James Joyce and The Greville Arms Hotel

James Joyce immortalised The Greville Arms Hotel in his writing and he knew it personally during his visits to Mullingar in the summers of 1900 and 1901.

In this ad from the front page of the Westmeath Examiner of March 20, 1982, the Greville stated the above, and announced details of its James Joyce centenary celebrations.

The ad goes on to state: ‘As a centenary tribute to his memory, we have commissioned a life size wax figure of James Joyce from the National Wax Museum.

‘The figure will be unveiled in the Greville Arms Hotel during the March 21st evening commemoration function.

‘To mark the ceremonial occasion, we are privileged to host the world premier of Haveth Music Everywhere (an encounter with music and song in the life and works of James Joyce).’

The script for the work was by Leo Daly and the text advisor was Dr Riana O’Dwyer; the musical directors were Dorothy Horan and Leonard Horan.

Additional performances were to include a preview for students in the hotel on the Saturday of that weekend and special public performances on the Monday.

Also, to mark the occasion was the opening of the James Joyce Restaurant, where the head chef was John Coughlan and the head waiter Chris Mulcahy.

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