up the atmosphere
12-1pm Join the fun with the Ukelele Hooley playing at 64 Wines
12-2pm Head to Mitchells for a guitar and fiddle session
12-2pm The Luke Cosgrave Session delight us with their blend of trad and folk
2pm onwards Enjoy acapella group, The Brook Singers popping up at
different locations across the village
2-4pm Sit back and relax as you enjoy jazz from members of the
New Café Orchestra on stage
3-5pm Follow the sounds of Luke Cosgrave & co into the Eagle
4-5pm Back to the stage for The Classical Hour with Simon Morgan, Sandra Oman,
Shauna Buckingham and Vincent Lynch
6-8pm Continue the celebrations into the night with a lively Irish ballad session with
The Auld Triangle at the Eagle
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Extra show! Another chance to see The Many Trials of Bloom by The Balloonatics! Kickstart your Bloomsday evening with this romp through Nighttown on Bloomsday, Monday, June 16th at 6 to 7 pm in Wynn’s Hotel.
Due to our later performance selling out, we have added an extra show in the early evening of our rollercoaster one-hour romp through Bloom’s fevered imagination! Afterwards, you can relax in the bar downstairs or explore other Bloomsday Festival highlights.
Tickets are €12.
Join Lua McIlraith and The Lilliput Players on Bloomsday, Monday June 16th at 5pm for an afternoon of readings, poems, dramatisations of the works of the legendary author and songs associated with him. Immerse yourself in the world of James Joyce as we bring his words to life at a unique location.
Whether you’re a die-hard fan or just curious to learn more, this event promises to be a memorable experience!. Don’t miss out on this unique opportunity to celebrate one of the greatest literary figures of all time. If you were ever too scared of Joyce, you need no longer be. See you there!
The event is free but booking is essential. There will be both seating and standing places available.
Join us at The James Joyce Centre for a special Bloomsday performance of Declan Gorman‘s acclaimed one-act play The Dubliners Dilemma on Monday, June 16th at 4pm.
The Dubliners Dilemma premiered in Ireland in 2012 and has toured to Norway, USA, India, Russia, and all over Ireland. Described as a “truly mesmerizing performance” (Metro Herald), it finds London publisher Grant Richards re-reading the manuscript of Dubliners in 1914, eight full years after he initially rejected it on the grounds it might breach strict obscenity laws. Joyce’s Dublin comes to wild life around him, a city of innocence and perversion: of sexual predators, gigolos, gamblers and drinkers mingling among street children, housemaids and exquisite concert singers. Entranced again by the literary gifts of the truculent Irish author who refused to change a single word, Richards must decide whether to take the risk second time around, and be the one finally to bring the genius of Joyce to the world.
Written and performed by Declan Gorman. Directed by Gerard Lee.
“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 is a compelling performer, at his best when undertaking childhood roles and in his element with Joyce’s obsequious characters … an animated and intelligent performance.” Irish Theatre Magazine
Tickets are €15.
“O’Neill does a terrific job…. comic ironies abound…” Irish Independent
‘O’Neill brings considerable energy and skill as the narrator’ Nomoreworkhorse
The James Joyce Centre presents Grace by James Joyce as part of the Bloomsday Festival on 14-16 June.
“Grace” from Joyce’s Dubliners is a tale of booze, bombast and religious confusion that brilliantly satirises the role of the Catholic Church in early twentieth century Irish life. When struggling salesman, Tom Kernan (who also appears in Ulysses), is found drunk and injured in a pub toilet and brought home in disgrace to his long suffering wife, his friends hatch a plot to save him from his errant ways.
This acclaimed production features the actor and comedian, Terry O’Neill, who brings to life Joyce’s rare collection of characters and takes you on a hilarious journey from purgatory to paradise.
Dubliners, first published in 1914, is one of the great short story collections in the English language. By exploring the lives of his fellow Dublin citizens with unflinching realism, Joyce revealed truths both blasphemous and transcendent.
Showtimes:
14 June: 1pm
15 June: 1pm
16 June: 4pm & 6pm
Tickets are €20.
