The story and subsequent song called
Finnegan's Wake (note the
apostrophe) describe a
drunkard, Tim Finnegan, who one day died in a
workplace accident as a result of
alcohol. At his
funeral a conflict broke out between Biddy O'Brien, who was deeply
saddened by Tim's
tragic passing, and Maggie O'Connor, who mostly just wanted to have a good time at the
funeral wake. In the ensuing fight between all the mourners, which Biddy started, a bucket of whiskey spilt over Tim. In Gaelic, the word for whiskey (according to the Clancy Brothers) is ISH-kah-BAH-ha, which translates to "
water of life", and so, Tim
awakens from the dead.
In this little story, Joyce saw quite a bit. Although few, if any people can actually figure out what the book is about, I have it on good authority that it has something to do with what Joyce saw as the cycle of life: Birth, Life, Death, and Rebirth.