I went to the James Joyce Centre in Dublin yesterday. Having last year taken an excellent Joycean tour which left from the museum, I had high hopes, but unfortunately found the permanent display disappointing.
Although the James Joyce Centre is the main the museum dedicated to the author in his native city, it has very few artefacts that are directly associated with him. The table owned by one of Joyce’s friends at which Joyce met to discuss the translation of his work is of marginal interest. It would be more interesting to see the table at which the writer himself wrote the original work.
One reason for the absence of Joyce’s possessions maybe his peripatetic lifestyle. Another explanation for the relative poverty of the Joyce Centre’s collection is suggested by the copies of paintings of Joyce’s family which hang in one of the rooms: the Joyce Centre has to make do with the copies because most of the originals are in American collections, which presumably have much greater purchasing power.
Ulysses
The museum has a number of interesting interactive displays and documentaries on show. However, even these are displayed in a careless manner with a number of the charts outlining Joyce’s biography either missing or in the wrong order.
Despite these disappointments, Joyce’s life seems to have been so colourful and the speculation surrounding his masterpiece Ulysses is so great that it is impossible to leave without picking up a couple of fascinating theories or biographical details.
The door of 7 Eccles Street, home of Leopold Bloom, the hero of Ulysses, is by far the most interesting artefact on display at the museum. But why did Joyce choose to use that particular address?
Leopold Bloom
According to the museum, 7 Eccles Street was the real-life address of Joyce’s friend John Francis Byrne. When Joyce returned to Ireland for a brief visit in 1909, he stayed with Byrne on Eccles Street.
During his stay in Dublin, Joyce became upset when an acquaintance told him that he had been going out with Joyce’s partner Nora at the time same time as Joyce several years earlier. Joyce wrote angry letters to Nora demanding to know the truth, until his host reassured him that he was worrying about nothing and that there was no truth in the rumour.
In recognition of his kindness and for putting his mind at rest, Joyce chose Byrne’s home on Eccles Street as the address of the one of the most famous literary characters of the twentieth century. Not stopping there, Joyce even used Byrne’s exact measurement for Bloom, after obtaining them when Byrne stopped off at a chemist to measure and weigh himself, during Joyce’s visit
Whatever its deficiencies, the Joyce Centre is still worth a visit for fascinating nuggets like these.