Portobello & St. Kevin’s Tidy Towns in partnership with Dublin City Council’s South East Area Community Team is proud to present Bloomsday Villages: Portobello on Monday, June 16th.
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!
Please email magsie14@gmail.com for more information.
The events are free and open to the public.
The Balloonatics’ nightcap performance will be the performance of a dramatised reading from Joyce’s Ulysses at Wynn’s Hotel on Monday, June 16th at 7.30pm. We then open up to the floor and invite you to read a short passage from Joyce’s epic celebration of daily life.
This year the big group of six (actors Mark Wale, Paul O’Hanrahan, Mick Greer, Paul Dornan, Chris Bilton and musician John Goudie) present ‘The Many Trials of Leopold Bloom’ in which Bloom finds himself in a shady part of Dublin at night and his desires, guilt and fears are converted into comedy nightmares and fantasies.
The show is based on the opening half of the ‘Circe’ episode of Ulysses which takes place in the late evening of June 16th and is set in ‘Nighttown,’ Joyce’s name for the notorious ‘Monto’ area of Dublin where Bloom is looking for Stephen Dedalus.
Tickets are €15.
This is a unique Bloomsday event in Dublin: a fully dramatised adaptation of Ulysses compressed into 80 action filled minutes. Drama, comedy, song, and dance combine to produce an unforgettable and enlightening insight into James Joyce’s masterpiece. The play has been building year-on-year since 2010 and Ulysses aWake 2025 is infused with all the fun of Finnegans Wake. Performed by a troupe of 18 at the heart of the village looking out over the sea, this is theatre for everybody who loves Joyce’s Ireland.
All welcome, admission free, seating provided. Come early, enjoy the pre-show convivial atmosphere, and sample tasty snacks inside the amphitheatre that Blackrock Village Centre becomes on Bloomsday.
Dalkey Joycean Guided Walk & Schoolroom Scene – Bloomsday, 16th June at 15:30
Celebrate Bloomsday with a unique experience at Dalkey Castle! Explore Joyce’s fascinating connections to Dalkey with an expert guide, and step onto the location where Joyce once taught and the scene is set. Feel the magic of literature come alive where “the sun flung spangles, dancing coins.” Enjoy a live performance of the schoolroom scene from the Nestor episode of Ulysses, featuring Stephen Dedalus and the stern Mr Deasy at Dalkey Castle before leaving on your odyssey.
There are other surprising Dalkey connections with Joyce which will be uncovered in the guided joycean walk led by Joyce expert Joe Dunne immediately after the performance.
The whole event runs for around two hours.
Tickets are €28.95.
Book online early—spaces are limited and demand is high for this unforgettable Joycean event.
Join us at The James Joyce Center on Bloomsday, Monday June 16th at 2pm for some ‘midday mumming madness’ as the extraordinary talent of the Fingal Mummers will explore mummery in Ulysses and other works of James Joyce in their production of Everyman His Own Wife.
Throughout Ulysses, Buck Mulligan calls Stephen “A lovely mummer!”; “Kinch, the loveliest mummer of them all!”; “O, you peerless mummer!” Mulligan declares that “I have conceived a play for the mummers” and launches into the title page of a lewd skit. The James Joyce Centre will be truly transformed as we watch the Fingal Mummers celebrate Bloomsday with comedy, music, mischief and song. Come witness this truly unique Irish tradition during this truly unique Irish festival.
The event is free. No booking required.
Sandymount Community Centre, Sandymount Tidy Towns Community Association in partnership with Dublin City Council’s South East Area Community Team is proud to present Bloomsday Villages: Sandymount on Monday, June 16th.
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.
Ranelagh Arts Centre in partnership with Dublin City Council’s South East Area Community Team is proud to present Bloomsday Villages: Ranelagh on Monday, June 16th.
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!
The events are free and open to the public. Please email info.ranelagharts@gmail.com for more information.
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.
Photo: Alan Betson, The Irish Times
Ballsbridge Living Tidy Towns in partnership with Dublin City Council’s South East Area Community Team is proud to present Bloomsday Villages: Ballsbridge on Monday, June 16th.
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!
