On June 16th 1904, James
A Joyce had his first date with Nora Barnacle as they strolled through Ringsend
Park. That say was cemented into history when Joyce wrote the book Ulyssess,
the events therein all taking place over the course of one day June 16th. Today
that date is celebrated as Bloomsday across the world.
But what were the couple
actually doing in 1904. We know that Nora was a member of staff at Finn’s Hotel
on Nassau Street but what of the bold James?
James was demonstrating
his skills as an up-and-coming tenor, entering Feis Ceoil’s. On May 16th,
exactly a month before his date with Nora in Ringsend, he was on stage at the
University Buildings on Earlsfort Terrace. James, then living in Cabra,
finished third in the solo tenor competition behind Joeseph Walsh, of Dublin
Road Belfast and Whiston Page from Rathgar in second. There was some
controversy and Joyce’s third place was not his original position. William
Rathborne had originally been awarded second place but he was subsequently
disqualified from accepting the second place as he won the competition the year
before and this was against the Feis rules.
In late August, having
been made ‘a man’ by Nora in Ringsend Park, James took part ia concert to
coincide with the end of the annual Dublin Horse show. The concert was held at
the Ancient Rooms[1]. The Rooms were
located at 52 Great Brunswick Street (now Pearse Street) from 1842 to 1921, and
the venue is the primary setting in “A Mother” and is mentioned again
briefly in “The Dead.”
According to the
Freemans’ Journal on August 29th 1904,
'A
concert was given in the large hall of the Antient Concert Rooms on Saturday
night, and attracted a full house....Mr J.C.Doyle sang a number of songs
in first-rate style....Mr James A Joyce, the possessor of a sweet tenor voice,
sang charmingly 'The Salley Gardens', and gave a pathetic rendering
of 'The Croppy Boy'....Mr. J.F. M'Cormack was the hero of the evening. It
was announced that it was his last public appearance in
Ireland.'
The music on the night
was performed by Eileen Reidy and her small orchestra. Also on stage were Kathleen
Nolan, Eileen Murphy, Contralto, May Reidy and George Hillis (violin).
According to the Dublin
Evening Mail,
‘A
new tenor, Mr James A Joyce, who’s voice has won his praise from competent
crtics, is also announced to sing.’
Depending on
affordability the tickets were priced at 3s, 2s or just one schilling. A large
number of local Ringsend and Irishtown villagers made their way on foot and on
the tram into the concert, this reflected in some of the letters to the
newspapers complimenting the concert performances but criticising the
organisation of it.
The concert took place on Saturday August 27th, and had an amazing line up and
not just Joyce. The ‘Mr J.F. McCormack’ noted in the newspaper was the great
tenor John McCormack who would later make a sensational name for himself in the
United States and even Hollywood. In fact, both Joyce and McCormack left
Ireland within weeks of each other in 1904 never to call Dublin home again. John
Doyle was a well-known Dublin baritone and was a stalwart of early Irish radio
broadcasting.
In the chapter of Ulysses
titled ‘Calypso’, Molly tells her husband that she will be performing ‘Là ci darem la Mano’
with baritone "J. C. Doyle." Later, in Hades, Bloom says that
"we'll have all topnobbers. J. C. Doyle and John MacCormack I hope and the
best, in fact."
Joyce and McCormack would
keep in contact as their careers continued. There may have been some resentment
on Joyce’s part as McCormack immediately became a star in the US, earning him
millions of fans and dollars, while Joyce initially struggled to survive
financially with Nora and his emerging family. At one stage McCormack’s
daughter and Joyce’s daughter went shopping together but Lucia’s low boredom
threshold meant the outing was far from a success.
In a letter to Harriet
Shaw Weaver, Joyce quotes this exchange with Lucia:
Lucia:
I have been thinking all day of John MacCormack. It is unjust. Why is he a
count, a millionaire etc.? I thought of writing to the pope.
Joyce: Be careful of your grammar. He is a learned man.
Lucia: He is an old dotard. But it is unjust. How long will your country refuse
to recognise what you have done.
Joyce: How long indeed?
Apart from the music,
Joyce was also having his poetry published in 1904.
‘The
August number of ‘Dana’[2] well maintains the
standard set by the earlier issues. There are poems by Miss Jane Bartow, “AE[3]," and Mr. James
A. Joyce, each of them possessing rhythmical merit, bat all suffering from the
obscurity that seems to be almost inseparable from most modern Irish verse.’
[1]
The venue was later known as The Academy on Pearse Street.
[2] Twelve issues published
in Dublin between May 1904 and April 1905 the magazine provided a remarkable
forum for cultural and literary debates. Refusing to adhere any strict
sectarian divide and deeply suspicious of a growing nativism, it played a vital
role in what F. S. L. Lyons calls “a phase of fusion and co-operation” in Irish
cultural life “when everything seemed possible.”
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