

Blooms & Barnacles
Kelly Bryan
A blog and podcast that discuss James Joyce's Ulysses from a non-academic point of view. Less snooty, more movie references.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jun 5, 2019 • 42min
Bloomsday in Melbourne (w/ Steve Carey)
A lifelong lover of the works of Joyce, Steve Carey is an organizer of the Bloomsday celebration in Melbourne, Australia. He chats with Kelly about (briefly) meeting Richard Ellmann, the joys and travails of adapting Ulysses for the stage, a heroic battle over trousers in Tom Stoppard's Travesties, and how to get a period hearse for your Bloomsday procession. This episode is not to be missed!
Sweny's Patreon is almost to its goal, but they can still use your help. Please subscribe!
Learn more about Bloomsday in Melbourne here and on Facebook.
Blooms and Barnacles on Social Media:
Facebook|Twitter
Subscribe to Blooms and Barnacles:
iTunes| Google Play Music| Stitcher
Music:
Our theme is:
Noir - S Strong & Boogie Belgique

May 22, 2019 • 53min
Averroes and Moses Maimonides
Kelly and Dermot tackle the reference to Averroes and Maimonides in "Nestor." Not only does this episode cover these two philosophers and their connection to Aristotle, there's also plenty of discussion on Morris dance, Giordano Bruno and the thematic importance of goth kids.
Sweny's Patreon is half-way to its goal, but they can still use your help. Please subscribe!
On the blog:
Decoding Dedalus: Dark Men of Mien and Movement
Social Media:
Facebook|Twitter
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Further Reading & Listening:
Adamson, P. (2013, Nov. 9). Episode 163: Burnt Offering - The Maimonides Controversy. The History of Philosophy[Audio podcast].
Adamson, P. (2013, Nov. 9). Episode 149: Back to Basics - Averroes on Reason and Religion. The History of Philosophy[Audio podcast].
Delaney, F. (2011, Sep. 27). Episode 68: A Trio of Dudes. Re:Joyce[Audio podcast].
Gifford, D., & Seidman, R. J. (1988). Ulysses annotated: Notes for James Joyce's Ulysses. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Pasnau, R. (2011). The Islamic scholar who gave us modern philosophy. Humanities, 32 (6). Retrieved from: https://www.neh.gov/humanities/2011/novemberdecember/feature/the-islamic-scholar-who-gave-us-modern-philosophy
Yudelson, L. (2017, Nov. 23). The brother Maimonides. The Jewish Standard. Retrieved from https://jewishstandard.timesofisrael.com/the-brothers-maimonides/
Music:
Our theme is:
Noir - S Strong & Boogie Belgique

May 8, 2019 • 1h 28min
Dick Feeney
A super-sized Blooms and Barnacles! Dick is a friend of Kelly's and Dermot's who is a lover of Ulysses and the music found throughout the novel. Dick talks about some of his favorite songs that play a role in Ulysses and the history behind them. We also chat about the use of music in "The Dead," the final story in The Dubliners. And because we've never met a tangent we didn't like, we also talk (briefly) about Dick's time in Turkey, Stephen's lost faith, Dick's love of the opera, and grieving over tragedies that happened many generations ago.
Sweny's Patreon is almost to its goal, but they can still use your help. Please subscribe!
Songs mentioned in this episode:
The Lass of Aughrim
Love's Old Sweet Song
The Croppy Boy
I Dreamt I Dwelt in Marble Halls
Seaside Girls
Further Reading:
Bowen, Z. (1974). Musical allusions in the works of James Joyce: Early poetry through Ulysses. Albany: State University of New York Press. Retrieved from https://tinyurl.com/yy85e3oq
Ellmann, R. (1959). James Joyce. New York: Oxford University Press.
Maddox, B. (2000). Nora: the real life of Molly Bloom. New York: Mariner Books.
O'Dowd, P. (1999). James Joyce's 'The Dead' and Its Galway Connections. Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society, 51, 189-193. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/25535707
Social Media:
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Subscribe to Blooms and Barnacles:
iTunes| Google Play Music| Stitcher
Our theme is:
Noir - S Strong & Boogie Belgique