The events are free and open to the public. Please email hello@ballsbridgeliving.com for more information.
The Balloonatics are hitting the streets of dear, dirty Dublin once again on Bloomsday, June 16th with on-location recreations of Ulysses.
This year we have a big team of experienced performers: Mark Wale, Paul O’Hanrahan, Mick Greer, Paul Dornan, Chris Bilton and musician John Goudie. We are presenting two theatrical walks, one outdoor performance (no booking required) and two shows in Wynn’s Hotel – one is sold out and for the other advance booking is strongly advised.
All our street events are free of charge but we do like to pass the hat at the end to meet our costs!
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 immersive tour follows the ‘Calypso’ episode of Ulysses, chapter 4.
11 am From Capel Street to Courthouse.
Meet on the wide side of Grattan Bridge over the Liffey.
This theatrical tour with commentary visits sites linked with the ‘Sirens’ and ‘Cyclops’ episodes of Ulysses, chapters 11 and 12, and explores Capel Street’s Joyce connections.
3 pm Cabman’s Shelter
Meet at the Connolly memorial under the railway bridge near Beresford Place.
This performance, based on the ‘Eumaeus’ episode (chapter 16), takes place at the site of the Cabman’s Shelter where Bloom and Stephen try to get some late night sustenance.
A new addition to Bloomsday, developed in association with The James Joyce Centre.
6 p.m. The Many Trials of Leopold Bloom (early show only)
Wynn’s Hotel, Lower Abbey Street
Advance booking recommended: tickets €12 (plus fee) on Eventbrite, https://tinyurl.com/2yfr6upv
Fantasy takes over as Bloom makes his way through Dublin’s brothel area. A rollercoaster one-hour romp through Bloom’s fevered imagination.
SOLD OUT 7.30 pm Humid Nightblue Fruit: Performances and Readings Wynn’s Hotel, Lower Abbey Street
The Many Trials of Leopold Bloom
For this long-standing Bloomsday celebration, we present a new dramatised reading of the opening half of the ‘Circe’ episode. Followed by audience readings. SOLD OUT
For more information contact:
Facebook: Paul O’Hanrahan, Balloonatics Theatre Company
www.balloonatics.tumblr.com
‘All the Ghosts of Ulysses’ is the original music at the heart of this play. Joyce’s characters are set free at the Tower to share their stories in the guise of the Idrone Players’ 18 actors, singers, dancers, and live musicians.
Leopold Bloom’s marriage to Molly is tragically threatened but Ulysses aWake’s opening song, ‘Send out your light and your truth’ (Cuir thuat amach do sholas is do fhírinne), signals that Bloom will be the author of his story. This is his day.
Tickets are free but booking is essential. There will be both seating and standing places available.
Begin your Bloomsday celebrations in style with an uplifting evening of theatre and music. A talented cast will perform witty and moving extracts from Ulysses, Dubliners, and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, revealing Joyce’s humour and humanity. Baritone Simon Morgan, accompanied by Josh Johnston, will perform Joycean songs.
New for 2025 – Songs of Joyce: a toe-tapping musical journey through sea shanties, street ballads, and music hall gems, performed with gusto by Sinéad Murphy and Darina Gallagher.
Runs for approximately 2.5 hours. Refreshments will be served.
Tickets are €32.95.
The event is supported by Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council.
A companion piece to Telemachus at the James Joyce Tower, the Volta Theatre Company has added the “Cyclops” episode of Ulysses to its Bloomsday repertoire on Monday, June 9th and Tuesday, June 10th at 6pm in the DRL Lexicon.
Leopold Bloom finds himself in the proverbial lion’s den of Barney Kiernan’s, where the ‘broadshouldered deepchested stronglimbed’ Citizen demonstrates the ugly side of Irish nationalism. Inflammatory speeches over afternoon pints, decrying the British Empire and ‘foreigners’ in general, lead to an antisemitic rant against Bloom and an assault with a biscuit tin.
Performed by Oliver Flitcroft, Liam Hourican, Jim Roche and Darragh Shannon, this hilarious, sharply satirical piece makes its debut this June.
Tickets are €20.
