A Déise twist on Ireland's most famous novel for Waterford's inaugural Bloomsday Festival
Frank Farrelly leads the walking tour as part of Bloomsday Waterford, the Déise's inaugural festival celebrating James Joyce's Ulysses. All Photos: Joe Evans
The 16th of June marks Bloomsday, the date on which transpire the events of James Joyce's famous novel Ulysses.
Commemorated by bibliophiles across the globe, this is the first year that Waterford city has taken part in the festivities.
A day filled with activities and events, the organising committee greeted all attendees in full period dress outside the Bishop's Palace, where the festival commenced in the morning with a guided walking tour.
Local author and poet Frank Farrelly took the lead, guiding the dapperly dressed group sporting straw hats, parasols, and cheerful florals throughout the city.
The tour stopped at sites of interest to explore the historical connections between Joyce's novel and Waterford.
Farrelly is thrilled to have the date noted locally, commenting, “I think it’s important to commemorate the legacy of James Joyce in Waterford, and everywhere in Ireland. He is a national treasure.”
Stops included the local horological centre, The Irish Museum of Time, where a first edition copy of Ulysses is on display, beneath a clock mentioned within the text.
Waterford Central Library on Lady Lane showcased an exhibition of SETU Design students' artwork. These incorporated nods to Joyce's writing and were all contrasting, showing the range of different artistic styles within this small group. The artists used collage and digital drawing programs to compile their pieces.
The exhibition will next move to Waterford Gallery of Art, where it will be on display for a limited time. SETU Lecturer, Dr Fiona Dowling, spoke on Leopold Bloom’s profession.
The walking tour was followed by a historically accurate meal, with Denny sausages, the modern variant of Henry Denny & Sons Ltd., a company founded in Waterford in 1820. Mentioned in Ulysses, a woman, in the butchers, ordered what Bloom observes as “a pound and a half of Denny’s sausages”. A local spin was placed on the meal, having a blaa as the bun, a bread that, while a local delicacy, didn’t make it into Joyce's novel.
Readings from Ulysses by actress Clare Mullen and a performance from the Ballycullane Mummers took up the afternoon in WGOA. The evening's main entertainment allowed all to sit back and relax, with screenings hosted by Garter Lane. The main feature film, Nora, was directed by Pat Murphy and follows the romance between James Joyce and Nora Barnacle, the 16th of June being the anniversary of the couple's first date.
Also shown was the local short poetry film, Letter To Miss Weaver, which was part of the official selection for the Bloomsday Film Festival. This was made by Waterford creatives, Ger Duffy, John Foley and actress Louise Barry, who stars in the leading role of Lucia Joyce. The short was filmed in Annestown House, located along the Copper Coast.
The narrative follows Joyce’s daughter, Lucia, during her incarceration in St Andrew's Psychiatric Hospital. This creative interpretation is based on a poem written by Director Ger Duffy, which was inspired by a conceptualised letter from Lucia to her guardian, Miss Harriet Weaver. The short uses an institutional setting to show the isolation and entrapment of mental illness.
The end of the first Waterford Bloomsday was marked by traditional Irish music and a nightcap in Tully’s Bar on O’Connell Street.
