In 1923, Joyce commissioned Patrick Tuohy to paint a portrait his seventy-four-year-old father. Tuohy himself was so pleased with the result that he entered it in a number of exhibitions. Born in Cork in 1849 John Joyce spent three years attempting to study medicine before giving up and moving to Dublin. He married May Murray in 1880 and they had ten children together. He was retired from his job as a rates collector in 1892 and he only worked occasionally after that. A great drinker, singer, and storyteller, John Joyce was the inspiration for several of Joyce’s characters, and stories of his, like ‘How Buckley shot the Russian General,’ and ‘Kersse the tailor and the Norwegian Captain,’ appear in Finnegans Wake. John Joyce died in Dublin in 1931. The original of this portrait is in the collections of the State University of New York at Buffalo.
Press ‘A’ to learn more about Joyce’s father, John Joyce… Press ‘B’ to learn more about Joyce’s mother, May Murray… Press ‘C’ to learn more about Joyce’s wife, Nora Barnacle…