Council Partners History News

A New Page Turns for Iconic James Joyce Tower & Museum at Sandycove

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and the James Joyce Tower & Museum have announced a new collaboration to secure the future of the Joyce Museum. When the Tower closed ten years ago, local people set up the Friends of Joyce Tower Society to provide a volunteer staff so that it could continue to welcome visitors. It is fitting that in this centenary year of the publication of Ulysses, the Tower is set to enter its next exciting episode.

An Cathaoirleach, Mary Hanafin said, “Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown has always enjoyed a special relationship with James Joyce here in Sandycove as we celebrate 100 years of James Joyce’s Ulysses. I want to acknowledge and thank the volunteers at the James Joyce Tower and the Friends of James Joyce Society for their energy and commitment in time, which we hope will continue.”  

The 19th century Martello Tower is owned by the OPW and until recently was leased by Fáilte Ireland. Under new arrangements, the Tower will be leased by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and managed by a not-for-profit company, Joyce Tower Museum, working closely with the Friends of Joyce Tower Society into the future.

Frank Curran, Chief Executive, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council added, “we are delighted to support the Tower’s next steps and working closely with the Friends of Joyce Tower and look forward to continuing the warm welcome to this iconic and world-famous location.”

Frank Cogan, Chair of Joyce Tower Museum CLG, paid tribute to the work of the Tower Volunteers and previous curators, Vivien Igoe and Robert Nicholson, for ensuring that the Tower remained open to visitors over recent decades. He went on to say, “the new partnership with Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council has put the management of the Tower on a new, dynamic footing, Ulysses has come back to his omphalos, his home by the wine-dark sea.”

The James Joyce Tower and Museum is open from Wednesday to Sunday each week, with normal hours of 10am-4pm each day.  

Source: Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council

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