Step inside the iconic Martello Tower in Sandycove, Dublin, and experience the opening episode of James Joyce’s Ulysses brought to life with this extraordinary production by Volta Theatre Company.
Directed by Liam Hourican and starring Oliver Flitcroft, Darragh Shannon, Daniel Mahon and Geraldine Plunkett, this adaptation will transport you back to 1904 and the intense, impecunious lifestyle of two young men with literary ambitions.
Set in the iconic Sandycove Martello Tower and environs, this is an exuberant, ambient production that will faithfully recreate the first episode of Ulysses.
There will be two performances a day from 9-16 June at 9.30am and 11am. 40 minutes running time.
Tickets are €20.
Bewley’s Cafe Theatre is proud to present as part of the Bloomsday Festival 2025 Counterparts & A Little Cloud from James Joyce’s Dubliners. These two short stories from Joyce’s debut work are vivid ‘slices of life’ in early 20th century Dublin, revealing a society in paralysis, desperately awaiting change.
Stunningly accompanied by live music, we follow a pair of Dublin characters portrayed in immaculately detailed scenes: In “Counterparts,” a frustrated law clerk is determined to have a big night’s drinking, while in “A Little Cloud,” a sensitive soul is thrown by a meeting with an old university friend back from London. At once funny and tragic, the stories are populated with an array of colourful characters who, despite the bowler hats and Edwardian collars, remain entirely contemporary.
‘lighting up the genius of Joyce’s Dubliners’ Sunday Independent
‘beautifully dramatised and served up as a lunchtime treat… a perfect hour’s entertainment’ Irish Independent
‘two superbly articulated performances’ The Arts Review
‘a superb dramatised introduction to one of the greatest short-story collections in world literature’ Frank McNally, The Irish Times
Volta Theatre Company is a new company with the remit to bring classical theatre to a wide audience. Its’ founders are Liam Hourican and Jim Roche, who have collaborated for many years in theatre and TV. Liam has worked with Shakespeare’s Globe, the Old Vic and Second Age Theatre company and has written and performed sketch shows and comedy drama for Channel 4, RTE and the BBC. Jim has starred in Normal People (directed by Lenny Abramson) (BBC), Harry Wild (Acorn TV), Blood 2 (Virgin Media), Vikings (History Channel), Damo and Ivor, Fair City, Killinaskully, The Mario Rosenstock Show, Dead Still (RTE), The Tudors (Showtime) and iCandy (Channel 4). Musicians Feilimidh Nunan and Conor Sheil regularly work with all the principal orchestras in Ireland (National Symphony Orchestra, Concert Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Wexford Festival Orchestra, Irish National Opera Orchestra). Their professional interests have led them to collaborate with many other groups in film and theatre but also in different musical genres ranging from jazz to traditional music.
Duration: 60 minutes
Age Guidance: 12+
Adult themes, reference to domestic abuse.
Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible via the main Grafton Street entrance with a lift to the second floor.
Showtimes:
2-16 June 2025
Extra 3pm show on Bloomsday, Monday, June 16th (Tickets €15)
(No show on Monday, June 9th or Sunday, June 15th)
Mon-Sat at 1pm (doors open at 12.50pm)
Tickets are €10-15.
JOHN, MAY, JAMES AND ME is a captivating family drama based on the writings of Stanislaus Joyce, the younger brother of the renowned James Joyce. The play delves into the complex relationships within the Joyce family, featuring their long-suffering mother, May, and their drunken, spendthrift father, John, whose actions led the family to ruin. Through a blend of humor and pathos, song and story, the play offers a unique insider’s perspective on the chaotic domestic life that profoundly influenced the works of one of the 20th century’s greatest novelists.
Join the Dunshaughlin Players on Bloomsday, Sunday June 16th for fun and mayham in Dunshaughlin, County Meath. The Players and friends will be acting out some of the Ulysses stories at locations on the Main Street, starting at Lidl carpark at 2pm and strolling up to the Pastoral Centre for tea/coffee and music and the Curlew Theatre’s play NORAMOLLYANNALIVIALUCIA.
Free to join. Donations are welcome!
