"Something for everyone": Book club launches global reading of Ulysses in 80 days

Posted on: 28 May 2026

With Bloomsday in sight, the Ulysses in 80 Book Club is inviting readers from all over the world to read and/or listen to James Joyce’s Modernist classic novel Ulysses over 80 days, tackling 10-15 pages a day from June 1st to August 19th 2026.   

The project is led by Cliona O’Farrelly, a scientist at Trinity College Dublin who has read Ulysses 24 times and “still doesn’t understand it” and her friend Mark Sanford Gross, who is based in California and has never been to Ireland, but says he “gets” both Stephen Dedulus and Leopold Bloom (main characters in the book) “in his soul”.  

This is the fifth summer in a row for this book club to address itself to the James Joyce tome, and it is the first time events will take place in the US.   

Two series of in-person gatherings will accompany the 2026 reading of Ulysses in 80 Days—one in Dublin’s Docklands – at Trinity College Dublin’s dedicated community engagement space at Unit18 - and one in California.  

“I’m not going to pretend Ulysses is an easy read but it is such a huge fantastic book, packed with dozens of events and characters, thoughts, songs and jokes all lurching from the maudlin to the inspired to the puzzling all around Dublin city.” said Cliona O’Farrelly, Professor of Comparative Immunology at Trinity College Dublin (on the far right above and below). “There is something for everyone, even if they don't read the 10-12 pages every day”.  

Trinity School of English Associate Professor Sam Slote, who has been involved with Ulysses in 80 since its 2022 launch, said: “’Getting’ Ulysses is perhaps not even the real point of the book since it’s meant to be read and enjoyed. Sometimes not understanding something, such as missing a reference or a nuance in a turn of phrase, is actually part of the point – and I’m saying this as someone who has spent many, many years annotating the book. A reading group like this emphasises the joys of reading for pleasure.”  

Mark Sanford Gross added: “Hopefully, readers from all walks of life, from all corners of the globe, with all sorts of reading interests – and none – will find something to please, intrigue, annoy, and stimulate them during the 80 days. At some point Ulysses stops being simply a difficult book to read and becomes a way of understanding how we move through life together.”   

The online book club is based at the dedicated website Ulyssesin80.com where the first and last few words as well as the page numbers for each day’s readings will be posted daily.  

The relevant page numbers of several printed editions will be provided, as well as the line numbers from the online Gutenberg Press edition so people without a copy of the book can still read it.    

Since the organisers believe listening to Ulysses is sometimes better than reading it, the relevant time stamps for the RTE podcasts of Ulysses will be posted daily. Readers are invited to contribute their thoughts, comments and insights about the day’s section online. Alternatively they can engage in more specific discussions in one of the websites ‘snugs’ dedicated to some of the multiplicity of topics that thread through Ulysses including ‘Music’ ‘Dante’ ‘History’ ‘Religion’ ‘Family’ ‘Money’, ‘ ‘Poverty’ ‘Misogyny’.   

To sign up and receive updates and announcements, please email: readingulyssesin80@gmail.com  

The events

The Dublin events will be based at Unit18 (Trinity in the Community) on Macken Street, working in collaboration with the recently launched D2/D4 Learning Neighbourhood including members St Andrew’s Resource Centre, Ringsend and Irishtown Community Centre and local residents.  

Anyone interested in the 'Ulysses in 80 Days' concept is invited to join us for any of the in-person, informal, social chats about the book in Unit18 on Macken St, and on any of the outings over the 12 weeks. There is no pressure to read the whole book or attend all events. All Ulysses in 80 Days readers visiting Dublin during the 80 days will be welcome.  

There are weekly meetings from 10–11am in Unit 18 on Macken St on Wednesdays (these began on May 27th). There will be social chats about the project, about the book, about Joyce, about Dublin and about the pages to be read that week. Five daytime outings are planned relating to specific episodes in Ulysses, the first on June 2nd, to the Sandycove Martello Tower, including a possible swim in the Forty Foot, since this marks the second half of Telemachus (the first episode) which describes breakfast in the Tower and Buck Mulligan swimming in the Forty Foot.   

Other outings will include walks along Westland Row (the scene for Lotus Eaters Episode 5 which describes Leopold Bloom's stroll along the street), to Pearse St. Library to visit Nelson (mentioned in Aeolus, episode 7), to Sandymount Strand (scenes of Proteus episode 3 and Nausicaa, Episode 13) and around Glasnevin Cemetery (scene of episode 6, Hades and Paddy Dignam's funeral).   

There will also be evening outings to four of the pubs/buildings mentioned in Ulysses: Tunneys in Ringsend, Kennedy's on Westland Row (called Conway's in Joyce's time), Davy Byrnes on Duke St, and the Lincoln's Inn on Lincoln Place (in the building which was Finn's Hotel in 1904 where Nora Barnacle was working when she met James Joyce).   

A provisional timetable is below:  

In Northern California — The Sea Ranch  

This group will meet Mondays, 4–6 pm, beginning June 1, at Fireside Lounge of The Sea Ranch Lodge, Lodge which sits on the bluffs, looking out toward the Pacific, along the Mendonoma Coast. Open to the surrounding coastal community and visitors to the area.If you're passing through—or live nearby—there's always a seat. Led locally by Mark Sanford Gross.  

About Unit18   

Unit18 (Trinity in the Community) is Trinity College’s dedicated space for civic and community engagement. Located on the Trinity East campus, the vision is about providing a space for local residents to meet, learn and socialise, opening up Trinity’s research and education to wider audiences. Whether it’s exploring topics such as climate change and future careers with young adults, digital skills for older people or providing art workshops for diverse audiences, Unit18 has hosted a wide range of co-created programmes with the overall aim of delivering benefits - social, cultural, education or economic - to local residents.  

To find out more or enquire about using Unit18, email Mary Colclough, Community Engagement Manager, unit18@tcd.ie  

ENDS 

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