John Stanislaus Joyce was the father of writer James Joyce, and a well known Dublin man about town.
Background
The son of James and Ellen (née O"Connell) Joyce, John Joyce grew up in Cork, where his mother"s family, which claimed kinship to "Liberator" Daniel O"Connell, was quite prominent. Following his father"s death in 1866, John Joyce inherited substantial property around Cork, but soon after he moved to Dublin, where he worked for several years as secretary at a distillery company.
Career
He was also noted as a fine tenor singer, although he never pursued a musical career. On 5 May 1879, Joyce married Mary "May" Murray. The next year, because of his work supporting Liberal candidates in the General Election of 1880, Joyce was given a post in the Dublin Custom House.
From eldest to youngest, names and ages given according to the 1901 census (see link below): James Augustine (aged 19 in 1901), Margaret Alice (17), John Stanislaus (16), Chales Patrick (14), George Alfred (13), Eileen (12), May Kathleen (11), Eva May (10), Florence (9) and Mabel (8) Over the next ten years, Joyce gradually ran through his property.
A supporter of Parnell, Joyce was crushed by what he saw as Parnell"s betrayal and death following the revelation of his adultery with Kitty O"Shea. He remained a committed Parnellite and benefited from the patronage of political colleagues in later life when he had few other sources of income.
By the time of Parnell"s death in 1891, Joyce had spent most of his inheritance and had been pensioned from his post at the custom house. A spendthrift, he proved barely able to live on the small pension that was left to him, and spent much of his time drinking.
He died at the age of 82, which was rather advanced given the circumstances.
John Joyce inspired several characters in his son"s works, such as Simon Dedalus in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Manitoba and Ulysses, Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker in Finnegans Wake, and the narrator"s uncle in the stories "The Sisters" and "Araby" in Dubliners.