Blooms & Barnacles

Secondbest Bed

03 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Sometimes the secondbest bed is the better bed.Topics in this episode include Griselsa, Antisthenes and Helen, art of surfeit, the Dark Lady of the so...

Bonus Ep. 35 - The Portrait of Mr. W.H. [TEASER]

27 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We discuss Shakespeare's sonnets, the identities of the Fair Youth and Dark Lady, and the Oscar Wilde short story "The Portrait of Mr. W.H."To hear th...

Synge

19 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Why do we always fight most with the people we have the most in common with?Topics in this episode include James Joyce’s fraught relationship with p...

Mr. W. H.

05 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

“—Do you think it is only a paradox? the quaker librarian was asking. The mocker is never taken seriously when he is most serious.”Topics in thi...

Bonus Ep. 34 - Robert Anton Wilson w/ Eric Wagner [TEASER]

03 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We interview author Eric Wagner about his new book, Straight Outta Dublin: James Joyce and Robert Anton WilsonTo listen to the full interview, visit p...

Puck Mulligan

22 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

You will serve that which you laugh at.Topics in this episode include how to pronounce “Szombathely,” Buck Mulligan’s incredible entrance into “...

The Spirit of Reconciliation

08 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Bitches love sonnets.Topics in this episode include putting Beurla on it, basilisks and 13th century bestiaries, Pericles and purported Shakespeare ap...

Nightwood [TEASER]

30 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We discuss Djuna Barnes' novel NightwoodListen to the full episode at patreon.com/barnaclecast

Quaker Librarian

24 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

I, for one, think geese really do have souls.Topics in this episode include librarian Thomas Lyster and his Quaker faith, why Lyster always seems to b...

Yogibogeybox

10 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We finally learn the weirdest thing that Joyce and Gogarty got up to.Topics in this episode include Giacomo Joyce and dirty love letters, the pain of ...

Bonus Ep. 32 - Giacomo Joyce [TEASER]

01 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We discuss the James Joyce short story, Giacomo Joyce.To listen to the full episode, or see a video version, check out patreon.com/barnaclecast

Anne Hath a Way

27 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

No, not that Anne Hathaway. The Shakespearean one.Topics in this episode include Socratididion’s Epipsychidion, unparalleled pettiness, Stephen’s ...

AEIOU

13 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Stephen Dedalus beats debt with this one simple trick!Topics incluce: “Scylla and Charybdis’” dialectic as metacommentary on Ulysses as a whole,...

Bonus Ep. 31 - Hamlet [TEASER]

06 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We decided to brush up on our Hamlet knowledge in the only way we know how -- by watching a movie from the forties! We watch and discuss Laurence Oliv...

Hamnet

30 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Stephen Dedalus finally gets to the fireworks factory.Topics in this episode include lots of Hamlet, Stephen introduces his theory of Hamlet, James Jo...

The Absentminded Beggar

16 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Was Hamlet just distracted the whole time?Topics in this episode include: the continued character assassination of Mr. Best, Haines makes a return, Do...

Bloomsday 2025 Live Show!

13 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We hope to see you at our live show in  Dublin on Bloomsday. You can join us in person or on the livestream.Tickets at the link below:https://www.blo...

Horseness is the Whatness of Allhorse

04 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Are you Team Aristotle or Team Plato?Topics in this episode include Charybdis, schoolboys and schoolmen, whether or not Plato was shallow, artists bei...

Bonus #29 - The Dark Gaunt House on Usher’s Island [TEASER]

02 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We discuss the history of the house at 15 Usher's Island where "The Dead" was set.Listen to the full episode at patreon.com/barnaclecast

On this side idolatry.

21 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

You naughtn’t to look, missus, so you naughtn’t when a lady’s ashowing of her elemental.Topics in this episode include Old Ben’s critique of S...

Folly. Persist.

07 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Satan comes forward a sinkapace.Topics in this episode include Goethe’s Wilhelm Meister, Goethe’s thoughts on Hamlet translated through Thomas Lys...

Bonus Ep. 28 - Two Stories About Women [TEASER]

30 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Kelly and Dermot discuss the stories of Elizabeth Aldworth, the lady mason, and author P.L. TraversListen to the full episode at patreon.com/barnaclec...

Who Were the Real Men in the Library from "Scylla and Charybdis"?

24 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Eglinton knows Best.Topics in this episode include the real-life versions of John Eglinton and Richard Best, Best’s contribution to the study of Iri...

Scylla and Charybdis

09 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Here be monsters.We crack into Ulysses' ninth episode: "Scylla and Charybdis." Topics in this episode include: a great philosopher's thoughts on Shake...

