It is well known that the pages of Joyce's Ulysses are filled with hundreds of intriguing and quirky characters. What is less well known is that many of these characters were based on real people who inhabited Joyce's Dublin and elsewhere. In The Real People of Joyce's Ulysses, Dubliner and Joycean scholar Vivien Igoe leaves no stone uncovered in revealing the biographies of scores of people that had previously been deemed to be fictional, and who had been accorded little attention as a result. Lavishly illustrated, the book provides a comprehensive A to Z of these real people with detailed information about where they lived, died and are buried; worked, intermingled and found inspiration. A number of characters appear under their own name and were celebrated Dublin personalities in different fields at the turn of the century, others were ordinary Dubliners. Numerous intriguing points of human interconnection also emerge, such as neighbours or street acquaintances of Joyce, or the many friends, enemies and contemporaries of his father.The newly discovered information in The Real People of Joyce's Ulysses amplifies how Joyce manipulated and drew on a very intimate knowledge of Dublin and its inhabitants.
It reveals personalities and a social history which would otherwise have been forgotten and provides a fascinating insight into the Dublin of Joyce's time.