In Calypso, as Bloom approaches the corner of Eccles
Street and Dorset Street where "Larry O'Rourke's" sits, he
thinks about the proprietor, then civilly greets him, and then
thinks some more about the lucrative enterprise of running a
pub. The business was real, as was the owner. Joyce's
fictional portrait contains some vivid characterizing details:
bald head, no-nonsense presence, incisive speech, financial
prudence.
Vivien Igoe observes that O'Rourke was born in Carlow in 1840
and "first listed as a tea, wine and spirit merchant at 2
Fishamble Street. He later ran similar businesses at 9 Lord
Edward Street and in 1894 opened a business at 72 and 73
Dorset Street Upper, where he remained until 1911." He was
married with three daughters and a son. After his retirement
in 1912 the family moved to Rathmines.
It is surely significant that Bloom addresses O'Rourke by
name, and with a measure of formal respect, but receives a
nameless salutation in return:
— Good day, Mr
O'Rourke.
— Good day to you.
— Lovely weather, sir.
— 'Tis all that.
Bloom is no haunter of pubs, which perhaps explains the
lukewarm anonymous reception. But he is a near neighbor, he
knows O'Rourke well enough to appreciate the accuracy of Simon
Dedalus's impersonations of his speech mannerisms, and Penelope
reveals that Molly buys stout from him often enough for
O'Rourke to send over presents at Christmas, so it seems more
likely that this is one of the many examples of Dubliners
never quite knowing or caring who Bloom is.
Molly thinks of the man as ungenerous: "my belly is a bit too
big Ill have to knock off the stout at dinner or am I getting
too fond of it the last they sent from ORourkes was as flat as
a pancake he makes his money easy Larry they call him the old
mangy parcel he sent at Xmas a cottage cake and a bottle of
hogwash he tried to palm off as claret that he couldnt get
anyone to drink." Bloom too has the impression that he is
tightfisted: "Cute old codger. No use canvassing him for an
ad. Still he knows his own business best."
O'Rourke's hands-on approach to his business is conveyed in
both Calypso and Wandering Rocks
by his hovering about the pub in "shirtsleeves,"
supervising his employees and keeping an eye on the world from
his perch on a fairly busy intersection.
