1. James Joyce’s family sought to have his body repatriated
The Government wanted to find out exactly what was involved in the proposal to bring home the body of the Dublin-born poet, novelist, and literary critic who had died in Zurich in January 1941, at age 58, following complications from surgery.
Though deeply tied to Dublin, the city that inspired much of his work, Joyce spent most of his life abroad in Europe.
In 1968, the health minister, Seán Flanagan, wrote to the taoiseach to explain how writer Ulick O’Connor had recently informed him that the author’s son, Giorgio Joyce, “would be glad to have his father’s body brought back to Ireland if the Government would…