Corpses rarely wear hats.

Topics include the correspondent organ of Hades (the heart), the O’Connell Circle, Daniel O’Connell’s heart, Tom Kernan, hats, losing your identity in the underworld, freemasonery, whether or not Leopold Bloom is a mason, Mount Jerome and the Irish church, Bloom’s denial of an afterlife, humor in the face of death, ghosts in a modern epic, Corny Kelleher, John Henry Menton, a fateful game of bowls, Dublin’s Ajax, John O’Connell as Hades, John O’Connell as St. Peter, Mulcahy from the Coombe, and the kindness of John O’Connell.

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Is there really a church in Dublin full of deadly corpsegas?

Topics discussed in this episode include Cardinal McCabe and his mausoleum, the fate of orphans and widows in 1904, “Three Women to Every Men,” Leopold Bloom’s irreverence in the face of mortality, Victoria and Albert, getting up a whip, John Henry Menton, Elpinor, Cerberus, Father Coffey, a thing with a knob on the end going into a bucket, Cock Robin, Mervyn Browne, St. Werburgh’s organ, corpsegas, aspergills and aspersoriums, and going through the motions.

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Wanna grab a pint at the Brian Boroimhe? Or is it Boroihme? Boru?

Topics discussed in this episode include the days when cattle roamed the North Circular Road, the Royal Canal, the identity of Dublin’s own Charon, locks, how realistic it would be for Bloom to walk to Mullingar (it’s not), the Brian Boroimhe House, Tom Kernan’s debts to Mr. Fogarty, white silence, the popularity of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poem “Hiram Powers’ Greek Slave”, thunderous loins, M’Intosh foreshadowing, the Childs murder case, what the heck a “felly” is, the disappointment of a paltry funeral, simnel cakes, defeating Cerberus, Elpinor’s drunken misadventure, Ned Lambert, Joe Hynes, Corny Kelleher, hired mutes from Lalouette’s, and the lost art of keening.

A POLISHED PERIOD

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Kelly and Dermot talk about James Joyce's "The Dead" as well as John Huston's 1987 film of the same name. This episode was originally released as a bonus episode on our Patreon. 

To view a video version of this episode, check it out on YouTube: https://youtu.be/PSeZPqX5xyk

To support the show and get monthly bonus content, join our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/barnaclecast

Kay ee double ell wy. I can’t this song out of my head.

Topics in this episode include Dermot on quantum mechanics, the phenomenon of ebullition, galloping funeral carriages, the Gordon Bennett, top speeds of old race cars, 100+ year old music hall songs, the Mater hospital, Orion, Joe Cuffe, sassy Leopold Bloom, kindness to animals, the North Circular Road, Dunphy’s Corner, drinking to the health of a corpse, the elixir of life, incubism, why Hades is where the heart is, embalming practices, and explosions so big they blow your pants off.

Incubism

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We are thrilled to welcome Martin Mooney, taphologist extraordinaire, as the guest on our 100th episode! Martin gives us a once-in-a-lifetime tour of Glasnevin Cemetery.

Rattle his bones over the stones! He ’s only a pauper whom nobody owns!

Content Warning: This episode contains discussions of infant death and suicide.

Topics in this episode include an O’Connell St. history quiz, how Dermot was radicalized as a ten-year-old, the demise of Nelson’s pillar, the floozie in the jacuzzi, Paddy’s adelite face (or was it adelaide?), John Barleycorn, the spiritual tragedy of a sudden death, last rites, extreme unction, Bloom’s lack of understanding about Catholic death rituals, Fr. Mathew, the remnants of Upper O’Connell St., the tractor in the photo to the left, the ghosts of O’Connell St., the absence of the Parnell monument, Bloom’s funeral color scheme, a possible cause for Rudy Bloom’s death, “The Pauper’s Drive”, Catholic stigma against suicide, Mr. Power puts his foot in his mouth, the kindness of Martin Cunningham, unbaptized infants in limbo, the death of Bloom’s father, aconite poisoning, the color purple, and Bloom’s lack of belief in an afterlife.

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How long can you hold a grudge?

Topics in this episode include Mr. Power’s kept woman, hot 1904 gossip, rumpsteak, Reuben J. Dodd the Younger’s plunge into the Liffey, Bloom’s storytelling ability, pre-decimal currency, petty score settling, Elvery’s elephant, our favorite vegetarian restaurant in Dublin, Barabbas, chisellers, gombeens, usury, antisemitic stereotypes, whether Bloom is a self-loathing Jew, Benjamin Disraeli, the relationship of the real Reuben J. Dodd and John Joyce, the relationship of the real Reuben J. Dodd Jr. and James Joyce, Dodd’s story as told in the Irish Worker, Reuben J. Dodd’s lawsuit against the BBC, the ripple effects of Dodd’s litigiousness, the use of “Jew” as a slur, the pitfalls of assuming religion based on surnames, Harford from “Grace”, Dermot’s editorial suggestions for James Joyce, the identity of Dodd’s rescuer, Bloom’s fiscal responsibility, incubism, the drowning motif, defacing money, and the symbolism of the florin.

Who Was the Real Reuben J. Dodd?
 

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Do you have the address of Henry Gibson?

Kelly and Dermot welcome special guest Paul Ringo to Blooms & Barnacles. Topics include Joyce’s love of Henrik Ibsen, Paul’s love of Finnegans Wake via the stage, Joyce’s study of Norwegian, realism as seen in the works of Joyce and Ibsen, the artist as a conduit for the world’s filth, Joyce’s dream to Europeanize Ireland, the search for Henry Gibson, Joyce’s attempt to introduce Ibsen to Ireland, Joyce’s letter to Ibsen on his birthday, Joyce’s review of When We Dead Awaken, Hedda Gabler’s influence onUlysses, gender roles in the works of Joyce and Ibsen, Ibsen’s self-imposed exile, A Doll’s House’s influence on “The Dead”, the influence of Peer Gynt on Ulysses, Stanislaus Joyce and My Brother’s Keeper, A Brilliant Career, Lou Reed, Laugh In, and who Paul would like to play in Hedda Gabler.

https://paulringo.blogspot.com/

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The Worst Man in Dublin.

Topics in this episode include begrudgery, so much Dublin geography, mourning customs, buildings found on Great Brunswick (Pearse) St., jarvies and the hazard, the Invincibles, the Antient Concert Rooms, Joyce’s music career, John McCormack and J.C. Doyle, Dermot’s history with the erstwhile Antient Concert Rooms’ building, St. Mark’s Church, Bloom’s strange alibi, Blazes Boylan, Books Upstairs, St. Mark’s church on Pearse St., a tale of graverobbery, Sir Philip Crampton’s memorial fountain bust, the difficulties of historical preservation in Dublin, Molly’s concert tour, Bloom’s side quest to Co. Clare, dipsomania, William Smith O’Brien, identities encoded in hats, Felix O’Callaghan, snuff at a wake, Molly’s routine, “La Ci Darem La Mano,” and Bloom’s broken heart.

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