What happened on Howth Head in Ulysses?
Howth Head is the headland north of Dublin Bay where Bloom proposed to Molly sixteen years before the novel, lying among the rhododendrons. Both of them remember it on 16 June 1904, and Molly's memory of it closes the book.
Edited by Aidan O'Leary · Last updated 30 October 2026
Where it appears
Several episodes. Bloom in Davy Byrne's, remembering the day.
High on Ben Howth rhododendrons a nannygoat walking surefooted, dropping currants.
What it means in plain English
Bloom remembers Molly passing him seedcake from her mouth as they kissed. Then he thinks: “Me. And me now.”
In Penelope Molly remembers the same afternoon, and says yes.
Literary context
Ben Howth is the old name for the hill.
References
- Ulysses, Episodes 8, 13 and 18
- Don Gifford with Robert J. Seidman, Ulysses Annotated (revised edition, 1988)
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Questions readers ask
Where is Howth?
On a peninsula on the north side of Dublin Bay, reachable by DART train.
Related terms
The last line of Ulysses
The last words of Ulysses are "and yes I said yes I will Yes." They end Molly Bloom's long, unpunctuated monologue in the final episode, "Penelope", as she remembers the day Leopold Bloom proposed to her on Howth Head and she agreed to marry him.
Molly Bloom
Leopold's wife, a singer, whose long unpunctuated monologue closes the book on the word 'yes.' Joyce's Penelope.
Davy Byrne's
Davy Byrne's is the pub on Duke Street where Bloom eats a gorgonzola cheese sandwich and drinks a glass of burgundy in Episode 8. He calls it a “moral pub”. It is still open, and is crowded with readers every Bloomsday.