Blooms & Barnacles

All men are mortal, and Socrates is a man. Therefore, all men are Socrates. Wait...  In this episode, we discuss the art and technic of "Aeolus": rhetoric and "enthymemic." Topics include Stuart Gilbert and his schema, rhetoric as a classical art form, the Jesuits and rhetoric, the extremely comprehensive lists of rhetorical forms found in "Aeolus", how "Aeolus" is structured like a classical rhet...

The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind… We kick off our series on Ulysses ’ seventh episode, “Aeolus”! Topics in this episode include Book X of The Odyssey , Homeric parallels found in “Aeolus”, the headlines, the Evening Telegraph as it appears in Ulysses , Stromboli, brazen walls and floating isles, wind and air imagery, the history of the Freeman’s Journal , the Sham Squire, Sir John Gra...

Break out the Tantalus glasses - we’re finally getting out of the Underworld! Topics in our final episode covering “Hades” include paying the ferryman, turning a suit, rats, Robert Emmet, the speech from the dock, toxic nostalgia, cremation, the Catholic Church’s position on cremation, quicklime, Zoroastrianism, the Parsi Tower of Silence, the unexpected consequences of a reduced vulture populatio...

Sometimes, Bloom is right to be wrong. Topics in this episode include Charles Stewart Parnell’s funeral and grave, Parnell as Agamemnon, Parnell as a Christ figure, graveyard iconography, Old Ireland’s Hearts and Hands, All Souls’ Day, euphemisms for death, Thomas Gray’s “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard,” a stuffed owl, Milly’s funeral for a bird, white stones on Irish graves, Ireland’s devo...

What’s up with that donkey in Glasnevin? Topics in this episode include seagulls in Ulysses , the Blooms’ old digs in Lombard St. West, The Joyce Project , Mesias the tailor, donkey lore, superstitions of death, a strange work of art, Lucia di Lammermoor, Ivy Day, the location of Bloom’s future grave, Altman the Saltman, Finglas, Joe Hynes, the crimes of Charley M’Coy, Bonnie Prince Charlie, more...

Who is the man in the macintosh? Topics in this episode include trying to figure out the identity of Ulysses ’ most enigmatic figure, Penrose, HCE, Peter Falk, the details we can decipher from M’Intosh’s brief appearances in Ulysses , the infallibility of Bovril, Dusty Rhodes, why searching for Easter eggs can be unsatisfying, Theoclymenos, James Clarence Mangan, Wetherup, James Duffy, artist came...

Beware the Ides of June. Topics in this episode include the power of keys, John O’Connell the St. Peter of Dublin, “Silver Threads Among the Gold”, Daniel O’Connell the Hercule of Dublin, Daniel O’Connell’s cheatin’ heart, the Persephone of Dublin, Christian burial practices, blood libel, vampire imagery and antisemitism, Leopold Bloom’s version for everlasting life after death, Charles Haddon Spu...

Corpses rarely wear hats. Topics include the correspondent organ of Hades (the heart), the O’Connell Circle, Daniel O’Connell’s heart, Tom Kernan, hats, losing your identity in the underworld, freemasonery, whether or not Leopold Bloom is a mason, Mount Jerome and the Irish church, Bloom’s denial of an afterlife, humor in the face of death, ghosts in a modern epic, Corny Kelleher, John Henry Mento...

Is there really a church in Dublin full of deadly corpsegas? Topics discussed in this episode include Cardinal McCabe and his mausoleum, the fate of orphans and widows in 1904, “Three Women to Every Men,” Leopold Bloom’s irreverence in the face of mortality, Victoria and Albert, getting up a whip, John Henry Menton, Elpinor, Cerberus, Father Coffey, a thing with a knob on the end going into a buck...

Wanna grab a pint at the Brian Boroimhe? Or is it Boroihme? Boru? Topics discussed in this episode include the days when cattle roamed the North Circular Road, the Royal Canal, the identity of Dublin’s own Charon, locks, how realistic it would be for Bloom to walk to Mullingar (it’s not), the Brian Boroimhe House, Tom Kernan’s debts to Mr. Fogarty, white silence, the popularity of Elizabeth Barret...

Kelly and Dermot talk about James Joyce's "The Dead" as well as John Huston's 1987 film of the same name. This episode was originally released as a bonus episode on our Patreon.  To view a video version of this episode, check it out on YouTube: https://youtu.be/PSeZPqX5xyk To support the show and get monthly bonus content, join our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/barnaclecast

Kay ee double ell wy. I can’t this song out of my head. Topics in this episode include Dermot on quantum mechanics, the phenomenon of ebullition, galloping funeral carriages, the Gordon Bennett, top speeds of old race cars, 100+ year old music hall songs, the Mater hospital, Orion, Joe Cuffe, sassy Leopold Bloom, kindness to animals, the North Circular Road, Dunphy’s Corner, drinking to the health...

We are thrilled to welcome Martin Mooney, taphologist extraordinaire, as the guest on our 100th episode! Martin gives us a once-in-a-lifetime tour of Glasnevin Cemetery. If you enjoy the podcast, please consider supporting us at Patreon .  

