James Joyce Tower and Museum

{{Short description|Martello tower in Sandycove, Ireland}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}} {{Use Hiberno-English|date=February 2022}} {{Infobox museum | name = James Joyce Tower and Museum | native_name = Túr agus Músaem Shéamuis Seoige | native_name_lang = ga | logo_upright = | logo_alt = | logo_caption = | image = James Joyce Tower 01.JPG | image_upright = | alt = | caption = | map_type = Dublin | map_relief = | map_size = | map_caption = | coordinates = {{Coord|53.28865|-6.11364|type:landmark_region:IE|format=dms|display=inline,title}} | former_name = | established = {{Start date|1962|06|16|df=y}} | dissolved = | location = Sandycove Point, Sandycove, Dublin, Ireland | type = Martello tower, literary museum | accreditation = | key_holdings = | collections = | collection_size = | visitors = | founder = | director = | president = | ceo = | chairperson = | curator = | architect = | historian = | owner = | public_transit = Sandycove Road bus stop (Dublin Bus 59, 111)<br/>Sandycove and Glasthule railway station | parking = | network = | website = {{URL|joycetower.ie}} | embedded = }} The '''James Joyce Tower and Museum''' is a Martello tower in Sandycove, Dublin, where James Joyce spent six nights in 1904.<ref name=bowker>{{cite book|last1=Bowker|first1=Gordon|title=James Joyce: A New Biography|date=2012|publisher=Farrar, Straus, Giroux|location=New York|pages=130–131}}</ref> The opening scenes of his 1922 novel ''Ulysses'' take place here, and the tower is a place of pilgrimage for Joyce enthusiasts, especially on Bloomsday. Admission is free.<ref name=jjt-page>{{cite web|title=James Joyce Tower and Museum|url=http://jamesjoycetower.com/|access-date=9 February 2015|archive-date=22 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170722084202/http://jamesjoycetower.com/|url-status=live}}</ref>

==History== The tower was leased from the War Office by Joyce's university friend Oliver St. John Gogarty, with the purpose of "Hellenising" Ireland. Joyce stayed there for six days, from 9 to 14 September in 1904. Gogarty later attributed Joyce's abrupt departure to a midnight incident with a loaded revolver.<ref>Gogarty, Oliver (1948). Mourning Became Mrs. Spendlove. New York: Creative Age Press. pp. 56–57.</ref>

The opening scenes of ''Ulysses'' are set the morning after this incident. Gogarty is immortalised as "Stately, plump Buck Mulligan" (the opening words of the novel).<ref name="Rankin Russell 2024">{{cite journal |last1=Rankin Russell |first1=Richard |title=Why Is Buck Mulligan “Plump”? |journal=Literary Imagination |date=22 May 2024 |volume=26 |issue=1 |page=1 |doi=10.1093/litimag/imad036 |publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref>

The tower now contains a museum dedicated to Joyce and displays some of his possessions and other ephemera associated with ''Ulysses'' (e.g., "Plumtree's Potted Meat" pot). The living space is set up to resemble its 1904 appearance, and contains a ceramic panther to represent one seen in a dream by a resident.

