Frank McNally on the Bloomsday fitness progamme (and why Virginia Woolf will never be as popular as Joyce)
After filing the Bloomsday 'colour' piece for this newspaper on Monday, I checked the health app on my iPhone to find it had clocked up an impressive 21,792 steps (15.4km) since morning: well above the 10,000 benchmark for the Fitbit generation.
That didn't include a Dublin Bike trip from Dorset Street - scene of my unsuccessful attempts to find a mutton kidney - out to Glasnevin Cemetery and back.
So I wondered in passing if Joyce scholars had ever worked out how many steps Leopold Bloom walked on 16th June 1904. But is the Pope a Catholic? Yes, of course they had.
READ MORE
The first person I asked, Trinity College English Professor Sam Slote, had retraced Bloom's trajectory ('some suppositions involved') and counted 22,203 steps. Which was gratifyingly close to my total, although I hadn't tried to follow the whole route.
Further investigation led me to a study, conducted from Kentucky in 2012, on 'the physical fitness of Leopold Bloom'.
This was in general unremarkable (the fitness, not the study). As readers of Ulysses will know, Bloom had a bit of a belly, was called 'lardface' in Barney Kiernan's pub, and at 38 – although young by today's standards – was a man of advanced middle aged in 1904, when male life expectancy was a mere 47.8 years.
On the other hand, the study's author Jeff McClung calculated that given his reported height of 5ft 9½ (176.5cm) and weight of 11 stone 4 (71.8kg), Bloom had a Body Mass Index of 23.0, still exemplary in 2025.
By McClung's count, the hero of Ulysses walked 8.99 miles (14.48 km) on 16th June 1904, slightly less than I did last Monday; although he went to Sandymount Strand, unlike me, and spent a lot longer wandering around the red-light district.
Perhaps the standout finding, however, was that Bloom's calorific intake for the day came to a mere 1200 kcal. Or 1400, 'if he ate the second Bunbury cake that he bought to feed the birds'. Considering the 3,009 kcals he is estimated to have burned, that still left a deficit of at least 1609kcals. Sure the poor man was starving.
***
A literary commemoration you heard a lot less about this week, I'm guessing, was Dalloway Day, or 'Dallowday' as some have suggested calling it. Named for Mrs Dalloway, from the 1925 book of that title by Virginia Woolf, it even had a centenary going for it this year.
Yet despite describing the events of a single day in June, more than a century ago, and using the same stream-of-consciousness style Joyce pioneered, it doesn't appear to have lent itself to the sort of fancy dress re-enactment that makes Bloomsday a niche tourist attraction at home and a cultural export worldwide.
Woolf had very mixed feelings about Joyce's masterpiece. She liked the start of it, up to and including the 'Hades' episode (set in Glasnevin). But overall, she looked down her perfectly formed high-society nose at both the author and his work:
'An illiterate, underbred book it seems to me: the book of a self-taught working man, & we all know how distressing they are, how egotistic, insistent, raw, striking, & ultimately nauseating.'
Still, in Mrs Dalloway, she paid a kind of homage to Ulysses. And writing style aside, even her life mirrored Joyce's. She was born a week before he was in 1882 and died (albeit a self-inflicted death) only two months after him in 1941.
In an article for the Guardian back in 2016, 'It's Time We Celebrated Dallowday', one of her more devoted fans pondered why Woolf's book couldn't be commemorated in the same way Joyce's is in Dublin and around the world.
One reason may be that it lacks the epic quality of Ulysses. Or perhaps, conversely, it doesn't have enough fine detail, including a specific date. It's set on a Wednesday in mid-June, while literary detectives say the year had to be in 1923.
Based on the calendar for that year, this reduces possibilities to the 13th or 20th, and historic weather reports make the 13th more likely. Even so, this year's main centenary commemoration in London was held - indoors, in a library theatre - on the 18th.
Maybe Woolf was too well bred to bother with such vulgar detail. Whatever the reason, she kept the timing vague: 'For it was the middle of June. The War was over, except for some like Mrs Foxcroft at the Embassy last night eating her heart out because that nice boy was killed and now the old Manor House must go to a cousin…It was June.
