Bloomsday in Cork - 16 June

The 16th of June is now celebrated around the world every year as 'Bloomsday'. It marks the day that Leopold Bloom, the fictional character in James Joyce's modernist novel Ulysses, wandered through the streets of Dublin city. 

 

Signpost in Nano Nagle Place.

 

Bloomsday Conference, Nano Nagle Place, Cork, 17 June 2023.

This year, for the first time in many years, an event was held in Cork. Organised by the Joycean scholar, Dr Flicka Small, it took place in Nano Nagle Place. It is fitting that an event was held in Cork, as it is the birthplace of James Joyce's father, John Stanislaus Joyce (1849-1931). It is also fitting that it took place in Nano Nagle Place, as Joyce's maternal grandmother (Ellen O'Connell) and her sister (Alicia) were educated in the South Presentation Convent (now Nano Nagle Place). You can read about this and the other links between Joyce and Nano Nagle Place here.

Speakers at the conference came from all over Ireland to talk about James Joyce, Cork, the Joyce family and of course, Ulysses. Local historians and residents of the South Parish, where James Joyce's father was born, discussed the history of the Joyce family in Cork.

 

Garden in Nano Nagle Place, Cork.

Other events held in Cork this year to mark Bloomsday include a presentation in the Crawford Art Gallery of the work of the artist Angie Shanahan and a discussion with Dr Flicka Small about art in Joyce. In the Cork City Library, former Irish diplomat, Daniel Mulhall, read from his book about Ulysses and from Ulysses itself.

Well done to all involved in the Cork Bloomsday 23 events. Looking forward to next year's Bloomsday already.

The French Festival, Dublin 1962 - An Irishman's Diary

The French Festival took place in Dublin from 26 April to 8 May 1962. It was a cultural and industrial showcase put on by the French authorities to win hearts and minds (and perhaps wallets as well) in Ireland. I have just written an Irishman's Diary about it in the Irish Times newspaper. Read it here.

Photograph of Taoiseach Seán Lemass cutting the ribbon to open the French Festival at the Mansion House, Dublin, 26 April 1962.

The Festival was opened by Seán Lemass and he said that he hoped that it would renew the old ties that existed between the two countries. It took place in an Ireland very different from today's Ireland. The Festival was covered extensively in the Irish press as if it was something of immense importance. France was portrayed as an exotic land full of haute couture and fine dining (common stereotypes at the time I suppose, although they still be valid to this day, depending on who you ask). As mentioned in my article, the one dissenting voice was in the Cork Examiner. On the same day that the 'Dublin Letter' appeared saying that the French had come to Dublin in search of "more business", the editorial discussed the state of French politics in light of the Algerian War, which came to an end in March 1962.

The writer of the Irishman's Diary at the time, Quidnunc, labelled it a "whirlimagig" - probably due to the amount of events and variety of events that took place during the fortnight. As well as the formal events in the Mansion House and the Building Center on Lower Baggot Street, the French film Archimède, le clochard [The Tramp], starring Jean Gabin (1904-1976), was shown in the Ambassador Cinema at the top of O'Connell Street. 

A French frigate, Commandant Rivière, spent a week at the quayside in Dublin. Its crew entertained on board and were brought on a tour of the Guinness brewery. They also played a football match with Irish soldiers and there was a dinner arranged for them at MacKee barracks, which was attended by the Chief of Staff of the Irish Defense Forces. 

A French policeman directing traffic on Baggot Street with a Garda during the French Fesitval.

Over forty cases of cheese were flown in for the fortnight and they were sold in shops and restaurants around Dublin. A shop on Chatham Street, the Farm Produce Co., advertised that it was selling Brie and Camembert as well as the not so common varieties Saint-Paulin and La Grappe.