Newman’s Inspiration in Irish Literature

Stephen Rea, Oscar-nominated Irish actor and co-founder of the influential Field Day Theatre Company, reads an excerpt from James Joyce’s “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man” (1916).

“James Joyce was the most famous student in Newman House where the Catholic University of Ireland was housed. Joyce was a great admirer of Newman’s style. This piece from “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man,” read by Stephen Rea, is widely regarded as the single most important passage in all of Irish Literature. It takes place at the still extant fireplace in the Physics Theatre in Newman House. The preternaturally intelligent Stephen Dedalus is in conversation with an English Jesuit that he regards as pretty unintelligent, but the young Irishman still ends up feeling humiliated.” – Professor Kevin Whelan

11 minutes