Dublin: One City, One Book

JOYCED! by renowned Irish writer Donal O'Kelly takes us on a tour de force of Joycean Dublin, catapulting the audience through the crucial year in Joyce's life of 1904.

JOYCED! by Donal O'Kelly, is performed by Katie O'Kelly, directed by Sorcha Fox and produced by Breda Cashe.

A Whirlwind Love Affair, Gunfire, Music, Rejection, Flight, Boater Hats... James Joyce like you've never seen him before.

Today, Thursday, 2nd February, is the 130th anniversary of the birth of James Joyce!

Arguably Ireland’s greatest literary genius and a leading proponent of modernism in fiction, James Joyce was born at 41 Brighton Square to John Stanislaus Joyce and Mary Jane Murray, and spent his earliest years there and in Castlewood Avenue. He was educated at Clongowes Wood College and at Belvedere College before going on to University College Dublin (on St Stephen’s Green), where he studied modern languages.

Joyce left Ireland with Nora Barnacle in 1904, and was to spend the rest of his life in Italy and France, paying his last visit to Ireland in 1912. Joyce died in Zurich on the 13th January, 1941, and is buried in Zurich's Fluntern Cemetery. 

Joyce's collection of short stories, Dubliners, and the choice for Dublin: One City, One Book 2012, was first published in 1914 by Grant Richards Ltd., London.

Right: James Joyce. Image of Joyce reproduced from the original glass negative held in UCD Library Special Collections by kind permission of Helen Solterer.

Dublin City Council is delighted to announce that the 'Dublin: One City, One Book' choice for April 2012 is Dubliners by James Joyce. The chosen title will be supported by a wide range of public events and celebrations next April.

Right: Click image to view larger version.