What does “Deshil Holles Eamus” mean in Ulysses?
“Deshil Holles Eamus” is the chant that opens Episode 14. It mixes Irish (“deiseal”, turning right, sunwise, for luck), the name of Holles Street, where the maternity hospital stands, and Latin “eamus” (“let us go”): roughly, “let us go to Holles Street, sunwise.”
Edited by Aidan O'Leary · Last updated 30 October 2026
Where it appears
Episode 14, Oxen of the Sun. The opening incantation of Oxen of the Sun, set in the maternity hospital at night.
Deshil Holles Eamus. Deshil Holles Eamus. Deshil Holles Eamus.
What it means in plain English
It is repeated three times, like a charm or an invocation. Then come prayers for a birth: “Send us bright one, light one, Horhorn, quickening and wombfruit.”
Bloom has come to the hospital to ask after Mina Purefoy, who has been in labour for three days.
Literary context
Horhorn refers to Andrew Horne, master of the National Maternity Hospital in 1904.
References
- Ulysses, Episode 14, “Oxen of the Sun”
- Don Gifford with Robert J. Seidman, Ulysses Annotated (revised edition, 1988)
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Questions readers ask
Why three times?
Charms and rituals are often spoken three times. It also echoes the three days of Mrs Purefoy's labour.
Related terms
Hoopsa boyaboy hoopsa
“Hoopsa boyaboy hoopsa!” is the midwife's cry as she lifts a newborn boy, repeated three times near the opening of Episode 14. It anticipates the birth of Mina Purefoy's son later in the episode.
Holles Street
Holles Street is the home of the National Maternity Hospital, where Episode 14 takes place at about 10 pm. Bloom visits to ask after Mina Purefoy, who is in labour, and finds Stephen drinking with medical students.
Parody of English prose styles (Oxen of the Sun)
Episode 14, “Oxen of the Sun”, imitates the history of English prose in order, from Latin-flavoured early writing through Malory, Bunyan, Swift and Dickens to modern slang. The growth of style mirrors the growth of a baby in the womb, as Mina Purefoy gives birth.