It is 118 years to the day since James Joyce spent a week in the Sandycove Martello Tower. His stay in 1904 famously inspired the opening pages of Ulysses.
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and the Joyce Tower & Museum have announced a new collaboration to secure the future of the Joyce Museum.
When the Tower closed ten years ago, local people set up the Friends of Joyce Tower Society to provide a volunteer staff so that it could continue to welcome visitors. It is fitting that in this centenary year of the publication of Ulysses, the Tower is set to enter its next exciting episode.
The 19th century Martello Tower is owned by the OPW and until recently was leased by Fáilte Ireland. Under new arrangements, the Tower will be leased by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and managed by a not-for-profit company, Joyce Tower Museum, working closely with the Friends of Joyce Tower Society into the future.
Frank Cogan, Chair of Joyce Tower Museum CLG, paid tribute to the work of the Tower Volunteers and previous curators, Vivien Igoe and Robert Nicholson, for ensuring that the Tower remained open to visitors over recent decades. He went on to say;
“the new partnership with DLRCC has put the management of the Tower on a new, dynamic footing, Ulysses has come back to his omphalos, his home by the wine-dark sea”.
An Cathaoirleach, Mary Hanafin said,
“Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown has always enjoyed a special relationship with James Joyce here in Sandycove as we celebrate 100 years of James Joyce’s Ulysses. I want to acknowledge and thank the volunteers at the James Joyce Tower and the Friends of James Joyce Society for their energy and commitment in time, which we hope will continue”.
DLRCC Chief Executive, Frank Curran added,
“We are delighted to support the Tower’s next steps and working closely with the Friends of Joyce Tower, look forward to continuing the warm welcome to this iconic and world famous location.”
The James Joyce Tower and Museum is open from Wednesday to Sunday each week, with normal hours of 10am-4pm each day. Website: www.joycetower.ie
All enquiries to: commsoffice@dlrcoco.ie or call Dave Lawless, DLR Tourism Officer on 00 353 86 607 4102