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The bronze statue of James Joyce on the corner of North Earl Street in Dublin. Alamy Stock Photo
Bloomsday

Quiz: How much do you know about James Joyce?

The annual Bloomsday festivities took place in Dublin today.
10.01pm, 16 Jun 2024
22.5k
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HAPPY BLOOMSDAY TO all those who celebrate. 

The annual celebration sees fans of James Joyce and his classic work Ulysses take part in festivities across Dublin. 

The date – 16 June – marks the day in 1904 that Leopold Bloom crossed paths with Stephen Dedalus in the novel, which is considered one of the most influential ever written. 

So, what better day than today to test your knowledge of the man behind the masterpiece? How much do you know about James Joyce?

Where in Dublin was James Joyce born?
Alamy
Drimnagh
Portobello

Rathgar
Sandymount
What were his middle names?
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Augustine Aloysius
Barclay Benedict

Fingal O'Flahertie
Patrick Palladius
Which of these is not true about Joyce?
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He was an accomplished tenor
He won the Nobel Prize in Literature

He set up the first cinema in Dublin
He had over 25 eye surgeries throughout his life
What was the name of Joyce's wife?
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Mary Cockle
Anne Mussel

Nora Barnacle
Edna Mollusk
Which other famous writer did Joyce often drink with?
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W.B. Yeats
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Ernest Hemingway

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Samuel Beckett
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T.S. Eliot
We know that Bloomsday is celebrated on 16 June because it is the date in Ulysses - but why was that date significant to Joyce?
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It was his birthday
It was the date that his first novel, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, was published

It was when he had his first date with his future wife
It was the date that he graduated from University College Dublin
Getting on to the novel itself, which of these is not a character in Ulysses?
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Hugh 'Blazes' Boylan
Martin Cunningham

Stephen Dedalus
Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker
For how long was Ulysses banned in Ireland?
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Six months
Three years

12 years
It was never banned
Which of the following is not a quote from Ulysses?
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"His errors are volitional and are the portals of discovery."
"Think you're escaping and run into yourself. Longest way round is the shortest way home."

"Experience is simply the name we give to our mistakes."
"To learn one must be humble. But life is the great teacher."
Looking to some of Joyce's other work, how many short stories make up Dubliners?
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8
15

21
30
Joyce only wrote one play. What was it called?
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Exiles
Outlaws

Strangers
Fences
Finally, James Joyce died in 1941. Which city is he buried in?
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London
Paris

Trieste
Zurich
Answer all the questions to see your result!
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Top Dog!
Pawsitively perfect!
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Clever Cat!
Almost purrfect!
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Fintastic!
Flippin' good!
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What are ewe doing?!
Baaaaaaad!
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Turtley Awful!
Shell of a bad effort.
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Author
Jane Moore
jane@thejournal.ie
@janemoore__
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