'The King and Queen were at the Palace. And everywhere, though it was still early, there was a beating, a stirring of galloping ponies, tapping of cricket bats; Lords, Ascot, Ranelagh, and all the rest of it…'
Yes, Royal Ascot was happening in her book too. But unlike Bloom, Mrs Dalloway didn't accidentally tip the 20-1 winner of the Gold Cup. For that and other shortcomings, she will never be truly loved.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
3 hours ago
- Irish Times
Novo Nordisk freezes hiring in push to rein in costs
Novo Nordisk is to freeze hiring in an effort to control costs at the drug maker. The halt will apply across all markets and departments, with the exception of business-critical roles, a company spokeswoman said on Wednesday. Novo's new chief executive officer, Maziar Mike Doustdar, has signaled that job cuts may be part of a promised revamp, telling reporters last month that Novo needs to exercise greater discipline and prudence on spending. He said he plans to review the company's cost base. The maker of Wegovy and Ozempic, which employs close to 500 people in Ireland, is fighting to claw back ground after losing its lead in the US obesity market to rival Eli Lilly & Co. Lilly's weight-loss franchise is poised to overtake Novo's this year and may hold more than half of a $100 billion global obesity market by 2030, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Michael Shah said. Novo ousted its longtime CEO in the second quarter as the foundation that controls the company pushed for an overhaul, and Doustdar took over earlier this month. Novo's workforce mushroomed to more than 78,000 people in recent years as the drugmaker rushed to boost production of its blockbusters Ozempic and Wegovy. On Wednesday, the company's website had just over 400 jobs posted globally, most of them in China and the U.S. Only eight positions were open in its home market of Denmark. --Bloomberg
Irish Times
a day ago
- Irish Times
‘Once somebody shares the fact they are thinking about suicide, there's a connection to life'
'Silence is the real danger in suicide,' says psychotherapist Mark Herman. It leaves people alone with their thoughts. 'In my experience, once somebody shares the fact they are thinking about suicide, there's a connection to life ... and some kind of an unburdening.' Talk therapies are generally recommended as a first-line treatment option for most people struggling with mental health . However, too many men in crisis stay silent. The male predominance among deaths by suicide is an indicator of that. According to the latest provisional figures from the Central Statistics Office , there were 351 deaths by suicide in 2024, of which 289 were male and 62 female – a rate of 10.9 per 100,000 men and 2.3 per 100,000 women. A more complete set of statistics for 2021, incorporating late registrations, records 512 deaths of people by suicide in Ireland that year, unchanged from the number recorded in 2017. Over those five years, the proportion of deaths of people by suicide for males remained broadly similar, at about eight in 10, with the highest-risk age range in 2021 being 50-54 years. READ MORE Psychotherapist Mark Herman. A €2 million investment in new counselling supports for men recently announced by the Department of Health is aimed at helping to break the silence. Championed by the Minister of State with responsibility for mental health, Mary Butler , this initiative will be accompanied by a public campaign and promotion through GPs from the start of September. She has stressed that this is 'recurring funding', for measures that include more than 15,000 free counselling sessions to men each year. However, accessibility and affordability are not the only barriers to men seeking any kind of talk therapy. Butler's reference to the importance of men's 'specific needs and preferences' being taken into account when designing tailored supports acknowledges that, and there will be efforts to reduce stigma. As the health and wellbeing manager with the Irish Men's Sheds Association ( ), Rebecca McLaughlin, says: 'I wish it were as simple as the movies 'If you build it, they will come'.' A clinical psychotherapist by training, she researched the challenges and barriers to older men engaging with counselling and therapy for her master's degree. 'Even just a few generations apart, men present with very different views and perspectives, whether it's on masculinity, the male role, gender, stigma and also engagements like therapy,' she says. Yet, consistent among men both young and old is a tendency to believe that seeking help challenges their masculine identity. Men of all ages present later and with more acute symptoms to mental health services. The gender split among those attending Herman's private psychotherapy practice in north Dublin is the opposite of the national trend, with about two-thirds of his clients being male. He suggests that men may gravitate towards a male counsellor, just as women may seek a female counsellor – in which case women will have a lot more choice. A 2018 survey by the Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy showed its membership to be 78 per cent female. [ Walking football: 'Look around. The lads are buzzing before we even get out on the pitch' Opens in new window ] 'I think there is some kind of a comfort in talking to a man, in way of engagement but also in understanding of men's issues,' says Herman. Yet it often still takes a woman to get a male client in the door. She may be his mother, partner, sister or, in cases of bereavement, a daughter. 'About half of my male clients seem to arrive by some kind of 'proxy',' he explains. A woman in the client's life has encouraged him, or perhaps laid down an ultimatum, to seek help. 