Apr 24, 2019 • 45min
Begrudgery
While begrudge as a verb exists throughout the English speaking world, begrudgery as a noun is peculiar to Ireland. Dermot and Kelly discuss what makes Irish begrudgery a unique phenomena, how it affected Dermot growing up in Ireland, and, of course, how begrudgery influenced James Joyce's life and writing.
Further Reading:
The Irish Times on begrudgery here and here.
Sweny's Patreon is almost to its goal, but they can still use your help. Please subscribe!
Social Media:
Facebook|Twitter
Subscribe to Blooms and Barnacles:
iTunes| Google Play Music| Stitcher
Music:
Our theme is:
Noir - S Strong & Boogie Belgique
We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful

Apr 10, 2019 • 41min
A Fox Burying His Grandmother
Dermot and Kelly take on a point of vexation and consternation for any Ulysses fan: what the actual heck does Stephen's riddle mean? What symbolism lies within? Does he just like torturing children? We throw in some extra John Milton for good measure.
Sweny's Patreon is half-way to its goal, but they can still use your help. Please subscribe!
On the blog:
Stephen's Riddle
Weep No More: Lycidas in Nestor
Social Media:
Facebook|Twitter
Subscribe to Blooms and Barnacles:
iTunes| Google Play Music| Stitcher
Further Reading:
Bowen, Z. (1974). Musical allusions in the works of James Joyce: Early poetry through Ulysses. Albany: State University of New York Press. Retrieved from http://tinyurl.com/y5womf69
Delaney, F. (2011, Aug. 23). Episode 63: A Lot of Nonsense. Re:Joyce [Audio podcast].
Joyce, P.W. (1910). English as we speak it in Ireland. London: Longmans, Green & Co. Retrieved from https://archive.org/details/englishaswespeak00joycuoft/page/187?fbclid=IwAR21xIHZOLV48sEIEVS3TM1Au5QqSrO5Oz1T9nEwSSDhXxSExgVqF2SeydI
Kaczvinsky, D. (1988). "The Cock Crew": An Answer to the Riddle. James Joyce Quarterly, 25(2), 265-268. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/25484873
Rickard, J. (1997). Stephen Dedalus among schoolchildren: The schoolroom and the riddle of authority in Ulysses. Studies in the Literary Imagination, 30, 17-36. Retrieved from http://www.facstaff.bucknell.edu/rickard/authority.html
Music:
Our theme is:
Noir - S Strong & Boogie Belgique

Mar 27, 2019 • 53min
The Nostalgia Trap (w/ Tom O'Leary)
Kelly and Dermot welcome Tom O'Leary back to the podcast to talk about the allure of nostalgia. Tom and Dermot talk about what it's actually like to be an Irish person who left their home country to seek their fortune abroad, nostalgia for their past, Americans' nostalgia for an Ireland that never was, and how Joyce's nostalgia for Ireland shaped his work.
Sweny's Patreon is half-way to its goal, but they can still use your help. Please subscribe!
Social Media:
Facebook|Twitter
Subscribe to Blooms and Barnacles:
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T.C O'Leary's online:
website| Facebook|Twitter |Instagram
Our Personal Nostalgia Traps:
Dermot - Reeling in the Years, 1990
Kelly - "Flypaper" by Robscenity
Tom - the dole scene in The Commitments (We couldn't find this clip on YouTube, but here's the trailer if you've never seen The Commitments.)
Music:
Our theme is:
Noir - S Strong & Boogie Belgique

Mar 13, 2019 • 52min
Wings of Excess
"One more victory like that and we're done for." Kelly and Dermot discuss the ancient Greek warrior king Pyrrhus and his relation to the excesses of the 20th century. In addition to ancient Greeks, Vico and figroll-munching children, the impact of the Easter Rising of 1916 and World War I on James Joyce and Ulysses are also discussed.
Sweny's Patreon is half-way to its goal, but they can still use your help. Please subscribe!
On the Blog:
Pyrrhus: A Disappointed Bridge
Social Media:
Facebook|Twitter
Subscribe to Blooms and Barnacles:
iTunes| Google Play Music| Stitcher
Further Reading:
Birmingham, K. (2014, June 7). As the world went to war, James Joyce plotted his own revolution. The Irish Times. Retrieved from https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/as-the-world-went-to-war-james-joyce-plotted-his-own-revolution-1.1820543
Gifford, D., & Seidman, R. J. (1988). Ulysses annotated: Notes for James Joyce's Ulysses. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Larkin, F. M. (2017, Jan. 25). James Joyce and the Easter Rising: the first revisionist. The Irish Times. Retrieved from https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/james-joyce-and-the-easter-rising-the-first-revisionist-1.2950525
Spoo, R. (1986). "Nestor" and the Nightmare: The Presence of the Great War in Ulysses. Twentieth Century Literature,32(2), 137-154. doi:10.2307/441379 Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/441379?read-now=1&seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents
Stern, F. (1968). Pyrrhus, Fenians and Bloom. James Joyce Quarterly,5(3), 211-228. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/25486703
Williams, T. (1990). "As It Was in the Beginning": The Struggle for History in the 'Nestor' Episode of "Ulysses". The Canadian Journal of Irish Studies,16(2), 36-46. doi:10.2307/25512826 Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/25512826?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents
Music:
Our theme is:
Noir - S Strong & Boogie Belgique
And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda

