October 8th – a special day!
On this day (October 8th) in 1904 the chambermaid and the artist, virtually penniless, abandoned Ireland for a new life on mainland Europe. Joyce and his new girlfriend Nora Barnacle (he had only met her on June 10th) left Dublin and travelled through London, Paris and Trieste to arrive eventually in Pola (now in Croatia) where he became an English teacher.
In Ulysses, October 8th (1888) is the wedding day of Leopold and Molly Bloom. Coincidence? I doubt it!