Sweny's of "Ulysses" Fame Being Allowed to Rot

by blaise Fri May 19, 2006 05:20

I applaud any attempt to save important landmarks immortalized in anything written by Mr Joyce, who I have yet to see matched as a writer in the English language. Also, I would warn those lovers of Joyce who use his anti-Catholicism as a crutch to stand on - against the Church - they should consider that the Catholic Church and Dublin are the two greatest influences on the master. His works are filled with great love of the characters of Dublin and very strong references to the symbols of Christianity. We are so fortunate to have his depiction of life at the turn of the century in Dublin and any landmarks which can be saved should be. We have had over the past few decades a great number of wonderful landmarks bowled over and the character is quickly fading. It's only fitting that a Chemist Shop should be saved in Joyce's memory as he himself was an astute pupil of chemistry. What is so beautiful about Joyce's writing, is exactly that which is missing in ordinary writers, the love for minor details like shop names and street names. Saving this site is saving history - and Joyce is one of our great historians.

''It appears that between mighty odd years that this man of hard cement and edifices - had piled bildong upon bildongs - super bildongs upon the banks of the livers of the so and so's - a worlworth of a skyscraper of most Eiffel height - originating from next to nothin - with a burning bush a bob of its bobbled top - and great Thomas O'Buckets - a cluttering down - damn - damn - he stuttered - damn he was dud....' a passage from Joyce's 'Finnegan's Wake.'

All hail the emperor of literature.

by Spinning Quickly Thu May 18, 2006 20:04

Although Ulysses wasn't banned, Finnegans Wake was and the former was tainted by guilt by association. (I.e. it wasn't banned de jure, but it was banned de facto.)

SC - another Trinity Graduate

by Lemon-pocket soap Wed Apr 27, 2005 19:48 raco20 at hotmail dot com Mexico City, Mexico

I visited Sweeny's in June 2004, only by chance and was enamored with its Lemon Soap theme display.
Dublin cannot stand to loose it!

by Trinity Graduate Sat Jun 19, 2004 20:08

Fact: Ulysses was NEVER banned in Ireland. It was never published in Ireland, never censored. Ulysses was banned from Canada from 1933 to 1949.

by Tindersticks Sat Jun 19, 2004 03:36

John Throne, you sound angry, vindictive and vengeful. Stop blaming society and start examining your own limitations.

BTW, women are discovering that "liberation" is not all it's cracked up ro be and many are retruning to domesticity which is the proper domain for a woman.

A woman pursuing a career is a greedy child neglecter.

by john throne - labors militant voice Sat Jun 19, 2004 03:07 loughfinn at aol dot com

It is great to see the recognition of Joyce and Ulysses that has been taking place in Ireland over the past few days . I live outside Ireland and it does my heart good. But if I could raise a note of criticism. Would it not be a more accurate reflection of Joyce and his experience if we had some mention of the forces that condemned Joyce and banned him from Irish life? Who were these forces, where are these forces now? This is not just an issue of accurate history for me. It is also personal.

I emigrated to Canada in 1965 having left school when I was 16. Working as a laborer in a lumber camp in Northern Ontario in the summer of that year I became friends with a Quebecois student who was working for the summer holidays. One day during a break from pulling the logs in from the lake he said to me, "Well what do you think of Joyce then"? All I could say was: "Who is Joyce"? I had never heard of him. I have never got over the humilation and anger at having to be introduced to Joyce in this way.

So I look in vain for some coverage in the Irish media which might shine some light on the forces that banned Joyce. After all they should be held to some account should they not? The churches, their many front organizations, the schools they control, the health system over which they have such influence, the major political parties they still try to intimidate, the business organizations they support and which in turn support them, the mass media. I am not sure Joyce would have been happy to see these forces let off the hook in these days when he is being praised by just about everybody.

After my experience in Canada I vowed to find out who Joyce was. I had joined the merchant marine by this time and the first big city I came to was New Orleans. I went to the library and asked for a book by Joyce. They gave my Finnegans Wake. I tried to read it but I thought I had concussion. Years later I realised that Joyce might have been quite pleased to hear that somebody who knew nothing about his book felt like they had concussion. Later I have managed to come back to it and the rest of Joyces work.

To me the lesson of Joyce is that great art, great writing, cannot be suppressed even if all the most powerful forces in society are against it. If it corresponds to reality, if it lifts the spirit and soul of a people, then it will break to the surface. My mother was what was known as a "servant girl" in her youth and later the spouse of a small farmer. She never heard of Joyce but two of his poems were read at her funeral in Donegal a few years ago. Joyce, though long dead, made his way to that small village.

I would like to thank Joyce for his assault on the brutal male domination that has been so much a part of Irish capitalist christian society. He wrote in Finnegans Wake: "the vaulting feminine libido.... sternly controlled and easily repersuaded by the uniform matteroffactness of a meandering male fist". What a powerful image, what a blow to the backwardness of Irish society in Joyces time and not all gone today. But how great it is that this old Ireland is being driven into the past by the women of modern Ireland as they get jobs outside the home and control over their own bodies. It would have been good to see some more coverage in the Ulysses celebration of the forces that tried to keep him banned and the women and people of Ireland down.

Sean O'Torain.

by Mr Soya Bean Man Fri Jun 18, 2004 11:15

You are right to say that Sweny's is exactly the same as when Joyce wrote about it, in that it is probably the only chemist in Dublin that doesn't sell condoms.

Will I practise early withdrawal? Yes, Yes, I will yes …

by Lemony Soap Fri Jun 18, 2004 04:26

It's a luvly Victorian shopfront.

I hear Trinity has a plan to develop that whole area, I wonder will Sweny's be affected?

by iosaf Thu Jun 17, 2004 22:07

http://www.petitiononline.com/swenys/petition.html
online petitions can be useful in they give an indication of the popular support amongst internet users for a campaign and also they give an indication of geographic distribution of supporters.

I remember that in less than a week, through repeated linking to a "make Irish official" petition by a Finnish linguist, we saw indication of more supporters of official Irish status than have even intermediate level Irish.
Odd that.

by pc Thu Jun 17, 2004 19:55

ive read alot about the neglact of buildings in dublin and their demolition and the endless amount of "fires" and illegal demolitions....

you know the triangle of buildings at the end of parnell street

June 15 2004: Georgian society criticises council over demolitions
The Irish Times


The Irish Georgian Society last night criticised Dublin City Council for the partial demolition of two protected buildings in the city centre last weekend. However, the city architect defended the action on safety grounds. The two 17th century Georgian houses in Parnell Street were knocked down on Friday. Years of neglect and an apparent failure to maintain the houses were blamed for the poor state of the buildings. The demolition process came in the wake of Dublin City Council issuing a dangerous buildings order following a fire three weeks ago on the properties. It is believed that squatters started the fire.

i wonder if this was a case of this.... and the dcc coming to the rescue about 10 years too late