It was purchased in 1954 by architect Michael Scott who had built his house, ''Geragh'' next door in 1937 on a former quarry.<ref name="thebridgetcd-joyce-tower">{{cite web |last1=Stewart |first1=Liz |title=James Joyce Tower – Review |url=https://thebridgetcd.com/2016/02/02/james-joyce-tower/ |work=THE BRIDGE |access-date=12 September 2022 |publisher=Trinity College Dublin |language=en |date=2 February 2016}}</ref><ref name="archiseek/1937-geragh">{{cite web |title=1937 – Geragh, Sandycove, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin |url=https://www.archiseek.com/2010/1937-geragh-sandycove-dun-laoghaire-co-dublin/ |website=Archiseek – Irish Architecture |access-date=12 September 2022 |date=27 January 2010}}</ref> In 1962, he donated the tower for the purpose of making it a museum.<ref name="newyorker/bloomsday-1962">{{cite magazine |first=Jon |last=Michaud |title=Bloomsday, 1962 |url=https://www.newyorker.com/books/double-take/bloomsday-1962 |access-date=12 September 2022 |magazine=The New Yorker |date=15 June 2011}}</ref> Michael Scott is co-founder, with financial assistance by John Huston, of the James Joyce Museum at the Joyce Tower.<ref name="independent.ie/joyces-mask">{{cite news |title=Saving face: Own a copy of James Joyce's death mask for €2k |url=https://www.independent.ie/life/home-garden/saving-face-own-a-copy-of-james-joyces-death-mask-for-2k-39740360.html |access-date=12 September 2022 |newspaper=Irish Independent |language=en |quote=One of these is given to the architect Michael Scott, co-founder of the James Joyce Tower & Museum ...}}</ref><ref name="irishtimes-1.4795912">{{cite news |last1=Gallagher |first1=Alanna |title=Live next door to James Joyce Tower in Sandycove for €5.5m |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/homes-and-property/new-to-market/live-next-door-to-james-joyce-tower-in-sandycove-for-5-5m-1.4795912 |access-date=12 September 2022 |newspaper=The Irish Times |date=February 10, 2022 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="archive/NewsUK1985UKEnglish">{{cite news |title=1985 |url=https://archive.org/stream/NewsUK1985UKEnglish/Jul%2023%201985%2C%20The%20Times%2C%20%2362197%2C%20UK%20%28en%29_djvu.txt |access-date=12 September 2022 |work=The Times |via=Internet Archive |date=1985 |quote=Mr Michael Scott, founder of the James Joyce Museum at the Joyce Tower, ...}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Joyce's Grandson Cuts Museum Out of Will in Dispute |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-11-17-mn-4037-story.html |access-date=12 September 2022 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=17 November 1986}}</ref><ref name="irishmuseums/joyce-tower">{{cite web |title=James Joyce Tower |url=https://irishmuseums.org/membership-directory/james-joyce-tower-museum |website=Irish Museums Association |access-date=12 September 2022 |language=en}}</ref>

The Tower became a museum opening on 16 June 1962 through the efforts of Dublin artist John Ryan.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}} Ryan also rescued the front door to 7 Eccles Street (now at the James Joyce Centre) from demolition and organised, with Brian O'Nolan, the first Bloomsday Celebration in 1954.{{citation needed|date=February 2022}}

The James Joyce Tower is open Thursday–Sunday, 10am–4pm Admission is free, though visits can be booked in advance on the website for a small donation. The museum is run by the Friends of Joyce Tower Society on a voluntary basis.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thejournal.ie/joyce-tower-set-to-reopen-thanks-to-volunteer-support-565011-Aug2012/ |title=Joyce Tower set to reopen thanks to volunteer support |first=Susan |last=Ryan |date=20 August 2012 |work=TheJournal.ie }}</ref>

<gallery mode=packed caption="Joyce Tower" widths="150px" heights="150px" > File:James Joyce Tower and Museum2.JPG|Barry McGovern reads ''Ulysses'', ''Bloomsday'', 2009 File:Martelo dublin view.JPG|North view from above the tower, 2009 File:James Joyce Tower and Museum, living area (1).jpg|Living area in the tower, 2019 File:Dún Laoghaire sandy cove.jpg|View of Sandycove, Michael Scott's 1937 white Art Deco house ''Geragh'', and the Joyce Tower </gallery>

==See also== * Forty Foot, a sea swimming place, one hundred metres from the tower

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *[http://www.joycetower.ie Official website]

Category:Towers completed in 1804 Category:Buildings and structures in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown Category:Museums in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown Category:Biographical museums in the Republic of Ireland Category:James Joyce Category:Towers in the Republic of Ireland Category:Literary museums in Ireland Category:Martello towers