Bloomsday celebrates Thursday 16 June 1904, the day depicted in James Joyce’s novel Ulysses. The day is named after Leopold Bloom, the central character in Ulysses. The novel follows the life and thoughts of Leopold Bloom and a host of other characters – real and fictional – from 8am on 16 June 1904 through to the early hours of the following morning. Celebrations often include dressing up like characters from the book and in clothes that would have been the style of the era. One of the hallmark fancy dress items of Bloomsday is the straw boater hat. Celebrations come in many differen

The Dublin plein air festival is Ireland’s premier outdoor painting festival. The festival is the perfect painting holiday in Ireland and offers many painting courses during the week. Whether you are an experienced plein air painter, a novice or have never painted out doors before; we hope you will join us and we look forward to meeting you. Community and friendship is the basis of our festival so even if you come to our festival by yourself, you will leave having met friends who share your passion for art, while enjoying the beautiful landscapes, charming coastal villages and friendly