Sandymount Community Centre, Sandymount Tidy Towns Community Association in partnership with Dublin City Council’s South East Area Community Team is proud to present Bloomsday Villages: Sandymount on Sunday, June 16th.
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.
Ballsbridge Living Tidy Towns in partnership with Dublin City Council’s South East Area Community Team is proud to present Bloomsday Villages: Ballsbridge on Sunday, June 16th.
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!
The events are free and open to the public.
Join us at the James Joyce Center on Bloomsday, Sunday June 16th at 12pm for some ‘midday mumming madness’ as the extraordinary talent of the Fingal Mummers will explore mummery in Ulysses and other works of James Joyce in their production of Everyman His Own Wife.
Throughout Ulysses, Buck Mulligan calls Stephen “A lovely mummer!”; “Kinch, the loveliest mummer of them all!”; “O, you peerless mummer!” Mulligan declares that “I have conceived a play for the mummers” and launches into the title page of a lewd skit. The James Joyce Centre will be truly transformed as we watch the Fingal Mummers celebrate Bloomsday with comedy, music, mischief and song. Come witness this truly unique Irish tradition during this truly unique Irish festival.
The event is free. No booking required.
Celebrating Bloomsday 2025 on the streets of Dublin
Balloonatics Bloomsday
Monday June 16 2025
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 we have a big team of experienced performers: Mark Wale, Paul O’Hanrahan, Mick Greer, Paul Dornan, Chris Bilton and musician John Goudie. Join us on Bloomsday throughout the day: we are presenting two theatrical walks, one outdoor performance (no booking required) and two shows in Wynn’s Hotel – one is sold out and for the other advance booking is strongly advised. All our street events are free of charge but we do like to pass the hat at the end to meet our costs.
Performances:
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 immersive tour follows the ‘Calypso’ episode of Ulysses, chapter 4.
11 am From Capel Street to Courthouse.
Meet on the wide side of Grattan Bridge over the Liffey.
This theatrical tour with commentary visits sites linked with the ‘Sirens’ and ‘Cyclops’ episodes of Ulysses, chapters 11 and 12, and explores Capel Street’s Joyce connections.
3 pm Cabman’s Shelter
Meet at the Connolly memorial under the railway bridge near Beresford Place.
This performance, based on the ‘Eumaeus’ episode (chapter 16), takes place at the site of the Cabman’s Shelter where Bloom and Stephen try to get some late night sustenance.
A new addition to Bloomsday, developed in association with the James Joyce Centre.
6 p.m. The Many Trials of Leopold Bloom (early show only)
Wynn’s Hotel, Lower Abbey Street
Fantasy takes over as Bloom makes his way through Dublin’s brothel area. A rollercoaster one-hour romp through Bloom’s fevered imagination.
Advance booking recommended: tickets €12 (plus fee) on Eventbrite, https://tinyurl.com/2yfr6upv
SOLD OUT 7.30 pm Humid Nightblue Fruit: Performances and Readings Wynn’s Hotel, Lower Abbey Street
The Many Trials of Leopold Bloom
For this long-standing Bloomsday celebration, we present a new dramatised reading of the opening half of the ‘Circe’ episode. Followed by audience readings. SOLD OUT
For more information contact:
Facebook: Paul O’Hanrahan, Balloonatics Theatre Company
www.balloonatics.tumblr.com
The James Joyce Centre is proud to present a performance of John, May, James and Me by Eddie Naughton.
Stanislaus Joyce was the younger brother of James Joyce. Born in Dublin, Stanislaus was considered a “Whetstone” by his more famous brother, who shared his ideas and his books with him. He was three years younger than James and was his constant boyhood companion. Stanislaus rebelled against his native Ireland as his brother had done, and, in 1905, he joined James’s household in Trieste. He wrote an unfinished memoir called My Brother’s Keeper, on which the play John, May, James and Me by Eddie Naughton is based, along with other writings.
The play looks at the Joyce family dynamic through the eyes of Stanislaus, from their father, John, a feckless Cork character with notions, to the long-suffering mother, May. It also looks in depth at the relationship between the two brothers over many years. Their trials and tribulations. The good times and bad. What was it like having a literary genius as a brother? How do you stop him from destroying his gift and even himself?
