Ivy Day in the Committee Room

Plot summary

In a committee room, Mat O'Connor, a canvasser for Richard Tierney, a candidate in an upcoming municipal election, discusses child-rearing with Old Jack, who tries to keep a fire going. Joe Hynes, another canvasser, arrives and needles O’Connor on whether he’s been paid for his work yet. He proceeds to defend rival candidate Colgan's working class background and maintains that Tierney, although a Nationalist, will likely present a welcome address at the upcoming visit of King Edward VII. When Hynes points out that it is Ivy Day, a commemoration of Charles Stewart Parnell, a nostalgic silence fills the room. Another canvasser, John Henchy, enters and derides Tierney for not having paid him yet. When Hynes leaves, Henchy voices a suspicion that the man is a spy for Colgan. Henchy badmouths another canvasser, Crofton, just before Crofton himself enters with Bantam Lyons. Crofton had worked for the Conservative candidate until the party withdrew and gave their support to Tierney.

The talk of politics drifts to Charles Stewart Parnell, who has his defenders and detractors in the room. Hynes returns and is encouraged to read his sentimental poem dedicated to Parnell. The poem is highly critical of those who betrayed him, including the Roman Catholic Church, and places Parnell among the ancient heroes of Ireland. All applaud the performance and seem to forget their differences for the moment.

Background

The idea for both ‘The Dead’ and ‘Ivy Day’ he attributed to Anatole France, although the latter story also owes something to Stannie’s (his brother) account of his father at work during a Dublin by-election three years earlier.

After being rejected by Symon’s publishers Joyce sent Dubliners, the twelve stories, to publisher Grant Richards. It took nearly 8 years for Dubliners to get published. Going back and forth with Richards, who initially agreed to publish Joyce’s work, Joyce revised and omitted many things in Dubliners to reach an agreement. However, Richards objected to too many things and eventually simply refused to publish it. Read Joyce’s letter to Richards here.

Ireland has had a prominent role in Joycean writing. Having been under the British government’s rule since the 1500s, a longstanding division has always separated the two. He found Dublin especially interesting, saying, “I do not think that any writer has yet presented Dublin to the world. It has been a capital of Europe for thousands of years, it is supposed to be the second city of the British Empire and is nearly three times as big as Venice”

In Ivy Day in the Committee room Joyce touches on the deeply rooted political struggle by noting nationalist Charles Stewart Parnell and his role in Irish politics. Parnell’s representation in "Ivy Day in the Committee Room" is clear from the title of the story. Ivy Day is the anniversary of Parnell’s death, the "uncrowned king of Ireland" He wanted to give the Irish people more of a say in their government, the way their country was lead.

His ousting served to delay Irish independence. In "Ivy Day in the Committee Room," the campaigners for Tierney aren’t campaigning for him to get into office but rather as a way for them to earn money. However, they point out that “Some of those hillsiders and Fenians are a bit too clever if you ask me. . . . Do you know what my private and candid opinion is about some of those little jokers? I believe half of them are in the pay of the Castle” Saying “In pay of the castle” means that there are those being paid off by Protestant officials. A “fenian” was a nickname given to those conspiring in a revolutionary movement to free Ireland from Britain, a radical nationalist. The inactivity in “Ivy Day in the Committee Room” served to show Joyce’s view of Irish nationalism. The stagnant conversations speak to Ireland’s paralytic nature. Nothing being accomplished in this story directly reflects the fact that nothing is being done about obtaining Ireland’s independence.

A common theme throughout not just “Ivy Day in the Committee Room” but Dubliners as a whole is paralysis. Not only do their conversations go nowhere, but they’re physically sitting down, paralyzed. This paralysis extends beyond the room, the lackadaisical characters and the election to Ireland as a whole.

After Parnell’s affair with married Kitty O’Shea was exposed his political career ended. Ireland and Britain were both shocked.

After his death an Irish cultural and political movement was set into motion. Citizens tried to figure out what it meant to live in Ireland with strong Irish roots. Ireland split into segregated religious groups – Catholics vs. Protestants. Most Irish were Catholic and wanted independence from Britain. These were the radicals; the conservatives were in favor of staying under Britain rule. This sheds light on the two pillars of cultural nationalism: the Catholic faith and Gaelic heritage leading to people to learn the “Irish” language, Gaelic, renewing a sense of cultural nationalism, pride in their country. “The Celtic Revival attempted to produce a new Irish culture in the absence of compelling political cohesion after the death of Parnell”

With this, Irish people wanted to unify themselves, to create a commonality on which to base a nation united.