The Bloomsday celebrates 16 June 1904, the day depicted in James Joyce’s novel Ulysses in many places around the world, especially in Dublin.
James Joyce’s groundbreaking novel Ulysses, featuring Leopold Bloom among its cast of characters, is set on a single day, June 16th, 1904. The novel describes the city such in detail that the writer once said that if Dublin were to be destroyed, Ulysses could be used to rebuild it. Ulysses, one of the most enormous pieces of literary history, has a special importance of for Dublin from this aspect.
On the 50th anniversary of the novel, in 1954, critic John Ryan and the novelist Brian O’Nalan organized what was to be a daylong pilgrimage tour like in Ulysses, they travelled all city through the day and each one was assigned roles from the novel. Since then, Bloomsday has been celebrated in Dublin and all around the world.
So how was Bloomsday being marked this year? The festival kicked off at 8:00 am with the Bloomsday breakfast, one of its most established traditions, which celebrates Leopold Bloom’s famous meal of grilled kidneys. You can explore the full Bloomsday Festival here.