Performed by Pat Nolan. Directed by Bairbre Ni Chaoimh.
Eddie Naughton is a playwright based in The Liberties area of Dublin. His play John, May, James and Me is a Joyce family memoir, based on the writings of Stanislaus Joyce. Other plays he has written include Bullfight on Third Avenue, Joxer Daly Esq, The Exiling of Sean O’Casey, Adrian Phelan is Going Home, and a trilogy of drug plays (Franner and Joey, The Boy with the Halogyn Hair and The Trouble with Bobo).
Bairbre Ni Chaoimh is an actor, director and writer. She has toured nationally and internationally with all the major Irish theatre companies. She was an Associate Artist at the Abbey Theatre for three years and while Artistic Director of Calypso Productions she received an Irish Times award and a MAMA. Directing credits include three plays for The Gate Theatre’s Beckett Festival, which toured to The Barbican, London and The Lincoln Center, New York and Catalpa by Donal O’Kelly, which has won awards on three continents. She directed Noni Stapleton’s one-woman show, Charolais which received a host of awards including The Stewart Parker Award and The Little Gem Award. She recently directed the Irish premiere of Stumped, a play about Pinter and Beckett, for Bewleys Café Theatre.
Pat Nolan trained at DYT and The Focus Stanislavski Studio and appeared in many of their shows. He has an MA in Theatre from GSA/Maynooth University. He has acted, directed, and produced shows nationally and internationally. Stage work includes Cinderella and Borstal Boy at the Gaiety, 12 Angry Men at the Olympia, Risk Everything with Whirlygig, Uncle Vanya at the Gate, Oedipus and The Wake at the Abbey. He toured extensively with Take Off Your Cornflakes. Probably best known to audiences for playing Barry in Fair City, for which he won the Rose d’Or award in Switzerland.
Tickets are €15.
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.
The New Theatre and Smashing Times present Sole Flower, Spidered Soul by Féilim James, a new play about James Joyce and his daughter Lucia for the Bloomsday Festival.
Lucia Joyce and her father James are roused from death by an eloquent clown.
The duo’s joyful reunion soon gives way told quarrels, as they debate the reasons why Lucia spent nearly half a century in psychiatric hospitals. Clown, who holds the power to alter the past, presents James with a dilemma.
Will he erase his own literary legacy to afford Lucia a second chance in life, or will he keep things as they were?
This funny and moving play pits personal ambition against love of family, all the while challenging prevailing notions about its protagonists: Lucia as the mad daughter, and James as the genius father who did all he could to save her.
Director – Patrick Joseph Byrnes
Cast – Fiona Bawn-Thompson, Michael McCabe & Daniel Mahon.
Stage Management – Eva Walsh
Showtimes:
June 11-14: 7:30pm
June 15: 2:30pm
Duration: 65 minutes
Age Suitability: 14+
Tickets are €20 general, €18 concession.
The James Joyce Centre is proud to host a special Bloomsday showing of the Volta Theatre Company’s Counterparts & A Little Cloud, an adaptation of two short stories from Joyce’s debut work Dubliners.
Joyce’s collection of short stories provides vivid ‘slices of life’ of early 20th century Dublin. Against the backdrop of a society in paralysis, a pair of Dublin lives are revealed in stark, sometimes brutal, scenes. In Counterparts, an ungainly, bad-tempered law clerk is determined to have a heavy night’s drinking, while in A Little Cloud, a sensitive soul is embittered by a meeting with an old university friend back from London. At once funny and tragic, relatable and disturbing, the stories are populated with an array of colourful characters who remain entirely contemporary, despite the bowler hats and Edwardian collars.
Performed by two actors in the iconic setting of the Joyce Centre’s Georgian drawing room, and featuring period music, this is an exquisite, intimate study of Joyce’s Dublin and its lives of quiet desperation.