Bonus Ep. 27 - The Picture of Dorian Gray [TEASER]

31 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We discuss Oscar Wilde's novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray. To listen to the full episode, visit patreon.com/barnaclecast 

Bonus Ep. 26 - The Third Man [TEASER]

28 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We discuss the 1949 film, The Third Man because James Joyce is briefly mentioned in it. Also, it's a really good movie.Listen to or watch the full epi...

Blind Stripling

19 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A wild Blazes Boylan appears.Topics in this episode include the incredible story of Reverend Thomas Connellan, the Bible Wars, Soupers, the Bird’s N...

Throwaway

05 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

I need to see a man about a horse.Topics in this episode include a return to nutarianism, Tom Rochford’s surprisingly heroic back story, the Ascot G...

Bonus Ep. 25 - The Tarot of Mme Marion Bloom w/ Penelope Wade [TEASER]

30 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Artist Penelope Wade joins the podcast to discuss her project, "The Tarot of Mme Marion Bloom." Wade uses collages of found objects to create densely ...

Ancient Free and Accepted Order

15 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Are you on the level?Topics in this episode include discussion of whether or not Leopold Bloom is a freemason, how well Nosey Flynn knows the business...

James Joyce Community Groups (w/ Zoe Patterson)

25 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Zoe Patterson of Trinity College Dublin joins Blooms & Barnacles to talk about about her research into James Joyce community groups.Support us on Patr...

Bonus Ep. 24 - Jack the Ripper w/ Senan Molony [TEASER]

12 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Journalist Senan Molony joins the podcast to talk about how the Jack the Ripper murders influenced Ulysses.Listen to the full episode at pattern.com/b...

Seed Cake

12 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Should you bring oysters to your naughty liaison on Howth?Topics in this episode include your thoughts on Bloom’s glass of burgundy, whether or not ...

Is Blazes Boylan the worst man in Dublin?

04 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Well, was he?Topics in this episode include a thorough dissection of Hugh E. “Blazes” Boylan, why Boylan jingles and jaunts, Boylan’s snappy war...

Bonus Ep. 23 - Molly Bloom v. Misogyny w/ Katherine Ebury [TEASER]

15 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Katherine Ebury (she/they) of the University of Sheffield joins the podcast to talk about how to approach older scholarship that contains misogyni...

Gorgon-Zola

13 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Fermentation is hot.Topics in this episode include Davy Byrne’s moral pub, Nosey Flynn, Noah and the curse of Ham, Plumtree’s Potted Meat, canniba...

Rawhead and Bloody Bones

30 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Let’s hope for something galoptious when all’s said and done.Topics in this episode include the lestrygonian feast in the Burton, masculinity and ...

Bloodhued Poplin, Lustrous Blood

16 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Think unsexy thought. Think unsexy thoughts. Think unsexy thoughts.Topics included corrections, Yeates and Son, parallax, eclipses, Dunsink Time, Thom...

Bonus Episode #22 - James Joyce Community Groups w/ Zoe Patterson [TEASER]

13 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Zoe Patterson of Trinity College Dublin joins Blooms & Barnacles to talk about about her research into James Joyce community groups. To listen to the...

Ep. 142 - Weggebobbles, Fruit, and Scotch Octopuses

02 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

"If you do the eyes of that cow will pursue you through all eternity."Topics in this episode include two-headed octopuses, the Freemasons, the real Li...

Dubliners #8 - Grace [TEASER]

27 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We discuss the Dubliners short story, "Grace", in the final episode of our Dubliners series.Listen to the full episode at patreon.com/barnaclecast

The Fascination of a Name

18 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

“Simon Dedalus said when they put him in parliament that Parnell would come back from the grave and lead him out of the house of commons by the arm....

Up the Boers!

06 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Was Leopold Bloom ever totally radical?Topics in this episode include Bloom’s memory of a protest, Bloom’s view of the police, the significance of...

Dubliners #7 - Ivy Day in the Committee Room [TEASER]

28 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We discuss the Dubliners story, “Ivy Day in the Committee Room"To listen to the full episode, please visit patreon.com/barnaclecast

Ep. 139 - The Meeting of the Waters

21 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The constables have been let out to graze.Topics in this episode include: 1904 popular culture, James Carlyle and the Irish Times, foxhunting, horsey ...

Lizzie Twigg (w/ Elizabeth Foley O'Connor)

07 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

“Everybody who met her liked her - because she was warm and outgoing. Here I am saying good things about Lizzie. Poor Liz - nobody remembers her now...

Cashel Boyle O’Connor Fitzmaurice Tisdall Farrell

24 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

“Dubliners were proud of Endymion. They were proud that they tolerated Endymion, but also that he tolerated them. Most people watched him and rememb...

Dubliners #6 - A Painful Case & A Mother [TEASER]

22 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We discuss Dubliners stories “A Painful Case” and “A Mother” Listen to the full episode at patreon.com/barnaclecast

U.p: up

10 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Inside the madness of BreenTopics in this episode include deep Ulysses lore, nostalgia traps, Molly’s suitors, the Glencree dinner, Old Professor Go...

