The Wellington Monument

 When I was a child, we used to visit the Phoenix Park and one of my earliest memories was climbing the steps of the Wellington Monument to look for the doorway that would let me inside it. So, when I read the part in Finnegans Wake about the museyroom and the artifacts from the Battle of Waterloo I saw the monument as that Museum. The Wellington Monument in the Phoenix Park has an interesting history. Standing at 62 metres tall it is the largest obelisk in Europe. It was built to commemorate the Duke of Wellington, Arthur Wellesley who fought against Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo. The structure was originally planned for Merrion Square in Dublin, but the residents didn't want it, so it was decided to build it in the Phoenix Park. The project was begun in 1917 but it ran out of money before it was finished, and it wasn't completed for another 40 years. The plans for a statue in front of the monument of the 1st Duke of Wellington on horseback were ere also scrapped because of the lack of funds. Did you know that the four bronze plaques on the lower half of the monument were cast from cannons that were captured at Waterloo?

James Joyce and Lewis Carroll

 Throughout the pages of Finnegans Wake, we encounter writers and their works that have influenced Joyce. One such author is Lewis Carroll, the penname of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson. His timeless and much-loved "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" make many cameo appearances throughout the Wake. Carroll's clever manipulation of language, through puns and nonsensical dialogues, must have tickled Joyce's sense of fun. Joyce himself was the master of puns and language experimentation. Additionally, Carroll's theme of delving into the subconscious and the uncanny resonates in Joyce's work, as both authors explore the complex interplay between reality and imagination, conscious and unconscious thoughts.