First Bloomsday

Happy Bloomsday!

Around the Irish-loving world, June 16 marks Bloomsday, the celebration of the day captured in James Joyce’s Ulysses. 

The first celebration was in 1954, the 50th anniversary of the actual day.  John Ryan the artist and founder of Envoy magazine and the novelist Flann O’Brien (aka Myles na gCopaleen, author of “Cruiskeen Lawn” in the Irish Times) planned a daylong pilgrimage along the Ulysses route. They were joined by Patrick Kavanagh, Anthony Cronin, Tom Joyce (Jamey’s cousin) and AJ Leventhal.  Each member of the party was assigned roles from the novel, and they were going to hit all the places mentioned in the book.  But the pilgrims got too drunk and had to call it off midway.  A very Irish memorial, indeed.

Pictured, from left, Ryan, Cronin, Myles, Paddy Kavanagh, and Joyce’s cousin.