Joyce everywhere - Szombathely and the Hungarian link to James Joyce's Ulysses

Bloomsday is celebrated all around the world on this day 16 June. It marks the day on which James Joyce's fictional character Leopold Bloom walked around the streets of Dublin in Joyce's novel Ulysses. I have just written about the link between Ulysses and the ancient Hungarian city of Szombathely. Read it here. 

In the novel, Joyce says that Leopold Bloom's father was a Jew and that he came from the ancient Hungarian city. Events have been held in Szombathely to mark this connection between Ireland and Hungary for the last number of years. You can learn more about the history of the events on this dedicated website. This year a mural inspired by an episode from the novel will be unveiled in the city. The chosen artist is James Earley and you can find out more about his work here.

 

Bronze Ulysses plaque on Dublin's Grafton Street. Part of the Joyce Trail.

In the Brainstorm piece, I mention the quote often attributed to Joyce whereby he is thought to have said that he believed that his work would keep professors busy for years tying to decipher all the puzzles and enigmas that it contained. This is believed to have come from a French translator of Joyce's work and it dates from the 1950s, many years after Joyce said it to the Frenchman. It was told to Joyce's biographer Richard Ellmann. As such, doubts are sometimes cast on whether it is accurate or maybe it was misremembered by the translator with the passage of time. Either way, it would be nice to think that Joyce did say it whether he did or not. Read more about the quote and the possible truth of it here. 

Book chapter published - Freedom of Speech in the Press in Times of Conflict

Delighted to say that I received a copy of the book Freedom of Speech in the Press in Times of Conflict: Historical Perspectives from Ireland and Europe (Oxford: Peter Lang, 2026), ed. by Richard C. Allen, Felix M. Larkin, Oliver O'Hanlon and Aoife Whelan. Details of this book are available on the publisher's website here.

 

Front cover of Freedom of Speech in the Press in Times of Conflict

My chapter (pp. 55-77) examines the work of Art O'Brien, who was the first Dáil's publicity man in London during the Irish War of Independence. He was responsible for disseminating the message of the 1st Dáil (whose term ran from January 1919 to August 1921) to the foreign press corps based in London and the outside world. He was in constant contact with the Dáil's Publicity Department in Dublin and the various heads of that Department.

The 1st Dáil met for the first time in Dublin's Mansion House before it was outlawed in September 1919. It had to meet in secret thereafter. As such, O'Brien had to be extremely careful when carrying out his mission. You can read more about O'Brien in his entry in the Dictionary of Irish Biography or if you want to go further, I would recommend the biography by Mary MacDiarmada Art O'Brien and Irish Nationalism in London, 1900-25.  

 

 

Table of contents.

As you can see from the table of contents reproduced above, the book covers a range of subjects in Ireland, France, Spain and Germany at different times of conflict. I am grateful to my fellow editors, Richard Allen, Felix Larkin and Aoife Whelan, and to the other contributors for all their hard work in bringing this volume to fruition

Andreas Strobl

Michael Foley

Claire Dubois

Claire Guerin

Alan McCarthy +

William Burton

Conor Campbell

Karine Deslandes 

+ Dr Alan McCarthy - sadly Alan did not live to see this volume in print. There is a tribute to Alan on the UCC School of History website, you can read it here. He was a great scholar and a really nice human being. He will be missed.
 

An Irish Diary about Goldenbridge Cemetery in Dublin

Goldenbridge Cemetery in Dublin's Inchicore is a nice place to visit. Much smaller in scale than the famed Glasnevin Cemetery on the northside, it was opened in October 1829 just after Catholic Emancipation was achieved in Ireland. Sometimes referred to as the first Catholic cemetery to be opened in Ireland since the Reformation, it is also referred to as Ireland's first non-denominational cemetery. Read my Irish Diary in today's Irish Times newspaper about the history of this cemetery. 

 

Entrance to Goldenbridge Cemetery. 

On my first visit to the cemetery in May 2026, I was struck by the uniformity of the place. It is not like more modern or larger Irish graveyards where you can find a vast range of gravestones (in terms of size and materials used). It is as if Goldenbridge is somehow frozen in time and has not changed since it was opened in the 19th century. It did close in 1869 but some new burials were allowed after that, including WT Cosgrave (1880-1965) and his son Liam Cosgrave (1920-2017). It is open again to new burials but they must conform to strict criteria laid down by the Dublin Cemeteries Trust (DCT), including a stipulation that no polished stone can be used. The DCT runs Goldenbridge and four other graveyards in Dublin - Glasnevin, Dardistown, Newlands Cross and Palmerstown. 

Some of the graves are enclosed by railings and there is some variation in terms of design - there are some gravestones in the form of Celtic Cross or obelisk or column. But a good few resemble the gravestone of the young boy I mentioned in the article that is located just inside the entrance (example below).

 

Example of gravestone found in Goldenbridge Cemetery Dublin.

The Luas Red Line tram passes the graveyard and you should remember to get off at the Drimnagh stop and not the Goldenbridge one as you might think. Richmond Barracks is close by and also deserves a visit for its rich history as a former military barracks and later as a school. The leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising were court-martialed within the walls of the barracks and as this website shows, it has witnessed many historic events in its long life. 

