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EVERY YEAR FANS of James Joyce’s novel Ulysses gather in Dublin and around the world to celebrate Bloomsday.
16 June, the date the fictional events in Ulysses take place, is recognised with readings, performances and even Bloomsday Breakfasts.
The day is named after Leopold Bloom, the main character in Ulysses. The novel, often regarded as Joyce’s most important work, follows Bloom’s journey around Dublin.
City events
The events in Dublin are centred around the places that Bloom visited – such as Glasnevin Cemetery, the Martello Tower in Sandycove and Sandymount Strand.
A full programme of Bloomsday Festival events is available online and there’s also a host of fringe happenings to enjoy.
Some of the events have already sold out – but here are our picks of events happening around Dublin, from today until Thursday.
Travel to locations associated with Joyce and his work, including his birthplace in Rathgar and the Martello Tower in Sandycove, in the comfort of a bus. The bus leaves the James Joyce Centre on North Great George’s Street at 10am. The tour will finish up at 4pm and costs €30.
Strolling through Ulysses! starts at 7pm on Tuesday evening in the International Bar on Wicklow St. The audience are taken on a 70 minute journey through the novel. Tickets are available online or at the door.
Celebrate Joyce through the music that helped inspire his first novel. Tickets for the night of tunes in The Stag’s Head cost €12. Musicians Darina Gallagher and Sinead Murphy will also talk about the background of the songs.
Thursday
Bloomsday itself…
Kick off your day
Breakfast is big on Bloomsday.
Based on the breakfast that Leopold Bloom ate on 16 June 1904, fans of the book can enjoy a traditional Irish fry-up, with optional gruesome extras: nutty gizzards, kidneys and sheep’s heart. The James Joyce Centre breakfast is currently sold out, but who knows, maybe some tickets will become available this week?
Howth RNLI are also hosting a Bloomsday Breakfast, with prosecco and gorgonzola at 11am at Howth Yacht Club and tickets cost €30.
There will be other Bloomsday Breakfasts happening in different locations around town too.
Bus it
If you want to get away from the city, a coach will once again be bringing people from the James Joyce Centre at 10am to the Martello Tower at Sandycove and Sandymount Village. The bus will return to the city by 3pm.
City Sightseeing Dublin will run two free Bloomsday bus tours. The buses will depart from Hugh Lane Gallery at 10.30am and 12.30pm. Tickets must be booked in advance online.
Glasnevin Cemetery
Glasnevin Cemetery will be hosting a series of events to mark the day. There will be Joycean breakfast and lunch in the cemetery’s Tower Café from 10am to 3pm. At 11.30am, there will be a re-enactment of Paddy Dignam’s funeral procession from the ‘Hades’ section of Ulysses.
At 12.15pm, there will be a Joycean tour of Glasnevin Cemetery. Booking is essential, we’re told.
Readings
Bloomsday readings will start at 3pm in Meeting House Square in Temple Bar. This event is free and no booking is required. The event will include songs, readings and performances. RTÉ broadcaster Keelin Shanley will lead the readings, alongside the likes of Bloomsday stalwart David Norris, and Colm O’Gorman.
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Is that really supposed to help? Or am I missing something?
@Dave Thomas: when the lawsuits for Facebook come, he can just say I’m not the CEO, that guy/gal is!
@Dave Thomas: yeah I’d say you’re missing something alright – that it’s not supposed to help anything (apart from themselves)
@Dave Thomas: I think it’s about acknowledging the social media website is sinking and not wanting the companies name to forever be tethered to a product that’ll eventually be the new MySpace or Bebo.
@Dave Thomas: The world is changing the majority of 40-50 year olds (probably 30)don’t do Facebook anymore. Mark Zuckerberg has a plan and he’ll deffo get richer.
They seem to have looked at all those sc fi movies with the weirdly named evil corporations and decided to choose a similar name.
@john smith iv:
Anagram for ‘meat’.
@iohanx: and team or mate
@iohanx: and team or material
I’m sure there’s a Metabolics joke in there somewhere and if there isn’t then there should be…
@William Tallon: this comment deserves more likes
@William Tallon: there should have been, but you metabolics of the opportunity
Just a reminder of all the metadata being collected lol
Groundbreaking stuff, this should definitely stop people being angry towards people they’ve never met for no reason.
Ah yeah parent companies sister companies whatever he wants to call it.this is to break it up so he won’t be hit for to pay as much tax.
Thought they would have gone for Skynet
@Handsome McWonderful: I think Elon Musk owns that URL!
Given the PR they have had recently the name Mica would have been a better choice!
Surely the domain name meta.com was already purchased before them. I hope who owned it made a fortune. Meta sounds like a dreadful idea.
@Madra: Zucks wife bought the company Meta back in 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170127013741/https://meta.com/
@Madra: its probably Meta.Edu.Tz , solid and trustworthy
Such a charmless b…..d Zuckerburg, Sacha Baron Cohen does very informative presentations on the goings on with facecrook and his shenanigans on his platform. Marks metamorphosis isn’t to the worlds or it’s people advantage. You can take that to the bank…..
Metaboll*x
My thinking aswell, doesn’t seem to be to much detail in this or did I forget to read something??
but will Meta be betta.
Facebook has been around for over a decade and still has absolutely NO educational features but sure, let’s make a big deal about changing the name. Like it makes any difference to anything.
Haven’t Meta user they can’t screw over yet.
It’s all too with the Metaverse which Zuckerberg spoke about earlier this month.
Feta has a better ring to it
It does sound like a laxative I was made take back in the 1980’s when I was kid in the Regional Hospital in Limerick.
Im a real metacritic
It’s still Facebook.
It’s all to do with the Metaverse which Zuckerberg spoke about earlier this month.
@The Tec Dr: And as you said two minutes ago.
@lelookcoco: If you look at my first comment you will notice that I made a typo.
@The Tec Dr: still, if you’re trying to enlighten people, I hate to break it to you, I think the whole world knew that already bud
Clever hashtag #facemask very clever
Really is he for Real.If he thinks rebranding face book will help then he is sadly mistaken
have your say