'Maybe some of those women have been to therapy themselves. It's good; it's a moving forward of that influencing.' The woman may be the one to engage initially with Herman, who must have contact from the man before anything is set up. Tea and biscuit time at the Irish Men's Sheds Association 'I need to hear what he's looking for, and I need to make sure he's there of his own free will.' However, Herman can identify personally with this female nudging towards talk therapy. 'My wife, Maria, encouraged me to consider counselling for years, before my problems finally came to a head and I couldn't sidestep them any longer. I remember being reluctant, but also knowing I probably should give it a chance. 'Just a couple of sessions', I told myself...' Sharing with somebody who is non-judgmental brings not only relief but also clarity. A skilled listener can ask questions that will help the person move themselves forward A former tech and business manager, he still finds it hard to say exactly how counselling helped him so much. 'But I think that I got on well with my counsellor Phil, was able to trust him and that we worked well together, was the main thing.' He found it such a valuable experience that he did a degree in counselling and became, as he says himself, one of those 'wounded healers' – people whose own painful experiences inspire and, arguably, better equip them to help others. 'This has been a long, vague path for me, but shows that hard times can offer us opportunities and lead to hope of fresh new things.' Hope is a lifeline that can also be buried by silence. Yet, in general, men seem less likely than women to recognise the power of saying things about inner turmoil out loud, be that with a professional, partner or friend. Sharing with somebody who is non-judgmental brings not only relief but also clarity. A skilled listener can ask questions that will help the person move themselves forward. 'It's not just talk. It's also taking small steps,' says Herman. health and wellbeing manager Rebecca McLaughlin with a member at the Irish Men's Sheds Association In the thriving, 450-plus men's sheds on this island, McLaughlin sees older men 'upturning all the traditional negative stereotypes applied to them', such as 'men are hard to reach' and 'men don't talk'. 'What we experience is actually sharing and talking about health issues and problems,' she says. But, crucially, this is done 'shoulder to shoulder' in the course of another activity, such as woodwork, gardening or some other community project. 'Each shed is run autonomously and has its own unique mix of three ingredients: people, place and purpose. Connection is the common factor – and a kettle, of course.' [ New €1m fund for men's sheds to help with heating and insurance Opens in new window ] The predominantly 60-years-plus age group drawn to the sheds grew up in a more entrenched culture of masculine silence around emotions. There is a huge leap from that to being expected to go into a room with a stranger and open up about their feeling, McLaughlin points out. In her 'wraparound' work with men's sheds to facilitate workshops and other wellbeing initiatives, she has found that even the label 'mental' health can be off-putting. Some older men have profoundly negative associations with the word, due to social, cultural and historical conditioning. To them it suggests, 'there's something wrong with you,' she says. 'You were locked away; you were sent off; it was silence.' Yet, for instance, a programme dealing with loss, devised post-Covid in conjunction with the Irish Hospice Foundation, has proved very popular. In some cases it has prompted men to come forward to look for further support, outside the walls of the sheds. 'It's like dropping a pebble in the pool. It creates a ripple effect and it opens up a dialogue.' While welcoming Butler's move to bolster men's counselling, McLaughlin says the association would like to see more research about those in need of support who do not seek help. 'Is it around expectations? Is it about not having tailored supports for them? Is it about the language? Is it about misunderstanding of the role of the therapist? It's very, very complicated to unpick.' Echoing Herman's comments, she says there also seems to be 'quite a sensitivity to the age and gender of the therapist'. However, she adds, it's only by asking men themselves will we get nearer to the answers about what would encourage them to look for mental health support. Meanwhile, the department has promised evaluation of the impact of the new funding. Direct consultation paved the way for a new mental health programme for young Travellers , which is being rolled out with €100,000 this year from the funding announced by Butler, says John O'Brien, manager of the National Traveller Mental Health Service. This service, based in Exchange House in Dublin 1, is funded through the Health Service Executive 's National Office for Suicide Prevention. Research indicates that Traveller men are seven times more likely to die by suicide than the general population. Part of the new project will be crisis-management training for Traveller adults, delivered by peers in their own community. The other part will be a six- to eight-week mental health programme for youngsters, with boys aged 15 to 18 being the key target group Last year, among a Traveller population here of about 33,000 (based on Census 2022), 'we recorded 37 possible deaths by suicide and 32 the year previous', says O'Brien, 'the youngest being 12, right the way up to a man in his 60s'. In surveying young Travellers before the pilot project, one key finding was that they had all been exposed to suicide and death. The second was a prevalent lack of hope for their future, with a widespread sense that 'people like me' don't go to college, go into apprenticeships or get jobs. 