James Joyce was born in Dublin, Ireland, on February 2, 1882. Dublin is the setting for all of Joyce’s literary works, including the short story “Clay.” Joyce, the eldest of 10 surviving children, was born into a middle-class Catholic family and his early schooling began at the prestigious Jesuit-run Clongowes Wood College. The family fortunes declined quickly, however. Joyce’s father, John Stanislaus Joyce, drank heavily, frittered away the family money, and became abusive to his wife when drunk. His unpredictable behavior led to a series of moves to increasingly impoverished neighborhoods. This downward social mobility was a source of distress to young Joyce.

Joyce graduated from University College, Dublin, in 1902 and left for Paris the same year. He returned to Ireland in response to the death of his mother in 1903 and subsequently returned to Europe with his lover Nora Barnacle in 1904. The couple lived in various European locations during the following years, and except for a few short visits, Joyce was never to return to Ireland. He wrote the stories included in Dubliners while in Europe, completing the collection in 1906, and published in 1914.

Stories like “Clay” point to Joyce’s early development as one of the leading figures of the Modernist movement.