Demystifying Joyce - A reflection of the Ulysses Book Club at Dublin City University Library

This guest post is by Alana Mahon O'Neill who is a library assistant based in the Research and Teaching directorate in DCU Library.

Please note: This article gives examples of the language in Ulysses that led to the novel being banned in several countries. 

Ulysses is considered one of the most important texts of Irish Literature and it is celebrated as a pinnacle of English modernist literature. Celebrants mark the occasion annually on Bloomsday by walking Dublin's streets, reenacting scenes from the book, and turning fiction into living history.

James Joyce's mark on Dublin City. Image credits: Wikimedia Commons.

Joyce echoes in our culture, referenced in literary works from Flann O’Brien to Sally Rooney and resonates within the musical ambitions of Kate Bush, Lou Reed, and Fontaines D.C., to name a few. Widespread literary consensus holds that Joyce has influenced much of modern literature and art, and that Ulysses alone challenges narrative structure, experiments with language, and introduces stream of consciousness.

Ulysses inspired musicians Kate Bush, Lou Reed and Fontaines D.C. who reference lines from the text in their song lyrics. Image credits: Photographs by Columbia Records via Wikimedia Commons, Garry Gross and Simone Joyner/Getty Images.

So, why haven’t more people read it? Last year, the Dublin City University (DCU) Arts and Culture department announced a Ulysses book club. The objective: meet once a month (with a break for the summer) and discuss two chapters over some tea and biscuits? Yeah, sure.

The gathering was successful thanks to Jen and Claire. Inspired by their own book club, they facilitated this reading of Ulysses as James Joyce “enthusiasts”, rather than as academics, and invited an assembly of Drumcondra residents and DCU staff. We conversed at meetings and between sessions shared links to articles, podcasts and interesting tidbits. We all had very different approaches to engaging with the material: some read the text, others preferred the audiobook. Personally, I opted for full immersion by consuming the two at once, like a VR headset. This was particularly engaging for chapters like Circe, where Joyce uses onomatopoeia for inanimate objects, which the audio production conjured up into an eerie chorus of voices.

Examples of onomatopoeia from 'Circe', chapter 15 of Ulysses

If you haven’t read Ulysses, the pictured quotes might be surprising. It was for me. Popular sentiment is that it has been rigorously analysed by prestigious academics and therefore becomes “inaccessible” for the vast majority. This negates the most fascinating aspect of the book: it’s silly.

Ulysses is full of word plays, tongue-in-cheek allegories and crude language. It’s shameless, rude and transgressive in its religious, political and social allusions. When people gush incredulously about the book being banned in Ireland, believe them.

A sample of the 'highbrow' language used in Ulysses.

Also, don’t believe them. It was never banned. Irish authorities believed so few would read the novel that there was no need to submit it to the censorship board.¹

In hindsight, it was a miracle that the book was ever published. Joyce went through incredible lengths to make Ulysses true to life. While living in Paris, he wrote back letters to family members in Dublin to confirm the minutest of details, from the time it takes for a piece of paper to float down the river Liffey,² to whether one could jump the fence at No. 7 Eccles Street,³ and the presence of a shooting star in the night sky on June 16, 1904.⁴

“I want to give a picture of Dublin so complete that if the city suddenly disappeared from the earth it could be reconstructed out of my book.” - James Joyce.⁵

Jen and Claire shared some of their “rabbit-hole” deep dives into references within and between the lines of the text. Businesses mentioned on O’Connell Street led to an elaborate unfolding of the origin of Elvery’s Elephant logo.⁶ In Drumcondra, the Goose Tavern pub may have taken its name from the flocks of Brent Geese that flock to the area in the winter months. There are many more examples, but I do not have the word count to start unpacking. It felt like every line of the book had some deeper meaning, some way to spin it to illustrate secret and nuance, a reality to the unreality. After all, more than 600 people were referenced in the text, from Irish historical figures such as Charles Stewart Parnell and Daniel O'Connell, to real people such as pub owner Davy Byrne and National Library of Ireland director Richard Irvine Best.⁷

