From the HOPE Archives: Bloomsday in the Monto (2017)

This article was originally posted by Hopehandson.com to Hopehandson.com/blog on June 19th, 2017

By Irene Crawley

Connie Murphy (The Bride), Christy Burke (The Groom), and "Father" Joe Dowling as the officiant

A fantastic day was had by all bringing Joyce back to the North Inner City. The event was organised jointly by H.O.P.E. and the North Inner City Folklore Project with the generous help of many volunteers. We combined the traditional ‘Madame of the Monto Wedding’, with scenes from the ‘Night-Town’ chapter in James Joyce’s Ulysses. First and foremost, I would like to offer a big thank you from myself to Terry Fagan, it was a pleasure to work with you, as always.

We would like to extend our gratitude to Former Lord Mayor, Christy Burke and his beautiful “bride” and H.O.P.E. volunteer, Connie Murphy. Mick Rafferty and his troupe of actors gave a great performance of scenes leading up to the ‘Night-Town’ chapter. Dublin City Council provided great support; a stage, gazebos, tables and chairs. Anto Kelly of Kelly’s Carriages graciously donated his time to pick up the bridal party and deliver them to the wedding. The community Garda from Store Street and Fitzgibbons Street were on hand to support the event. Conor O’Mearáin was our professional photographer and did an excellent job capturing the festivities. Susan Porter spent several weeks tirelessly browsing charity shops for the great costumes. Elaine Hilliard did the hair for all the ladies who looked wonderful. Glenda Guilfoyle came along with her mobile costume unit, which was great fun. Gerard O’Neill volunteered his DJ equipment and services which added greatly to the atmosphere of the day. Delicious sandwiches were provided by George O’Brien. Carmel Cosgrove and Theresa Brady from our Management committee volunteered their services for the day. Also, serving our refreshments and helping out for the whole day in their fantastic costumes were Sandra Byrne, Shauna Byrne, Megan McEvoy, Bart Hoppenbrouwers (thank you for the photographs too), Celine Gifford, and Marilyn Molloy.

All of our staff pitched in for weeks of preparation, David Brown and Alison Grey were a huge help with everything from shopping, set up and planning – Alison also did the make-up and David is our IT Guy who organised all our online promotions for the event. Finally, yet importantly, from the staff, thanks to “Father” Joe Dowling who was hilarious, as usual.

I would like to thank IMPACT for giving a grant towards the running of this event. We would also like to thank our local representatives Maureen O’Sullivan TD (Independent), Councillor Ciarán Cuffe (Green Party) and Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fáil) for coming along. As well, we would like to thank the Irish Times for covering the event in three articles online, Live Images of Bloomsday, a video-clip of the event & a write-up on Friday 16th June 2017  and an amazing half page spread in the Saturday 17th June 2017 print edition. Finally, a big thanks to everyone for coming along! We hope next year to make the event bigger and better, with lots of community engagement.

Irene Crawley, HOPE Manager