Introduction
The Princess Grace Irish Library was
opened
in November 1984 by His Serene Highness The Sovereign Prince Rainier III of
Monaco — as his tribute to the attachment Princess Grace (1929‑1982)
felt
for her Irish origins. Operating under the ægis of the Fondation
Princesse
Grace, the Library is situated in the former family home of the late
Countess Brame-Gastaldi, a short walk from the Palace on the Rock of
Monaco.
It was during the 1961 State Visit to
Ireland that Their Serene Highnesses The Prince and Princess of Monaco
visited
the two-roomed cottage — overlooking the Leg of Mutton lake at Drimurla in
County Mayo — where the Princess’s grandfather John Kelly was born in 1857,
a
few years after the Great Famine. He emigrated to the United States in the
late
19th century and founded what was to become one of Philadelphia’s
leading construction companies.
Collections
Princess Grace’s personal collection of
Irish books (most of which lined the walls of her Palace office) and
Irish‑American
sheet music form the very heart of the Library’s collections. Many of the
volumes are from the library of leading Irish diplomat Count Gerald Edward
O’Kelly de Gallach (1890-1968) which Princess Grace purchased in the 1970s.
There are also books inscribed to the Prince and Princess by former Irish
president Eamon De Valera in 1961.
Since the Library’s inauguration, some
nine
thousand books have been acquired — or donated by benefactors and visitors —
including works from the Irish literary revival (1892‑1922), and an
excellent selection of contemporary writings — many signed by the authors.
Included are older Irish books and imprints. Among the prime volumes are the
Annals
of the Four Masters (1841-45), the modern facsimile Book of
Kells
(donated by Sir Michael Smurfit KBE, Honorary Irish Consul to the
Principality
of Monaco) and early editions of the works of James Joyce including the
first
English and French editions of Ulysses. A rare seventeenth century
atlas
of Ireland, with Spanish text, is displayed in the Princess Grace
Salon.
Visitors can admire a full-length
portrait
of Princess Grace by Mohamed Drisi, as well as paintings by Jack Yeats,
Louis
le Brocquy, Jack Murray and Claire D’Arcy, bronze heads of Oscar Wilde and
William Butler Yeats by Dutch sculptor Kees Verkade (who also designed the
Library’s logo), and a magnificent 19th century Spanish silver
Virgin font which was the property of the De Valera family.
Conferences,
Symposia, Publications and Film Screenings
The Library is a very active centre for
all
things Irish. Its annual season of lectures and readings has featured
distinguished speakers including Seamus Heaney
(Nobel
Prize for Literature, 1995), Anthony Burgess, Roy Foster, Anthony Cronin,
John
F. Deane, Michel Déon (Académie Française), Desmond FitzGerald (The Knight
of
Glin), Garret FitzGerald, Christopher
Fitz-Simon, Nicola Gordon Bowe, Ian Fox, Hugo Hamilton, Jennifer Johnston,
Muriel McCarthy, Eoin McNamee, Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, Edna O'Brien, Mary
O’Donnell, Homan Potterton, Justin Quinn, Kevin Rockett, Ann Saddlemyer,
Yvonne
Scott, Peter Selley, Gerry Smyth, Gerard Stembridge, Colm Tóibín, Brendan
Walsh,
A.W.B. Vincent and many others. The choice of subjects is vast in order
to
appeal to a wider audience.
The papers presented at the Library
symposia are published in The Princess Grace Irish Library Series:
Assessing
the 1984 Ulysses, Irishness in a Changing Society, Yeats the
European, ‘Ulysses’: A Review of Three Texts, The
Literary
Works of Jack B. Yeats, The Celtic Connection,
Rediscovering
Oscar Wilde, Beckett and Beyond, Oscar Wilde’s ‘The
Importance
of Being Earnest’, Images of Joyce, That Other World:
The
Supernatural and the Fantastic in Irish Literature and its Context,
Hearts
and Minds: Irish Culture and Society under the Act of Union and
The
Irish Book Lover. All of these titles can be purchased from the Library
by
mail order. Irish Poetry after Feminism, directed by Dr Justin
Quinn, Charles University, Prague, took place at the Library in 2006. An
arts
forum directed by Dr Síghle Bhreathnach-Lynch, Curator of Irish Art,
National Gallery of Ireland, was organised in 2008.