Volta is a collaboration between classically-trained actors and musicians, combining theatre with cabaret, jazz and sketch comedy. Its remit is to bring classical theatre to a wide audience. Liam Hourican has worked with Shakespeare’s Globe, the Old Vic, and Second Age Theatre company and has written and performed sketch shows and comedy drama for Channel 4, RTE and the BBC. Jim Roche has starred in Normal People, Harry Wild, Blood 2, Vikings, Damo and Ivor, Killinaskully, The Mario Rosenstock Show, The Tudors, and iCandy. Musicians Feilimidh Nunan and Conor Sheil work with all the principal orchestras in Ireland and have collaborated in a wide variety of musical genres ranging from jazz to traditional music.
On this special 120th Bloomsday anniversary, step into “Telemachus,” the opening episode of Ulysses, in the very setting that inspired it.
Directed by Liam Hourican and starring Oliver Flitcroft, Darragh Shannon, Daniel Mahon and Geraldine Plunkett, this new adaptation will transport you back to 1904 and the intense, impecunious lifestyle of two young men with literary ambitions.
Set in the iconic Martello Tower and environs, this is an exuberant, ambient production that will faithfully recreate the first episode of Ulysses.
Performances:
June 15th: 8am, 9:30am, 11am, and 2pm
June 16th: 9:30am and 11am. *At 9am, An Cathaoirleach Denis O’Callaghan raises the flay to commemorate the 120 year anniversary of Bloomsday.
Tickets are €15.
The Citizens’ Breakfast is a lively promenade play written by Gráinne O Kelly and Tara Derrington that celebrates June 16th 1904, when James Joyce set off from his lodgings at No. 60 Shelbourne Road to go on his first date with Nora Barnacle, his lifelong partner and eventual wife. Their date would be immortalised as the day on which Ulysses is set, since christened as Bloomsday!
The play is performed by Damien Davaney and Fiona Browne with guest appearances by members of the local community along the street.
Act 1 (about 30 minutes) takes place outside on the street (free for all) consisting of five vignettes. Then the action moves in Act 2 to local hostelry Slattery’s Pub (ticketed entry only). You will sup and taste a morsel or two with Joyce, Bloom, and other characters. There is harp music with light refreshment served. We will finish with a little sing song!
Dress up (or down) in Edwardian style if you wish!
When?
15 June 2024. Two separate performances at 11:30am and 3:30pm.
Duration?
1 hour and 15 mins. Please arrive 10 mins before start time.
Where?
We will meet at 68 Shelbourne Road, Dublin 4 D04 R3N0.
Cost?
Tickets are €12.50 via Eventbrite.
The event is organised in partnership with the Lansdowne and District Residents’ Association. Thanks also to Aviva Stadium Community Fund, Slattery’s Pub, Codling Wind Park & Lotts & Co Beggar’s Bush for their core support.
The Dubliners Dilemma was premiered in Ireland in 2012 and has toured to Norway, USA, India, Russia (pre-Ukraine invasion) and all over Ireland. Described as a “truly mesmerizing performance” (Metro Herald), it finds London publisher Grant Richards re-reading the manuscript of Dubliners in 1914, eight full years after he initially rejected it on the grounds it might breach strict obscenity laws. Joyce’s Dublin comes to wild life around him, a city of innocence and perversion: of sexual predators, gigolos, gamblers and drinkers mingling among street children, housemaids and exquisite concert singers. Entranced again by the literary gifts of the truculent Irish author who refused to change a single word, Richards must decide whether to take the risk second time around, and be the one finally to bring the genius of Joyce to the world.
Written and performed by Declan Gorman. Directed by Gerard Lee.
“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 is a compelling performer, at his best when undertaking childhood roles and in his element with Joyce’s obsequious characters … an animated and intelligent performance.” Irish Theatre Magazine
Join Lua McIlraith and The Lilliput Players for “A Taste of Joyce” outside the James Joyce Tower on Bloomsday for an afternoon of readings, poems, dramatisations of the works of the legendary author and songs associated with him. Immerse yourself in the world of James Joyce as we bring his words to life at a unique location.
Whether you’re a die-hard fan or just curious to learn more, this event promises to be a memorable experience!. Don’t miss out on this unique opportunity to celebrate one of the greatest literary figures of all time. If you were ever too scared of Joyce, you need no longer be. See you there!