RTÉ Brainstorm piece on No Mate for the Magpie book

The novel No Mate for the Magpie was written by Frances Molloy (real name Ann Brady née McGill) in 1985. I have just written a short article on RTÉ Brainstorm discussing this unusual book. Read it here.

 

Cover of No Mate for the Magpie (London: Virago, 1985)

The narrative, told in the first person, deals with growing up in Derry and other parts of Northern Ireland in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s and the way that the tense political situation put a strain on people's lives. The story is told in a wry humorous way and the author uses details from her own biography to highlight the sectarian divide that existed at the time and to tell the tale of how the main character, Ann McGlone, faced discrimination because of her religion.  

I enjoyed the book for its humour and unusual writing style but it can be sad to read about the way that the main character was treated by others (including her neighbours and work colleagues) just because she was born into a different religion. It is now more than 40 years since No Mate for the Magpie was first published in 1985. Ruth Carr described it as "one of the most original fictional responses to the Troubles to come out of Northern Ireland".

Ann Brady was listed (as Frances Molloy) in an anthology of female writers from Northern Ireland in the 1980s. The title of the anthology is The Female Line: Northern Irish Women Writers (Belfast, 1985). It seems, therefore, that her work was appreciated and that good things were expected of her. 

Sadly, she died of a stroke in 1991 at age 44. With scholars such as Dr Laura Kennedy (University College Cork) and Dr Jennifer M. Jeffers (among others) taking an interest in Ann Brady's work in recent years, it is good to see that her work has not been forgotten. Dr Laura Kennedy organised an event in the Museum of Free Derry in November 2025 to mark the book's 40th anniversary. I think it was from Laura that I first heard about No Mate for the Magpie (thanks for that Laura!). Prof Jennifer Jeffers published a biography of Frances Molloy (Ann Brady) in 2025.

More Irish-themed covers of Le Petit Journal - Abbey Theatre Riot Feb 1926

I have previously written here about Irish-themed covers of the French illustrated periodical Le Petit Journal illustré. Another one to add to the list was published on this day (28 February) in 1926. It concerns the Abbey Theatre riot that took place in the Abbey Theatre in Dublin on 11 February 1926 when some audience members reacted angrily to a staging of Seán O'Casey's play The Plough and the Stars. You can find out more about the incident here.

 

Back cover of Le Petit Journal 28 February 1926. Image source. 

 

Page 2, Le Petit Journal 28 February 1926. Image source.  

The illustration of the riot was accompanied by a short description of what happened on the night. It was, according to the newspaper, 'something that could only take place in Ireland'. 'Things came to blows and the women grabbed each other's hair', it went on. 

W.B. Yeats tried in vain to separate the fighters and address the crowd but his efforts failed. The theatre was eventually cleared and closed. According to the newspaper, 'with the tenacity that marks the Celtic race, the directors of the Abbey and their actors claim that they will go on staging the play as they had planned'. 

WW1 Memorial Cross in Ieper/Ypres Belgium - RTÉ Brainstorm article

A tall stone Celtic Cross in the Belgian city of Ieper (Ypres) commemorates men from Cork in Ireland who died there during the First World War. I have just written a short article about the history of the cross for the RTÉ Brainstorm website. Read it here.

 

Photograph of the memorial with the cathedral in the background.

Ieper, known as Ypres during the War, was held by the forces of the Allied Powers right throughout the War. The cost of holding this strategic location was high for the Allies as well as the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire). Many hundreds of thousands died during the Three Battles of Ypres in 1914, 1915 and 1917.  

 

Photograph of the memorial showing a carving to represent the crest of Munster (three crowns) with some Celtic knot motif on the bottom.

After the War, Ieper was seen as 'holy ground' by ex-servicemen on account of all the lives lost there during the War and the near utter destruction of the town. I have previously written about the destruction and rebuilding of the town here. The memorial cross was unveiled in 1924 and by that stage, Ireland had gained its independence from Britain. 

The sacrifice of the Irishmen who fought in the British army during the War was remembered by their family and the community they came from. However, with independence came a fresh perspective on the Irish who fought and died during the War. 

 

Photograph showing the detailed carving of the Celtic motif on the shaft of the cross.

This article by Fionnuala Walsh on the 1914-1918 Online Encyclopedia covers how the attitude of Irish people to the War evolved over the years. This article by Edward Madigan deals with how the centenary of the War was marked in Ireland and how this provided a chance to look back on that period with a more objective outlook. The renewed interest in the story of the Irishmen who fought in the War that was prompted by events such as the Decade of Centenaries can be seen in the renewed links between Cork City Council and Ieper City Council that I mention in the Brainstorm piece. 

RTÉ Brainstorm piece on Le Goncourt des détenus

In France a literary prize is decided by prison inmates. It is called 'Le Goncourt des détenus' and I have just written a piece about it for the RTÉ Brainstorm website. Read it here.

 

The prize is similar to the regular Prix Goncourt literary award that has been awarded to the "best and most imaginative prose work of the year" but what makes this one unique is that it is prison inmates from 45 French centers of detention who read the books on the shortlist and decide who should receive the award. Find out more about it here.