Was divorce a realistic possibility for Leopold and Molly Bloom? Peter Kuch, the Eamon Cleary Professor of Irish Studies at the University of Otago in New Zealand, will give a talk Oct. 16 on his groundbreaking book, Irish Divorce/Joyce’s Ulysses (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017), which challenges the long-held conviction that prior to 1995 Irish people could not obtain a divorce that gave them the right to remarry. Kuch writes of a forgotten Irish practice of petitioning the English courts for divorce, which casts Ulysses and Ireland’s identity in a new light. Kuch has published widely on Yeats, Joyce, Eliot, Irish theater, Irish and Australian film, literary theory  and Irish/Australian history.  His talk will take place in Connolly House at 4:30 p.m. Sponsor: Irish Studies.