June 16 falls quite close (four or five days) to the summer
solstice, as Stephen notes at the end of Proteus: "By
the way next when is it Tuesday will be the longest day."
Dublin lies north of the 53rd parallel (a line that passes
near the southern end of Hudson Bay), meaning that in late
June its days are quite long indeed. At the solstice the sun
can be seen for nearly 17 hours. It sets in Nausicaa.
Hugh Kenner opens his study Ulysses (2nd ed., 1987)
by observing that "In Dublin in 1904, Standard Time and Summer
Time still years in the future, local time had the sun rise on
16 June at 3.33 and not set until 8.27. Two or three hours
past sunset, on such nights, one can still make out newspaper
headlines by skyshine, and at no time between dusk and dawn
does the northern sky really darken" (1).
In Nausicaa, which takes place between 8 and 9 PM,
we learn at the outset that "the sun was setting."
At the end of the chapter, when the sun has set and "the
nine o'clock postman" is making his rounds, the
narrative reads, "Howth settled for slumber, tired of
long days, of yumyum rhododendrons (he was old) and
felt gladly the night breeze lift, ruffle his fell of ferns.
He lay but opened a red eye unsleeping, deep and slowly
breathing, slumberous but awake." Bloom too is slumbrous but
awake: "Must be getting on for nine by the light.
Go home. Too late for Leah, Lily of Killarney. No.
Might be still up. Call to the hospital to see. Hope she's
over. Long day I've had." But much of his
day remains.