Rattle his bones over the stones! He ’s only a pauper whom nobody owns! Content Warning: This episode contains discussions of infant death and suicide. Topics in this episode include an O’Connell St. history quiz, how Dermot was radicalized as a ten-year-old, the demise of Nelson’s pillar, the floozie in the jacuzzi, Paddy’s adelite face (or was it adelaide?), John Barleycorn, the spiritual traged...

How long can you hold a grudge? Topics in this episode include Mr. Power’s kept woman, hot 1904 gossip, rumpsteak, Reuben J. Dodd the Younger’s plunge into the Liffey, Bloom’s storytelling ability, pre-decimal currency, petty score settling, Elvery’s elephant, our favorite vegetarian restaurant in Dublin, Barabbas, chisellers, gombeens, usury, antisemitic stereotypes, whether Bloom is a self-loath...

Do you have the address of Henry Gibson? Kelly and Dermot welcome special guest Paul Ringo to Blooms & Barnacles . Topics include Joyce’s love of Henrik Ibsen, Paul’s love of Finnegans Wake via the stage, Joyce’s study of Norwegian, realism as seen in the works of Joyce and Ibsen, the artist as a conduit for the world’s filth, Joyce’s dream to Europeanize Ireland, the search for Henry Gibson, Joyc...

The Worst Man in Dublin. Topics in this episode include begrudgery, so much Dublin geography, mourning customs, buildings found on Great Brunswick (Pearse) St., jarvies and the hazard, the Invincibles, the Antient Concert Rooms, Joyce’s music career, John McCormack and J.C. Doyle, Dermot’s history with the erstwhile Antient Concert Rooms’ building, St. Mark’s Church, Bloom’s strange alibi, Blazes...

What kind of person has a picnic party in a funeral carriage? Topics in this episode include a heartfelt thank you, cats that hate technology, the name Poldy, Eton suits, the Blooms’ middle class pretensions, Rudy’s conception, Raymond Terrace and the cease to do evil, Milly Bloom, crustcrumbs and picnic parties, Milly’s trip to Lough Owel, M’Coy, “Grace”, Joe Hynes, incubism, unpaid debts, the Gr...

I’ll tickle his catastrophe, believe you me! Topics include Ulysses tarot cards, incubism, the system of correspondences found in Ulysses , Martin Cunningham, Mr Power, Simon Dedalus, armstraps, caring for corpses, women’s role in caring for the dead, hats as identities, economic incubism, Bloom’s outsider status, Irish funeral customs, embalming, why Dignam’s widow doesn’t attend his funeral, kee...

Shakespeare is in the eye of the beholder. Topics in this episode include the real-world inspiration for Paddy’s Dignam’s funeral, Matthew Kane, the funeral cortège to Glasnevin, attendees to Matthew Kane’s funeral, Martin Cunningham, Sisyphus, the short story “Grace,” the true story behind “Grace,” the Jesuits, Matthew Kane attending his own funeral, Matthew Kane’s appearance in “Ithaca,” Michael...

The parallels between Bloom and Odysseus’ journeys to the Underworld. Topics include a summary of Chapter XI of The Odyssey, Bloom as sideways Odysseus, the neighborhoods of Glasnevin and Sandymount, Paddy Dignam and his “apoplexy,” Elpenor, Martin Cunningham the Sisyphus of Dublin, Dublin’s waterways, Dublin’s Charon, coins for the eyes, psychopomps, Reuben J. Dodd, Corny Kelleher, Cerberus, Fath...

“Bantam” is an anagram of “Batman.” Coincidence? Topics include the state of Bantam Lyons’ hygiene, horseracing, Conway’s pub, cat wrangling, the Ascot Gold Cup, Throwaway, Bloom’s accidental racing tip, Dublin geography, Bloom’s disinterest in gambling, lotuses, the fleshpots of Egypt, Dermot’s dad’s betting tips, Orientalism, the Lincoln Place baths, sports as a lotus, Joyce’s love of cricket, T...

Dermot and Kelly take to the streets of Dublin on Bloomsday 2022 with the goal to talk to as many people celebrating the occasion as possible. They talk to revelers at the Sandycove Martello Tower, Kennedy’s Pub in Lincoln Place, outside Sweny’s Pharmacy, and on Duke St. in the general vicinity of Davy Byrne’s. Many, many thanks to all the delightful people that spoke to us! Sweny's Patreon helps...

Kelly speaks with actress Aedín Moloney about playing Molly Bloom in her one-woman show, Yes! Reflections of Molly Bloom . Aedín Moloney: http://www.aedinmoloney.com/ Instagram | Twitter Blooms & Barnacles Social Media: Facebook | Twitter Subscribe to  Blooms & Barnacles : Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher

Blooms & Barnacles chat with composer Benjamin Wenzeberg about his new, Ulysses -inspired opera NIGHTTTOWN . Topics include adapting Ulysses for the stage, the process of writing an opera during Covid, gender politics and #metoo in Ulysses , gender-inclusive casting, Molly as a force of nature, the proper use of Italian, the symbolic power of musical notation, and Stephen Dedalus’ vulnerability.