Happy Bloomsday.

A friend of mine in Ireland kindly sent me a postcard from Charlie Byrne’s bookshop in Galway. The card shows the shop window decked out with a James Joyce display to commemorate Bloomsday which is today June 16^th. It reminded me that I ought to write a little piece for Bloomsday myself. In the Van Morrison fan groups we had a friend called Birgit from Berlin who loved all things Irish and always remembered Bloomsday, So I would like to dedicate this little effort in memory of Birgit. 

Bloomsday is always held on June 16^th because that was the date in 1904 when the events of James Joyce’s masterpiece novel Ulysses take place. It is called Bloomsday after the protagonist in the novel called Leopold Bloom. There is a Bloom's Hotel in Dublin. Me and Kim stayed there many years ago. Joyce chose June 16th 1904 because it was on that day that he first went out with his future wife Nora Barnacle. Six years ago, when I was in Dublin, I went in a bookshop which was one of the locations visited by Leopold Bloom in Ulysses. In 1904 it was a pharmacy called Sweny’s where Bloom bought some lemony soap. I bought a print of Joyce in the shop as a souvenir of Dublin, had it framed and hung it on a wall at home..It was memorable for me because every afternoon they have a Joyce reading in the shop. I listened for a while, and they asked me if I would like to read a bit. I declined because I have a phobia about reading in public. I thought it was a great little shop though, and very nice people working there.

I am not a Joyce expert by any means. I have read Dubliners and Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man and attempted Ulysses. I haven’t even attempted to start Finnegan’s Wake. One thing I am quite proud of though is that my family owned a pub in County Mayo called Joyce’s. There are a lot of Joyces in Mayo and Galway. It is known as ‘Joyce Country’, so I like to think I have a connection to James Joyce. Another small link is that my surname is Corley. In his book Dubliners Joyce wrote a story called Two Gallants in which one of the protagonists is called Corley, I would love to know why he chose that name.

Kim, Me, & James Joyce.

The first Bloomsday was held in 1954 on the 50th anniversary of the fictional events, when the writers and poets Brian O’Nolan (Flann O’Brien), Anthony Cronin, and Patrick Kavanagh, along with artist John Ryan, James Joyce’s cousin Tom Joyce and lecturer A.J. Leventhal decided to have a pilgrimage to all the locations mentioned in the book. They set off in two horse-drawn cabs of the type Bloom would have used. The first port of call was the Martello Tower at Sandycove which is where the book begins. The day descended into drunken chaos and arguing, they didn’t visit most of the intended locations and finally abandoned the day in the Bailey pub. That was bound to happen with the likes of Brian O’Nolan and Patrick Kavanagh involved. John Ryan shot some amateur footage of that historic day. I have shared it to this page if you want to see it.

First Bloomsday 1954.

They had planted a seed, and Bloomsday has grown over the years into a huge event. Because of Covid a lot of the activities are online this year. If you google Bloomsday Festival 2021 you can see what is on offer. If you are lucky enough to be in Dublin there are walking tours and other events you can join. I can’t think of anything else to say about Bloomsday now, except Happy Bloomsday !

PS, I took my friend's postcard from Charlie Byrne's Bookshop round to the pub and put it on the wall in Curly's Corner next to a card my brother Paul sent me from Shakespeare & Company's Bookshop in Paris. They go together because it was Shakespeare & Company who first published Ulysses in 1922. Paul's card shows the poet and owner of City Lights Bookshop Lawrence Ferlinghetti with the owner of Shakespeare & Co George Whitman..

The First Bloomsday June 16, 1954

Puddles & Rainbows by Padraig Stevens.

Sunday afternoon, a glorious hot summer’s day. I feel quite pleased with myself because this morning I made the supreme effort and brought the hosepipe through the house and out the front door and washed the pollution from the road off the front of my house. It looks a lot brighter and cleaner now. I will try and do it every Sunday from now on. I am now sitting in the cool of my kitchen listening to a CD that I bought in a charity shop yesterday afternoon. It is called Puddles & Rainbows by Padraig Stevens. I actually briefly met Padraig over twenty years ago. There was a time in the late 90s & early 2000s when The Saw Doctors were almost my favourite band. Kim & I saw them several times, mostly at festivals, but also a memorable concert at the Royal Albert Hall when all the Galway football team came on stage with the Sam Maguire trophy which they had just won. 

One night we went to see the Saw Doctors at the venue in Bristol now renamed The Bristol Beacon. During the interval we went outside for a cigarette and had a few words with a man who had the same idea. It was only later in the evening that I realised it was Padraig Stevens. I knew him best for writing The Tuam Beat for the band and I was reminded of him a few years ago when Christy Moore recorded a great version of that song on his album Lily. Anyway, this CD was released in 2004. I thought I might like one or two songs, but I am pleased to say that I love the whole album. When I read the sleeve notes I recognised several of the musicians. As well as Leo Moran, Davy Carton and Anthony Thistlewaite who I know from The Saw Doctors I was also pleased to see that Jimmy Higgins who I have got to know through his work with Christy is a major player on this album. 

The Streets Of Galway is a delightful catchy song to open the album, with a great sax break by Anthony. Ireland For The Summer is also a wonderful song. It makes you want to pack your bags right now and get over to Ireland. The Irish Tourist Board should use it in their commercials. Jimmy Fitzgerald excels on guitars. Good Girl Delia is a humorous cheerful song which develops into a hornpipe called Pocai Folamita composed by Jim Stevens who I assume is Padraig’s brother. Breda Smyth and Jimmy Higgins are brilliant on whistle & Bodhran. Waiting For The Swallows is a beautiful evocative song featuring Aine Ni Shioradain on harp and Olivia Donnellan on accordion. The Galway Races is played at the rhythm of a horse race and gets faster and faster towards the finishing line. It features the noise of the crowd during the Galway Plate of 2002. Bring It All Your Love is a moving ballad in which Padraig is helped out on vocals by Sarah Keating and Sarah Jane Burke, and Nuala Ni Channain on fiddle. Still The Only One features Leo Moran playing guitar on this great love song. Musha Raftery is an outstanding atmospheric track with just Padraig, Mairtin O’Connor accordion and Brendan O’Regan bouzouki. I’m not sure what it is about, some of the words are in Irish, but I do know that Raftery was the name of a blind Irish poet who came from my mother’s hometown of Kiltimagh in County Mayo. That might not be the Raftery that Padraig is referring to though. 

A Punt, A Punt is a very funny song about money, loosely based on Seven Drunken Nights by The Dubliners. Jimmy plays no less than six percussion instruments on this song. Constant Heart could easily be a Saw Doctors song because it has the great sound of Leo & Davy on guitars. Gone, Long Gone is a melancholy love song with Mouse McHugh on vocals and Derek Murray keyboards. It’s The Life (Maybe) is a nice optimistic song which brings this most enjoyable album to a close. Well done Padraig Stevens and everyone else who worked on this project. Sorry it took me 17 years to discover this album, but I am very pleased I finally found it yesterday afternoon.