Joyce's Pronunciations - introduction

Proper names in Joyce's writing can be pronounced in Dublin English in ways which are surprising to those unfamiliar with the dialect. Often the stress falls in unexpected places (as in D'Olier Street), and sometimes the pronunciation itself might not be guessed by speakers outside Ireland (as in Clongowes). The entries below offer Dublin English pronunciations of many proper names in Ulysses and other works - the pronunciations appear in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) transcription and in audio format. Suggestions for other problematic terms which we could add to this audio glossary would be welcome.

    The pronunciations are NOT intended to represent Joyce's own pronunciation of these terms, but show them represented in a variety of modern "mainstream" Dublin English which is indicative of, but not identical with, the Irish pronunciation with which Joyce would have been familiar.

     A pronunciation key may be found here. We are grateful for the advice of Professor Raymond Hickey on the choice of the key, though any errors of implementation are our own, and to Dubliner and Joyce expert Robert Nicholson for providing the audio representations.

    To view these locations circled on Bacon's Plan of Dublin and Suburbs or the Ordnance Survey inch-to-the-mile map of Co. Dublin (c1898 and 1900 respectively: courtesy of Ian Gunn), click the names in the left-hand column (and then enlarge the map view).

For additional information on these locations, please see Ian Gunn and Clive Hart James Joyce's Dublin: a topographical guide to the Dublin of Ulysses (Thames & Hudson: 2004)

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