HEL'SY

05 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Rashers Tierney would have gotten those Hely’s Sandwichmen into shape. Plus, his name is thematically apt.Topics in this episode include memories of...

Dubliners #5 - Counterparts & Clay [TEASER]

03 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We discuss Dubliners stories “Counterparts” and “Clay”Listen to the full episode at patreon.com/barnaclecast

Strumpet City [Patreon Bonus]

22 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We discuss James Plunkett’s 1969 novel, Strumpet City and the 1980 mini-series of the same name.

Parallax

09 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

If both clocks were correct, one would be redundant.Topics in this episode include the Ballast Office, the timeball, stellar parallax, ships’ naviga...

Dubliners #4 - The Boarding House & A Little Cloud [TEASER]

28 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We share our thoughts on Dubliners short stories "The Boarding House" and "A Little Cloud"Listen to the full episode at patreon.com/barnaclecast 

Kino's 11/- Trousers

24 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What is the parallax of Aldebaran?Topics in this episode include gulls, Simon Dedalus, Little Chandler, Leopold Bloom’s poetic impulse, Leopold Bloo...

Elijah is Coming!

10 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Sunday! Sunday! Sunday! Elijah is Coming!!!Topics in this episode include epiphanies in Dubliners, the transformative power of peristalsis, Leopold Bl...

The Lestrygonians

27 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Who’s for dinner?Topics in this episode include revisiting Ulysses-themed tarot, Odysseus’ encounter with the Lestrygonians, being in Leopold Bloo...

Dubliner #3 - “After the Race” & “Two Gallants” [TEASER]

23 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Listen to the full episode now at patreon.com/barnaclecast

THOSE SLIGHTLY RAMBUNCTIOUS FEMALES

13 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Nelson supposes his toeses are roses, but Nelson supposes erroneously.Topics in this episode include Barcelona, revisiting James Joyce’s Guinness ad...

Dubliners #2 - Araby & Eveline [TEASER]

21 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We share our thoughts on Dubliners short stories "Araby" and "Eveline"Listen to the full episode at patreon.com/barnaclecast

DEAR DIRTY DUBLIN

14 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What if we held hands in the Akasic Record?Topics in this episode include too much information about the Freemasons, entering the Promised Land, Danie...

FROM THE FATHERS

01 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Featuring a surprise historical cameo!Topics in this episode include our final example of Aristotelian rhetoric, the only passage of Ulysses recorded ...

Dubliners #1 - The Sisters & An Encounter [TEASER]

28 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We share our thoughts on the Dubliners short stories "The Sisters" and "An Encounter"Hear and watch the full episode at patreon.com/barnaclecast

A MAN OF HIGH MORALE

17 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

“Speaking about me. What did he say? What did he say? What did he say about me? Don’t ask.”Topics in this episode include a rumor about Stephen,...

Ep. 126 - ITALIA, MAGISTRA ARTIUM

04 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Sufficient for the day is the newspaper thereof.Topics in this episode include Grattan and Flood, Seymour Bushe and the Childs murder case, Hamlet ref...

Bonus Ep. 12 - At Swim-Two-Birds (w/ Paul Fagan) [TEASER]

26 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We welcome Paul Fagan (founder of the International Flann O'Brien Society) to Blooms & Barnacles to discuss a work heavily influenced by James Joyce -...

Why aren’t there any black characters in Ulysses? (w/ Ryan Kerr)

20 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ryan Kerr joins the Blooms & Barnacles podcast to discuss the racial politics of Ulysses. Topics include the minstrel show performer Eugene Stratton, ...

RHYMES AND REASONS

06 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Clamn dever.Topics in this episode include Dublin journalism minutiae, pallindromes, Lenehan’s spoonerisms, the sad history behind the real-life ins...

THE GREAT GALLAHER

22 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What opera is like a railway line?Topics in this episode include MacHugh's love of Greek, kyrie eleison, Lenehan's riddle and limerick, the legendary ...

A Hungarian it was one day...

08 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What do Stephen and Bloom have in common with Austria-Hungary?Topics in this episode include Stephen delivering Mr. Deasy’s letter, Stephen’s vamp...

Tales From the Tower Live (w/ Vivien Veale Igoe, Robert Nicholson, & Breandan O'Broin)

25 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Kelly talks with former James Joyce Tower & Museum curators Vivien Veale Igoe and Robert Nicholson, and editor Breandan O'Broin about their experience...

THE GRANDEUR THAT WAS ROME

11 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

How often does James Joyce think about the Roman Empire?Topics in this episode include Leopold Bloom bullied by children and adults, stealing upon lar...

