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Part I: Dublin

• James Joyce's father, John, was an only child in Dublin who had to quit school because of financial problems, went to work in a shipyard, and then studied medicine at Queens College but flunked out.

• John inherited his father's estate and bought into a distilling company which went bankrupt.

• John then went into politics and marred Joyce's mother, Mary Jane Murray (May) in 1880 even though she was ten years his junior and the families opposed the marriage.
• John and May's first child died and then James was born on February 2, 1882, in Dublin, Ireland.

• As a child, Joyce was well-behaved and self-sufficient and did well at school, his only punishment being for vulgar language.

• Joyce had a talent for writing but had to withdraw from school after his father hit a period of financial trouble.

• Joyce's brother, Stanislaus, idolized his brother and they attended prep school...

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