Bloomsday – When It Gets Out of Hand by Catharine Bramkamp
Let’s welcome back monthly columnist Catharine Bramkamp as she shares with us “Bloomsday – When It Gets Out of Hand.” Enjoy!
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Sometimes things get out of hand. Like on June 16, 2023.
You may have heard of Bloomsday – June 16th, the single day in the 643 page novel Ulysses.
June 16th is celebrated all over Dublin Ireland, fans dress in circa 1904 fashions and parade the streets of Dublin following in the footsteps of the book’s characters as they perambulate the streets of Dublin.
Maybe you’ve read Ulysses, maybe you’ve devoted your life to avoiding it. I finally read the book during the lock-down. It was worth the effort and I was keen to indulge in the June 16th festivities as part of a longer Ireland vacation.
My husband and I traveled with dear friends, both professional photographers. He was along for the ride, she was working on a Dublin project and wanted photographs of the Bloomsday celebration.
For me, the author, armed with little more than an iphone, I wanted to record Bloomsday with something fun, so I brought along a James Joyce finger puppet.
The Finger Puppet
I can’t remember WHY I own a James Joyce finger puppet, likely a gift from a friend who knew I’d recognize the puppet as a famous author.
Both my husband and our friends were mortified by this undignified approach to a famous novel, except despite their disdain, every one of them held the puppet so I could photograph his rove around Dublin.
There are 18 Episodes in Ulysses, most corresponding (in a general way) with Odysseus’s journey from Troy back to Ithaca to reunite with his kingdom and his wife. We did not visit every site in the novel, but here are a few.
Telemachus – Joyce Tower in Sandycove
The novel opens on top of Martello Tower, so we had to visit.
We loaded the group into a cab and drove to the outskirts of Dublin on the rainiest day of our trip. Husbands: wet and cranky. By the end of the morning. many pints of Guinness were owed.
Touring the Martello Tower, I learned that Joyce had stayed here for a very short time (6 days) in real life with Oliver St. John Gogarty (a surgeon and a poet whose work Joyce had just publicly insulted).
In the book version of events, Stephen Dedalus plays the part of Joyce and Buck Mulligan plays Gogarty.
We all climbed to the top of the tower playing ourselves: fans, on a mission.
Because of the rain and the obscurity of the journey, my friend Kurt did ask, when I asked him to hold up Joyce on the top of the tower for a photo – which finger can I use?
Nestor – Stephen Dedalus in Dalkey
We took a cab to Dalkey where Stephen Dedalus un-enthusiastically teaches school and listens to his headmaster’s cliched advice. Today, the charming streets of Dalkey were packed with the guests of their own Book Festival.
The biggest news in town was that on Saturday night Tom Hanks was here, In Dalkey to promote his new book.
Forget Joyce.
Proteus. Sandymount Strand
Stephen Dedalus spends quality time walking the beach at Sandymount. He contemplates the usual: death, infinity, the deconstruction of all that he loves and what to do with his life.
We did not walk on the strand but did view its gray expanse, in the rain, in the cold.
I was impressed by the local swimmers, diving into the Forty (where Mulligan swims in the first episode). As we are from California, we did not consider the rainy morning as ideal swimming weather.
Calypso. 7 Eccles Street
While not as famous as 9 3/4 platform in King’s Cross Station, 7 Eccles Street is famous enough.
The neighborhood of Eccles has been demolished and rebuilt as cities often are, but the blue door was saved and rests safely in the James Joyce Center in Dublin.
Leopold and Molly Bloom (the novel’s main characters) live at 7 Eccles Street and their home is featured in the Episodes Calypso, Ithaca and Penelope.
Penelope is the final episode and features the very long monologue by Molly ending in “And yes, I said yes, I will Yes.”
I forgot to photograph finger puppet Joyce by the door. I was distracted by the delight and celebration of the crowd.
Bloomsday begins first thing in the morning at the Joyce Center – sometimes a breakfast reflecting Bloom’s breakfast (you don’t even want to know) is served but this year there was no breakfast.
Fans gathered at the Center first thing in the morning, then dispersed to the Dublin landmarks described the book:
My friend (the serious photographer) and I headed Sweny’s Pharmacy and Davy Byrne’s Pub. Our husbands hit the pubs.
We did not see them all day.
Lotus Eaters. Sweny’s Pharmacy
“Mr Bloom raised a cake to his nostrils. Sweet lemony wax. I’ll take this one, he said”. Described in sumptuous detail in the novel, Bloom enters Sweny’s Pharmacy and admires the lotions, potions and bottles on display before purchasing a bar of lemon soap and carrying it in his pocket for the rest of the day.
The pharmacy closed in 2009, but was open again as a non-profit devoted to Joyce and preserving the 100 year plus vibe of the tiny shop.
Packed with everything Joyce, including straw boater hats for fans (we saw the boaters all over town that day).
Sweny’s now hosts readings, sells souvenirs and allowed me a quick photo of Joyce among the lemon soap.
My favorite moment was watching the hop on/hop off tour buses pausing at Sweny’s and I’m sure, making some comment about crazy Joyce fans.
Lestrygonians Davy Byrne’s Pub
Joyce was already a patron of Davy Byrnes pub on Duke Street, calling it a “moral Pub” in Ulysses.
On June 16, Bloom ordered a “gorgonzola sandwich and a glass of Burgundy” as do all the fans in town today.
The pub is prepared for the crowds with a grill outside and box lunches of Gorgonzola along with small plastic glasses of Burgundy. Here too are more straw boaters for sale (10 Euro) circled with black bands printed with Davy Byrne’s – a Moral Pub.
Scylla and Charybdis – The National Library
In the novel, Stephen Dedalus gives a talk on Hamlet (the play serves as another theme in the novel) and defends his theories against the opinions of the audience members.
We ducked into the Library as it began to rain.
We didn’t get far, just the foyer – we were on our way to our own lunch that did not include disreputable cheese.
Oxen of the Sun – Holles Street Hospital
We returned to Dublin at the very end of our three weeks in Ireland. It was a beautiful day and we decided to drive around Dublin on a Hop on, Hop off bus.
I was thrilled to see the official Maternity Hospital come into view.
The episode of Oxen of the Sun begins in the Maternity Ward of the Holles Street Hospital and ends in drunken revelry at a nearby bar.
“Quick, quick,” I held out the puppet to my husband. “Hold Joyce so I can get the hospital in the background. “
He was not entirely on board with the project, and so messed around with James. The photo turned out beautifully.
Lessons Learned
What I learned was to have fun and embrace that I couldn’t capture every site featured in the novel, but I could do my best. And that was enough.
Joyce is now back on the book shelf, this part of his journey is finished.
Where do you pilgrimage?
What places give you a small fissure in the back of your neck?
Where do you want to visit next?
What calls you to experience history or a novel setting?
Can you get there from here? (Narnia being a notable exception.)
I consider trips and visits to literary sites part of the absolute joy of being a writer and a reader.
Book your flight, perfect or good enough, amazing experiences await.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Catharine Bramkamp is a successful writing coach, Chief Storytelling Officer, former co-producer of Newbie Writers Podcast, and author of a dozen books including the Real Estate Diva Mysteries series, and The Future Girls series. She holds two degrees in English and is an adjunct university professor. After fracturing her wrist, she has figured out there is very little she is able to do with one hand tied behind her back. She delights in inspiring her readers.
