Short answers, pulled from the story.
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was born on the 2nd of February 1882 at 41 Brighton Square in Rathgar, Dublin. He grew up in Dublin before his family moved to Bray shortly after he turned nine years old.
Joyce and Nora Barnacle left Ireland in October 1904 for self-imposed exile and eventually settled in Trieste by March 1905. During World War I he remained in neutral Switzerland after May 1915 while his family stayed in Locarno during their time in Zurich.
The novel contains eighteen episodes covering roughly one hour each day on the 16th of June 1904. Each chapter refers to an episode in Homer's Odyssey along with specific colors art science and bodily organs.
He died fifteen minutes after waking briefly at two am on the 13th of January 1941 following surgery for a perforated duodenal ulcer on the 11th of January 1941. He had fled Nazi occupation of France and returned to Zurich for safety in 1940 before undergoing the operation.
He lapsed from the Church early in life but never considered himself Catholic according to firsthand statements. When living in Trieste he attended Mass on Holy Thursday and Good Friday occasionally and sometimes went to Eastern Orthodox services saying he liked the ceremonies better.