Plaque #6 - “He crossed at Nassau street corner and stood before the window of Yeates and Son, pricing the field glasses.”
As I walked down College Green, towards Nassau street, I got a chance to take in some of Trinity College. When Bloom was walking by the school, Joyce started taking shots at his alma mater's rival. However, the best quote about any college (although he is still referring to Trinity) comes from his A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man: "The grey block of Trinity on his left, set heavily in the city’s ignorance like a dull stone set in a cumbrous ring".
I crossed Nassau St. and found the next plaque. The changing city swept away the optometrist many years ago and left the ICS Building Society in its wake. They’re a mortgage company that works with the Bank of Ireland. The field glasses have been replaced with pictures of homes for sale. Alas, there was nothing in my price range.
Plaque #7 - “Mr Bloom, quickbreathing, slowlier walking, passed Adam court.”
I continued down Grafton for just a short distance before finding another plaque. Adam court is now the back of Judge Roy Bean's Bar, but soon after Ulysses was published it was known as Jammet's Restaurant. Yvonne Jammet was a Paris born sculptor and painter who bought the place in 1928. It was a popular meeting place for writers and artists for 40 years, right up to the point it went out of business. Apparently encouraging young and experimental artists doesn’t pay the bills.
Plaque #8 - “He passed, dallying, the windows of Brown Thomas, silk mercers.”
Eventually, I reached the point where Grafton St. becomes a pedestrian walkway for high-end stores and boutiques. Back in 1904 the street was made of hexagonal wooden blocks so they could access pipes under the stores. This created the "hoofthuds" of the horses as they passed by Bloom. Today it is paved with bricks, and there are far too many people taking after Bloom and "dallying" in front of windows for a horse to get by. My favorite part of this neighborhood was the myriad of street performers vying for the attention of passersby. As far as Brown Thomas is concerned, it was moved across the street in the 1990s. I also moved, moved right down to Duke Street where I turned left in search of my next stop.
Plaque #9 - “His heart astir he pushed in the door of the Burton restaurant.”
Heading off in this new direction I passed Bailey Restaurant on my left. This was a favorite spot for Parnell to hang out and talk politics. Later, in Joyce's day, Arthur Griffith and his followers (including Gogarty) hung out to bemoan the British. It also housed the door of 7 Eccles Street (the real house Bloom fictionally lived in) after the house was demolished, before it was moved to the James Joyce Center. I couldn't help but think about how similar this was to the 'Sons of Liberty' when they used to hangout at the Green Dragon in Boston and plot to overthrow the British.
Just past Duke Lane (I was still on Duke Street remember...it got a little confusing at times), on the right side of the street was the next plaque. Not only was the building behind the plaque not the Burton restaurant, it wasn't a dinning establishment at all. It looked more like an apartment building. After reading the next line in the book it was easy to see why Bloom didn't stick around, "Stink gripped his trembling breath: pungent meatjuce, slush of greens. See the animals feed." Since I had no reason to stick around, I followed Blooms lead and headed back towards Grafton Street.
As I walked down College Green, towards Nassau street, I got a chance to take in some of Trinity College. When Bloom was walking by the school, Joyce started taking shots at his alma mater's rival. However, the best quote about any college (although he is still referring to Trinity) comes from his A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man: "The grey block of Trinity on his left, set heavily in the city’s ignorance like a dull stone set in a cumbrous ring".
I crossed Nassau St. and found the next plaque. The changing city swept away the optometrist many years ago and left the ICS Building Society in its wake. They’re a mortgage company that works with the Bank of Ireland. The field glasses have been replaced with pictures of homes for sale. Alas, there was nothing in my price range.
Plaque #7 - “Mr Bloom, quickbreathing, slowlier walking, passed Adam court.”
I continued down Grafton for just a short distance before finding another plaque. Adam court is now the back of Judge Roy Bean's Bar, but soon after Ulysses was published it was known as Jammet's Restaurant. Yvonne Jammet was a Paris born sculptor and painter who bought the place in 1928. It was a popular meeting place for writers and artists for 40 years, right up to the point it went out of business. Apparently encouraging young and experimental artists doesn’t pay the bills.
Plaque #8 - “He passed, dallying, the windows of Brown Thomas, silk mercers.”
Eventually, I reached the point where Grafton St. becomes a pedestrian walkway for high-end stores and boutiques. Back in 1904 the street was made of hexagonal wooden blocks so they could access pipes under the stores. This created the "hoofthuds" of the horses as they passed by Bloom. Today it is paved with bricks, and there are far too many people taking after Bloom and "dallying" in front of windows for a horse to get by. My favorite part of this neighborhood was the myriad of street performers vying for the attention of passersby. As far as Brown Thomas is concerned, it was moved across the street in the 1990s. I also moved, moved right down to Duke Street where I turned left in search of my next stop.
Plaque #9 - “His heart astir he pushed in the door of the Burton restaurant.”
Heading off in this new direction I passed Bailey Restaurant on my left. This was a favorite spot for Parnell to hang out and talk politics. Later, in Joyce's day, Arthur Griffith and his followers (including Gogarty) hung out to bemoan the British. It also housed the door of 7 Eccles Street (the real house Bloom fictionally lived in) after the house was demolished, before it was moved to the James Joyce Center. I couldn't help but think about how similar this was to the 'Sons of Liberty' when they used to hangout at the Green Dragon in Boston and plot to overthrow the British.
Just past Duke Lane (I was still on Duke Street remember...it got a little confusing at times), on the right side of the street was the next plaque. Not only was the building behind the plaque not the Burton restaurant, it wasn't a dinning establishment at all. It looked more like an apartment building. After reading the next line in the book it was easy to see why Bloom didn't stick around, "Stink gripped his trembling breath: pungent meatjuce, slush of greens. See the animals feed." Since I had no reason to stick around, I followed Blooms lead and headed back towards Grafton Street.
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