'So that's where this programme is coming in,' says O'Brien. 'We asked the young people who would they turn to if they were worried, stressed or depressed or suicidal. Overwhelmingly they responded that they would go to their own parents or their own community, their peers. Professional support in the way of doctors or GPs, teachers, youth service workers, was way down the list.' That information was fed back to the adults through focus groups. 'There was a sense of pride within the adults that the children would go to them.' But there was also 'a real sense of despair because the capacity isn't there for them to deal with those issues'. Part of the new project will be crisis-management training for Traveller adults, delivered by peers in their own community. The other part will be a six- to eight-week mental health programme for youngsters, with boys aged 15 to 18 being the key target group. The approach contrasts with the traditional way of 'middle-class, white professionals coming in to deliver projects – and I include myself in that cohort', says O'Brien. The pilot programme was co-produced between professionals and community members and then delivered by a Traveller man and settled woman. [ Mankeeping: why it's bad for women and men Opens in new window ] Stigma has been a historical factor in fewer men than women seeking counselling and psychotherapy, says Austen Donohoe, communications and digital marketing manager of MyMind ( ), which will be funded to provide 5,000 free sessions targeted at men. Currently, two-thirds of clients using this early intervention service for mild to moderate mental health challenges are female. Last year, the breakdown was 62 per cent female, 34 per cent male, with other and undisclosed at 1 per cent each. The average age for a MyMind client is 34, and the majority attend therapy for help with anxiety and stress. Many also seek assistance with other everyday issues such as self-esteem, loneliness and work/life balance. 'It is our hope that this new HSE funding will encourage more men to seek help sooner, with the mental health benefits for both them and their communities serving to help reduce stigma.' According to MyMind's mental health professionals, specialisations such as cognitive behavioural therapy work well for men by creating structure and teaching skills for managing mental wellbeing, reports Donohoe. 'Other specialisations like art therapy offer ways of communicating without relying on words alone. These approaches, and others, make therapy for men something that can be actively engaged in as a project for self-improvement.' Samaritans – – 116 123 – jo@
Irish Times
2 days ago
- Irish Times
Heather Humphreys and Seán Kelly presidential face-off expected as Fine Gael reopens nominations
A contest between former minister Heather Humphreys and the MEP Seán Kelly to become Fine Gael 's presidential candidate became increasingly likely on Monday night after the party's executive council decided to seek fresh nominations rather than selecting a single candidate. Nominations will open on Tuesday for two weeks. Ms Humphreys is said by former colleagues to be keen to become the candidate. Ahead of the meeting, Mr Kelly said he would be 'leaning towards contesting'. The meeting was hastily convened after the sudden announcement on Thursday by party nominee Mairead McGuinness that she was dropping out of the race for health reasons . READ MORE Ms McGuinness said she made the 'very difficult decision' after a stay in hospital and would now prioritise her health. 'I do not believe that I have the strength to give the campaign my all,' she said. Her departure has left just one confirmed candidate in the contest, the left-wing Independent TD Catherine Connolly . After deliberating for little over an hour on Monday evening, Fine Gael's executive council decided it would reopen nominations until September 2nd. Ms Humphreys had ruled herself out of the race earlier this year, saying she wanted to spend more time with her family. However, party sources have said that following the vacation of the nomination by Ms McGuinness, she has expressed strong interest in representing the party in the autumn poll. Her candidacy has been strongly backed by Tánaiste and party leader Simon Harris . Sources said that when he contacted Fine Gael ministers on Friday to tell them Ms McGuinness was standing down, he voiced strong support for former Cavan-Monaghan TD Ms Humphreys, who is a long-time ally. However, South MEP Seán Kelly has also indicated his interest. He considered contesting the nomination against Ms McGuinness earlier in summer, but he ultimately decided against it. In response to queries from The Irish Times on Monday Mr Kelly said he was in 'decision mode'. In a text sent before the executive meeting, he said that, depending on the outcome, he would 'be leaning towards contesting.' A senior party figure, when asked if the outcome of the meeting would lead to a contest between Ms Humphreys and Mr Kelly, said: 'Most likely, yes.' Mr Harris was present for the full meeting. Sources said there was a clear mood among those present that there should be a contest and a hustings. The two-week period is to allow prospective candidates to win sufficient support within the party. To be nominated, a candidate needs the named support of 20 members of the parliamentary party, 25 Fine Gael councillors and five members of the executive council.
