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MonJun 16

Bloomsday – June 16, 2025

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Commemorating the life and legend of Irish writer James Joyce on Bloomsday, every June 16, we take a moment to honor and celebrate all we’ve gained from his works. The significance of June 16 is taken from his 1922 novel, “Ulysses,” which takes place on June 16, 1904, and follows a day in the life of the story’s protagonist (Leopold Bloom). It is also the day Joyce went on his first date with his then wife-to-be, Nora Barnacle. Either way, National Bloomsday commemorates these two occasions every year on June 16. The story of Leopold Bloom is recognized as one of the most important works of modernist literature and has been largely considered a catalyst for the entire movement. Today, people in Ireland and Joyce fan’s around the world celebrate with festivals, readings, dramatizations, pub crawls, and more to honor a man who changed literature forever.

History of Bloomsday                                                   The first mention of a Bloomsday celebration was found in a letter written by Joyce himself to Miss Weaver in 1924, which refers to “a group of people who observed what they call Bloom’s Day on June 16.” The story was originally serialized in parts in the American journal, “The Little Review,” where the events in “Ulysses” tend to parallel that of Homer’s epic, “The Odyssey.” While in “The Odyssey” Odysseus has a 10-year journey home to his wife, Penelope, in contrast, the story of Leopold Bloom is about him trying to avoid going home to his wife. Although the story does not contain mythical gods, goddesses, or sirens, it does follow an average man dealing with everyday life in what can be described as somewhat grotesque realism. “Ulysses” has, on the one hand, been called “the most prominent landmark in modernist literature,” a work where life’s complexities are depicted with “unprecedented, and unequaled, linguistic and stylistic virtuosity” by T.S. Eliot and, on the other hand, “a heap of dung, crawling with worms, photographed by a cinema camera through a microscope” by Virginia Woolf. It has been reinterpreted in a number of different ways across the world and still is referenced as a classic piece of literature that cannot be forgotten. 

While the fictional June 16, 1904, follows the dysfunctional life of the character, Leopold Bloom, the day in James Joyce’s life was quite a pleasant one. It was the first outing he went on with his future muse and wife, Nora Barnacle, with whom he shared a loving and passionate relationship throughout his life.

Famous artist John Ryan and popular novelist Brian O’Nolan came together to organize the first official Bloomsday back in 1954. They celebrated the day in Dublin by taking a pilgrimage along the routes mentioned in “Ulysses.” They were accompanied by James Joyce’s cousin, his brother Tom Joyce, and Patrick Kavanagh. A.J. Leventhal and Anthony Cronin also joined the journey as they were the ones steering the two horse-drawn carriages inside which the rest of the group were sitting.

Every member was assigned a character from the novel and they all participated in a sort of role-playing. A.J. Levanthal portrayed Leopold Bloom, Brian O’Nolan portrayed Simon Dedalus, John Ryan portrayed Martin Cunningham and Anthony Cronin portrayed Stephen Dedalus.

Starting from Martello Tower, their plan was to end at Nighttown just as it has been described in the novel. Sadly, they didn’t complete the pilgrimage and cut it short at the midpoint due to them all getting too drunk to even take a step further. 

Since that day, National Bloomsday has been celebrated as one of the biggest festivals in Ireland and is also commemorated all over the world by Joyce enthusiasts.