Why aren't there any black characters in Ulysses? w/ Ryan Kerr [TEASER]

03 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ryan Kerr joins the Blooms & Barnacles podcast to discuss the racial politics of Ulysses. Topics include the minstrel show performer Eugene Stratton, ...

MEMORABLE BATTLES RECALLED

27 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

“... it would be a shrewd dialectician indeed who would make much sense out of the editor’s crowings about North Cork militia with Spanish officer...

[TEASER]Lizzie Twigg (w/ Elizabeth Foley O'Connor)

15 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A discussion with scholar Elizabeth Foley O'Connor about a minor but fascinating minor Ulysses character, Lizzie Twigg, and what her satirical depicti...

The Sham Squire

13 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

—And here comes the sham squire himself! professor MacHugh said grandly.Topics in this episode include the last vestiges of Doughy Daw’s effulgenc...

A Reign of Uncouth Stars (Live w/ Conner Habib)

30 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This is a recording of our live show from the 2023 Bloomsday Festival at the James Joyce Centre in Dublin. We discuss the occult influences on Ulysses...

September Live Show Announcement

23 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We are thrilled to announce our upcoming live show as part of the Joycenights Festival at the Joyce Tower and Museum. We will be welcoming special gue...

ERIN, GREEN GEM OF THE SILVER SEA

16 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Inspired by your beauty…effulgent.Topics in this episode include lemon soap, Ned Lambert, Wilson Ruttledge, Hedges Eyre Chatterton, waiting for your...

[Teaser] Drawing This Thing w/ Robert Berry

09 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Dermot chats with Ulysses Seen artist Robert Berry about the joys of drawing Ulysses. To listen to the full episode and see a video version (very muc...

AND IT WAS THE FEAST OF THE PASSOVER

02 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Why is this Bloomsday different from all other Bloomsdays?Topics in this episode include orthography, Dermot’s recollections of working in graphic d...

HOUSE OF KEY(E)S

19 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We finally unlock the secrets of Ulysses!Topics in this episode include Joseph Nannetti Sr. and Jr., the debts of Joe Hynes, Bloom’s passivity, the ...

Ulysses (1967) [TEASER]

17 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Kelly and Dermot discuss Joseph Strick's 1967 film adaptation of Ulysses. To hear the rest of the show, support us on Patreon:patreon.com/barnaclecas...

IN THE HEART OF THE HIBERNIAN METROPOLIS

05 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

All aboard for the heart of the Hibernian metropolis!Topics in this episode include HEADLINES, trams, Nelson’s Pillar, The GPO, the mythic kingdom o...

Exiles (w/ Steve Carey)

07 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Once maligned, later tentatively praised, James Joyce's only existing play, Exiles, may be his least popular work. Though it is rarely staged these da...

Bloomsday Live Show Announcement!

02 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We're thrilled to announce our live show at the James Joyce Centre this Bloomsday. Follow this link for more info and for links to in-person and onli...

Ep. 111 - Enthymemic

24 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

All men are mortal, and Socrates is a man. Therefore, all men are Socrates. Wait... In this episode, we discuss the art and technic of "Aeolus": rhet...

Aeolus

10 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind…We kick off our series on Ulysses’ seventh episode, “Aeolus”! Topics in this episode include Boo...

The Tower of Silence

26 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Break out the Tantalus glasses - we’re finally getting out of the Underworld!Topics in our final episode covering “Hades” include paying the fer...

The Chief's Grave (w/ Jordan LeVeque)

12 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Sometimes, Bloom is right to be wrong.Topics in this episode include Charles Stewart Parnell’s funeral and grave, Parnell as Agamemnon, Parnell as a...

Far away a donkey brayed.

29 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What’s up with that donkey in Glasnevin?Topics in this episode include seagulls in Ulysses, the Blooms’ old digs in Lombard St. West, The Joyce Pr...

M'Intosh

15 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Who is the man in the macintosh?Topics in this episode include trying to figure out the identity of Ulysses’ most enigmatic figure, Penrose, HCE, Pe...

The Ides of June

01 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Beware the Ides of June.Topics in this episode include the power of keys, John O’Connell the St. Peter of Dublin, “Silver Threads Among the Gold”...

Broken Hearts

15 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Corpses rarely wear hats.Topics include the correspondent organ of Hades (the heart), the O’Connell Circle, Daniel O’Connell’s heart, Tom Kernan...

Dominenamine

01 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 or...

Murderer's Ground

18 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 Circul...

The Dead (Patreon Bonus)

11 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 bo...

Has anybody here seen Kelly?

04 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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, gal...

Glasnevin Cemetery (w/ Martin Mooney

21 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

The Best Death

07 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Rattle his bones over the stones! He ’s only a pauper whom nobody owns!Content Warning: This episode contains discussions of infant death and suicid...