There will be both seating and standing places available. Tickets are free but booking is essential.
‘All the Ghosts of Ulysses’ is the original music at the heart of this play. Joyce’s characters are set free at the Tower to share their stories in the guise of the Idrone Players’ 18 actors, singers, dancers, and live musicians.
Leopold Bloom’s marriage to Molly is tragically threatened but Ulysses aWake’s opening song, ‘Send out your light and your truth’ (Cuir thuat amach do sholas is do fhírinne), signals that Bloom will be the author of his story. This is his day.
Tickets are free but booking is essential. There will be both seating and standing places available.
Bewley’s Café Theatre in association with the Bloomsday Festival is proud to present a theatrical adaptation of “Grace” by James Joyce.
Grace is a tale of booze, bombast and religious confusion that brilliantly satirises the role of the Catholic Church in early twentieth century Irish life. When struggling salesman, Tom Kernan, is found drunk and injured in a pub toilet and brought home in disgrace to his long suffering wife, his friends hatch a plot to save him from his errant ways.
Dubliners, first published in 1914, is one of the great short story collections in the English language. By exploring the lives of his fellow Dublin citizens with unflinching realism, Joyce revealed truths both blasphemous and transcendent.
This new production of the classic Dubliners story features the actor and comedian, Terry O’Neill, who brings to life Joyce’s rare collection of characters and takes you on a hilarious journey from purgatory to paradise that is perfect for the Festive Season. The production will be performed in Bewley’s Café, which was itself referenced in Dubliners.
“O’Neill…does a terrific job of creating an excellent range of at least five different Dublin voices.” Irish Independent
“Sandra Butler’s simple design is delightfully and imaginatively impressive.” Sunday Independent
“O’Neill brings considerable energy and skill as the narrator.” Nomoreworkhorse
Age guidance: 12+
Duration: 50 minutes
BOOKING INFORMATION
June 10th – 16th at 1pm
There will be an extra on Bloomsday, Sunday, 16th at 3pm
Mon-Sat at 1pm (doors open at 12.50pm)
Tickets: Low-price Mon/Tues €10, Wed/Thurs €12, Fri/Sat/Sun €15.
Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible via the main Grafton Street entrance with a lift to the second floor. For aural or visual needs, we can seat people towards the front (contact 0868784001 to arrange).
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.
We hope to see you there!
This is a unique Bloomsday event in Dublin: a fully dramatised adaptation of Ulysses compressed into 80 action filled minutes. Drama, comedy, song, and dance combine to produce an unforgettable and enlightening insight into James Joyce’s masterpiece. The play has been building year-on-year since 2010 and Ulysses aWake 2024 is infused with all the fun of Finnegans Wake. Performed by a troupe of 18 at the heart of the village looking out over the sea, this is theatre for everybody who loves Joyce’s Ireland.
All welcome, admission free, seating provided. Come early, enjoy the pre-show convivial atmosphere, and sample tasty snacks inside the amphitheatre that Blackrock Village Centre becomes on Bloomsday.
Join us at Dalkey Castle on Bloomsday, 16th June at 3:30pm, when the “Nestor” episode from Ulysses will be brought to life before your eyes in a memorable dramatisation.
The schoolroom where the scene is set is nearby on Dalkey Avenue. There are other surprising Dalkey connections with Joyce which will be uncovered in the guided joycean walk led by Joyce expert Joe Dunne immediately after the performance.
The whole event runs for around two hours. Tickets are €22.95.
Outside of Bloomsday festival celebrations, you can Rejoyce in Joyce through our Joycean experience.
The event is supported by Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council.
Celebrate the more light hearted elements of Joyce’s works by watching a team of professional actors perform enlightening and entertaining extracts from Ulysses, Dubliners and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man at Dalkey Castle.
Sing along with professional singers such as Simon Morgan and Donna Malone, accompanied by Josh Johnston, in songs that James Joyce sang or which feature in his works.
Runs for approximately 2.5 hours. Refreshments will be served. Tickets are €22.95.
The event is supported by Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council.