I would also like to acknowledge that we didn’t always enjoy the process. Some of us expressed frustration at its meandering narrative, its sizeable chapters, and the likability of its protagonists. ‘Do you like Bloom, yet?’ was a frequent topic at each meeting. I think such dialogue is important because in a typical book club setting, with contemporary texts, we get to express our frustrations and delights at surface-level impressions. If a book published last year has something unlikable about it, then why not a classic, too? Joyce is thoughtful in his detail, but also rather pedantic and self-indulgent, and this is also what made Ulysses so intriguing and mysterious to his critics.

Jen and Claire’s conversations at the book club were heavily inspired by the text “Ulysses and Us”,⁸ which argues that Ulysses is written about the people of Dublin and for the people of Dublin, but only for those who are willing to seek it out.

“It is not my fault that the odour of ashpits and old weeds and offal hangs round my stories. I seriously believe that you will retard the course of civilisation in Ireland by preventing the Irish people from having one good look at themselves in my nicely polished looking-glass.” - James Joyce.⁹

Joyce initially had quite an incredulous reception in Ireland, and only started seeing recognition posthumously. With that, his most lingering legacy appears to be the preconception that his works are not made to be read by just about anyone.¹⁰

So, what are we missing out on?

It sounds like the challenge has been set; most don’t engage because they don’t think of themselves as the target audience. Self-exploration involves challenging preconceptions. Let me assure you that Ulysses is for you.

If there is one thing I could take away from this experience, it is that, one, we need more book clubs focusing on demystifying classic novels, and two, everyone should try to read Ulysses cover to cover at least once. Well, this is what I would personally declare; other passionate readers have assured me that I will read it again.

The final gathering of the Ulysses Book Club in Belvedere Library DCU, March 2026. Image credit: Kyran O'Brien/DCU, 2026.

I also want to declare my thanks to Jen and Claire, whose passion and dedication made the experience so enjoyable for everyone involved. 

¹McCourt, J. (2023). From hostility to homage. The reception of Joyce’s Ulysses in Ireland. Journal of Irish Studies, 37, 4–14. https://www-jstor-org.dcu.idm.oclc.org/stable/27301718
² Joyce, J., & Murray, J. (1922). Letter from James Joyce, in Paris, to his aunt, Josephine Murray. https://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000743146/HierarchyTree#tabnav
³ Joyce, J., & Murray, J. (1922). Letter from James Joyce, in Paris, to his aunt, Josephine Murray. https://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000743153
⁴ Olson, D. W., & Olson, M. S. (2004). The June Lyrids and James Joyce’s Ulysses. Sky & Telescope, 108(1), 76–77.
⁵ From a conversation with Frank Budgen, circa 1918-1919, Zurich. Budgen, F. (1960). James Joyce and the Making of 'Ulysses'. Indiana University Press. pp. 67-68.
⁶ Rodgers, J. (2025, Jul 11). The colourful story of the Elephant House on Dublin's O'Connell Street. RTÉ. https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2025/0711/1495830-elephant-house-dublin-sackville-street-oconnell-street-elverys-supermacs/
⁷ Who Were the Real Men in the Library from "and Charybdis"? (2024, Mar 28). Blooms and Barnacles. https://www.bloomsandbarnacles.com/blog/who-were-the-real-men-in-the-library-from-scylla-and-charybdis
⁸ Kiberd, D. (2011). Ulysses and us: the art of everyday living. Faber.
⁹ James Joyce, on his collection of short stories ‘Dubliners’ in letter to his publisher, Grant Richards, on 23 June 1906, in Joyce, J., & Gilbert, S. (Ed.) (1957). Letters of James Joyce. Faber and Faber. pp. 63-64.
¹⁰ McCourt, J. (2023).