Cranly's arm

In Telemachus, as Mulligan holds Stephen's arm and says, "I'm the only one that knows what you are. Why don't you trust me more?" Stephen recalls a similar touching of his arm in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man: "Cranly's arm. His arm." Cranly was Joyce's fictive name (coined in 1898, long before any fictional works) for his close friend John Francis Byrne. In part 5 of A Portrait Stephen breaks off his friendship with Cranly. A rupture did occur between Joyce and Byrne, but it was repaired less than a year later. In the novel the rift is made to seem more consequential: Stephen rejects Cranly because Cranly likes women and will never devote himself wholly to his friend. This fictional history sets the stage for Stephen's quest for meaningful relationships in Ulysses: longing for some woman to "Touch me" while assessing the intentions behind the actual touches of men

JH 2022

George Clancy, John Francis Byrne, and James Joyce while they were students at University College, Dublin, in a photograph held in the Southern Illinois University Library. Source: Ellmann, James Joyce.

Photograph of John Francis Byrne taken in 1917, held in the Special Collections of the UCD Library. Source: digital.ucd.ie.

Photograph of John Francis Byrne taken in September 1924, held in the Special Collections of the UCD Library. Source: digital.ucd.ie.

An early 20th century photograph of 7 Eccles Street. Source: www.jjon.org.