Bloomsday bonanza in mullingar

The one-man production Strolling Through Ulysses! by Robert Gogan was just one of many enjoyable events honouring Bloomsday in the Greville Arms Hotel today.

An intimate number settled down to watch the show in the historic surrounds of the hotel, which not only featured in Ulysses, but where Joyce himself frequented when he visited Mullingar on two summer vacations in 1900 and 1901.

The author of Ulysses Remastered, Gogan said he believed Mullingar should build on its Joycean connections, making the most of its appearance in one of the greatest works of literature of all time.

Christy Maye, proprietor of the Greville Arms, told the Westmeath Examiner how many visitors travel from around the globe to pay a visit to Mullingar because of James Joyce.

“Mullingar was where he spent his time. Apparently, he was quite taken with a barmaid in the Greville Arms,” laughed Christy. “He mentioned the Examiner too in some of his writings. There’s a lot of Mullingar references.”

The Greville Arms sports an original copy of Ulysses, as well as life-size wax sculpture of Joyce.

“It’s surprising how many tourists come here. Upstairs, the wax figure of James Joyce, that’s from the death mask of James Joyce. That’s no copy."