In our last episode, we discussed people from James Joyce’s life who influenced the creation of Leopold Bloom. However, we left one question unanswered - why were none of these men from Dublin? Didn’t Joyce know any Jewish people in Dublin? Vincent Altman O’Connor’s research into this very question and the biography of his grandfather Albert Altman may very well be the answer to this riddle.

Topics discussed in this episode include Glasnevin’s many Joycean connections, the story of Albert Altman as a successful salt merchant and politician, Altman’s connection to the Invincibles, how Altman became an Irish Nationalist, the very many details from Altman family history that appear in Ulysses, a refutation of idea that Joyce didn’t know any Jewish people in Dublin, why Joyce may have had to conceal the identity of the “real” Leopold Bloom, why it is worth exploring real world parallels to the characters of Ulysses, Joyce as a political writer, the possibility that “Leopold Bloom” really did give Arthur Griffith the idea for Sinn Fein, Joycean misconceptions about Arthur Griffith, and coded psychotropographic allusions.

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Who Was the Real Leopold Bloom? 

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