Episode Sixteen - In this Part 2 of our discussion of the Dead, we see Gabriel’s mood improve as he slips into familiar roles. Will this improvement last the course of the evening? And will a journey westward release Gabriel from his paralysis?

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The Dead

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Galway Session

Episode Fifteen - The Dead is more of a Novella than a short story so we've decided to take two episodes to discuss it. In Part 1 Gabriel goes to the party, but he doesn't have a very good time. Is he a West Briton out of place in Ireland, or is it something else? And what does his behaviour say about his marriage to Greta?

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The Dead

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Galway Session

Episode Fourteen - Grace is three act story closely paralleling Dante’s Divine Comedy and follows Mr. Kernan’s physical and spiritual journey from the filth and ooze of the lavatory floor to the Jesuit Church on Gardiner Street. But what kind of “Grace” will Mr. Kernan earn?

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Grace

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Galway Session

Episode Thirteen - A Mother gives us Dubliners' third female protagonist in Mrs. Kearney. Caught up in the national cultural movements of the time, she helps organize a concert in which her daughter will sing. When things don't go her way, we see tensions rise between her and "the committee", each claiming the other is in the wrong. Whose side are you on?

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A Mother

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Galway Session

Critical Essays referenced:

"O, She's a Nice Lady!": A Rereading of "A Mother"

Robert Emmet’s Rising of 1803 and the Bold Mrs. Kearney

Episode Twelve - Ivy Day in the Committee Room is Joyce's story on the state of politics in Ireland. On the anniversary of the death of Charles Stewart Parnell, canvassers in a Dublin by-election take shelter from the rain inside a committee room. Between many comings and goings they discuss politics, children, and how to open a bottle when you don't have a corkscrew. Their answers to those questions reveal more about society than they realise.

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Ivy Day in the Committee Room

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Galway Session

Episode Eleven - A Painful Case brings us through the life of one of the few Dubliners’ characters who seems to see the city in the same way Joyce does. All of this is thrown into sharp relief when Mr. Duffy meets Mrs. Sinico. Will this relationship offer redemption for Mr Duffy and who is the subject of this painful case?

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A Painful Case

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Galway Session

Clay, at its core, is an examination of rituals from the perspective of Dubliners who are too paralysed to recognise them or their role in perpetuating them. Maria is one of the most sympathetic characters in the collection but is her naivety genuine or a learned behaviour developed to survive Joyce’s Dublin?

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Clay

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Galway Session

Counterparts shows us a truly Jocyean examination of drinking culture within Dublin City and in particular amongst its male working class. Following a day in the life of Farrington offers a thrilling and ultimately gut-wrenching insight into an emotionally paralysed man’s inner life. Will he earn our sympathy or disgust?

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Counterparts

Intro Music:

Galway Session

The following essay was invaluable during our research for this episode:

Farrington, the Scrivener, Revisited: ‘Counterparts.’ - Margot Norris

In this episode we explore some of Joyce's early life as he was writing the stories of Dubliners and consider the many ways in which key moments in his life are mirrored in this story. A Little Cloud gives us a look into the life of a seemingly happy man, until the return of a former companion to Dublin forces Little Chandler to reckon with his own life choices and asks the question is Dublin too malign a city to ever truly escape from?

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A Little Cloud

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Galway Session

This month we look at how marriage and divorce worked in Ireland around 1900 before analyzing "The Boarding House", a story about two young people at the start of a relationship. Are they lovers destined for each other or just two strangers pushed together by circumstance? And what will happen when the girls mother, the owner of the boarding house, gets involved?

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The Boarding House

Intro Music:

Galway Session