Feb 27, 2019 • 46min
Kelly Bryan
On a Very Special Episode of the Blooms & Barnacles podcast - it's Dermot's first time leading an episode. He chose to interview his co-host and founder of the podcast, Kelly. He talks to her about why she's the one to teach the world about Ulysses, her insane dream to stage "Circe," her globetrotting years and how she got invited to a party by the Lord Mayor of Dublin. A different vibe than our normal show, but don't worry, it's the good kind of weird.
Sweny's Patreon is half-way to its goal, but they can still use your help. Please subscribe!
Social Media:
Facebook|Twitter
Subscribe to Blooms and Barnacles:
iTunes| Google Play Music| Stitcher
Music:
Our theme is:
Noir - S Strong & Boogie Belgique

Feb 13, 2019 • 46min
Nestor
Welcome to Episode 10, our first episode covering episode two of Ulysses, "Nestor." Kelly and Dermot discuss the political philosophy of Giambattista Vico and his influence on James Joyce, Homeric parallels between King Nestor and Mr. Deasy, and Dermot's artistic inspiration for his cartoon version of Mr. Deasy.
For more information on Vico's political philosophy, we recommend the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
On the Blog:
Ulysses & The Odyssey: Nestor
Social Media:
Facebook|Twitter
Subscribe to Blooms and Barnacles:
iTunes| Google Play Music| Stitcher
Further Reading:
Burgess, A. (1968). ReJoyce. New York: W.W. Norton & Co.
Gifford, D., & Seidman, R. J. (1988). Ulysses annotated: Notes for James Joyce's Ulysses. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Gilbert, S. (1955). James Joyce’s Ulysses: a study. New York: Vintage Books.
Homer, translated by Palmer., G.H. (1912). The Odyssey. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications.
Rickard, J. (1997). Stephen Dedalus among schoolchildren: The schoolroom and the riddle of authority in Ulysses. Studies in the Literary Imagination, 30, 17-36. Retrieved from http://www.facstaff.bucknell.edu/rickard/authority.html
Music:
Our theme is:
Noir - S Strong & Boogie Belgique
Just for fun:
The Kinks - A Well-Respected Man

Jan 30, 2019 • 59min
Remorse of Conscience
Kelly and Dermot discuss the recurring phrase "Agenbite of Inwit" and why Stephen repeats it over and over on June the sixteenth. Other topics included in the discussion are Buck Mulligan as nagging conscience, the gothic horror of growing up Irish, Catholic guilt and whether or not Stephen would have been better off praying at his mother's bedside.
Read the Trieste notebook for free here.
Consider subscribing to Sweny's Pharmacy's Patreon here.
On the Blog:
Agenbite of Inwit
Social Media:
Facebook|Twitter
Subscribe to Blooms and Barnacles:
iTunes| Google Play Music| Stitcher
Further Reading & Listening:
Beplate, J. (2007). Stephen's lyrical language: memory and imagination in Ulysses. Études anglaises, vol. 60,(1), 42-54. https://www.cairn.info/revue-etudes-anglaises-2007-1-page-42.htm?contenu=article
Burgess, A. (1968). ReJoyce. New York: W.W. Norton & Co.
Ellmann, R. (1959). James Joyce. New York: Oxford University Press.
Gibbons, L. (2015, Dec. 3). The ghosts in James Joyce’s modern machine. The Irish Times. Retrieved from https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/the-ghosts-in-james-joyce-s-modern-machine-1.2451708
Gifford, D., & Seidman, R. J. (1988). Ulysses annotated: Notes for James Joyce's Ulysses. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Gilbert, S. (1955). James Joyce’s Ulysses: a study. New York: Vintage Books.
Music:
Our theme is:
Noir - S Strong & Boogie Belgique


