Dead Interesting

IT’S ironic that a man who scarcely wrote a word in
his life fathered one of the 20th century’s greatest masters of words.

John Stanislaus Joyce, father of James, had much to
say when his son introduced his future wife, Nora Barnacle, to his father. The
reply he got was said to be

?

John Joyce was born in Cork in 1849. He moved to
Dublin when he was in his early 30’s and married Mary Murray in May 1880. They
had ten surviving children, the eldest of whom was James.

When he married Mary Murray John belonged to a class
of wealthy merchants with bloodlines that he claimed connected back to old
Irish nobility.

He was a supporter of Charles Stewart Parnell and was
angry at his treatment by the Catholic Church. A seven-year-old James wrote a
poem

‘Et Tu Healy’ on the death of Parnell.

John had the poem published and even sent a copy to
the Vatican library. Alas no copy has ever been found.

In 1882 John was appointed a rates collector by the
Collector-General of Rates and Taxes but the salary wasn’t enough to maintain
his large family, make the repayments on various mortgages he had taken out on
his inherited properties and pay for his drinking.

In early 1882 John lost his rate-collecting job and
was entered into Stubbs Gazette, the official register of bankruptcies. This
marked the beginning of the family’s slide into poverty as they moved from
house to house, eventually having lived at 22 different addresses leaving a
trail of unpaid rent arrears behind them.

This tale of the family’s decline can be seen in the
record of the Joyce family grave in Glasnevin Cemetery.

The Joyce family grave (XF 7 Dublin Section) was
purchased by John Stanislaus Joyce on December 1, 1880 just two days after his
first child John Augustus Joyce was buried after only eight days of life.

The family’s address was Ontario Terrace, Rathmines
and John Stanislaus’ occupation is recorded as

‘Liberal Club Secretary’.

The following year a sister of Mary Joyce was buried
in the grave on June 26. The family’s address at this stage was 33 Longwood
Avenue, South Circular Road.

Another infant of the Joyce family was next to be
buried in 1895 when Fredrick William Joyce died aged only two weeks old on
August 1. This time the father’s occupation is recorded as

‘Gentleman’ and
their new address as 2 Millmount Avenue, Drumcondra.

In 1902 the 14-year-old brother of James Joyce died of
typhoid. By this time the family had moved to Glengarriff Parade, North
Circular Road. John Stanislaus was now recorded as a

‘Retired Civil Servant’.

Joyce’s mother, Mary Jane Joyce, was next to be buried
when she died a year later in 1903.

John Stanislaus Joyce joined his wife and children in
the grave when he died on December 29, 1931. James Joyce arranged for his
father’s best friend Alfred Bergin to purchase a headstone.

Joyce sent him a telegram stating what he wanted on
the headstone. A simple white marble stone was purchased and inscribed on it
were the details of his parents’ names and dates of death.

James Joyce died in 1941 and is buried in Zurich.

?¬12.99 and available in all good bookshops, all profits will go
towards the upkeep of graves in Glasnevin Cemetery. For further information
visit www.glasnevinmuseum.ie.