Due to the continued generosity of Sir
Michael Smurfit KBE, state-of-the-art audiovisual equipment enables Irish
films
and documentaries to be viewed at symposia and lectures throughout the
year.
Educational
Activities
The Library works with the English
Department at the Lycée Albert I (senior high school) in Monaco. After
viewing Irish films at the Library, the pupils discuss the subject in class
and
appreciate this opportunity to express themselves on matters as varied as
music, mythology, history and contemporary social problems. In 2003, a new
activity was added to the schools programme: English-language theatre
workshops
animated by Melanie Clark Pullen — a talented Irish actress who has
performed
on stage and in television in Great Britain and Ireland — have proved
tremendously popular and stimulating for the pupils. April 2005 saw the
first writing
workshop presented by Irish poet Leontia Flynn; it was a great success and
the
students showed remarkable literary flare. In 2006, the first “learning
through
art” workshop took place in January, and the first poetry workshop in April.
The proof that learning can be fun!
Saint
Patrick’s Day in Monaco
Since 1999, special Saint Patrick’s Day
events have taken place in various venues across the Principality: The
Cathedral, Chapelle de la Visitation,
Théâtre des Variétés, and Cinéma du Sporting. The Monegasque public has
enjoyed performances by Les Petits
Chanteurs and La
Maîtrise de Monaco (Boys’ Choir and Cathedral
Choir), students from the Académie
de Musique–Fondation
Prince Rainier III (performing music and songs from Princess Grace’s
personal
collection of Irish-American sheet music held in the Library), dancers from
the
Académie de Danse Classique Princesse Grace, the Pallas Quartet
(Cork
School of Music) and Tom
Cullivan. In 2000, children from Rostrevor in Northern Ireland performed the
Gaelic opera An Iarlais at the Théâtre Princesse Grace.
Cinema buffs have not been forgotten… a
weeklong Irish
Film
Retrospective delighted audiences in 2001.
The Library has hosted exhibitions
including literary portraits by Irish photographer John Minihan
(www.johnminihan.com), oil paintings by Ulster
artist Jack Murray (www.jackmurrayart.com) and watercolours by Mary
Collins from Dun Laoghaire (www.bluewavearts.ie).
Administration
Trustees:
- Mrs Paul
Gallico
(appointed 1984): Dame d’Honneur, Palace of Monaco
- His
Excellency Mr Philippe Blanchi (appointed 1993): Ambassador
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Embassy of Monaco, Rome,
Italy
- Mr Mark
Armstrong
(appointed May 2005): Director, Sotheby’s, Monaco
- Mrs
Anne-Marie Boisbouvier
(appointed March 2009): Technical Advisor, His Serene Highness The
Sovereign Prince’s Cabinet, Palace of Monaco
Jean‑Claude Riey
(Secretary-Treasurer,
Fondation Princesse Grace) oversees the Library’s finances.
The Library’s permanent staff are:
In addition to the Library’s main
funding
by the Fondation Princesse Grace, The
Ireland Fund of Monaco — President Michael Fitzgerald,
Founder/President Emeritus A.W.B. Vincent — is immensely generous to the
Princess Grace Irish Library. It finances the PGIL‑EIRData
website (www.pgil-eirdata.org).
This vast dataset of electronic Irish records contains biographical
information
on more than 4,500 Irish writers together with primary and secondary
bibliographies, commentaries, quotations and notes. It also includes a
library
of Irish literary classics, an Irish-studies bulletin, a gazette of Irish
scholarship and a gateway for Irish studies. The website was launched in
October 2000 with an inaugural click by the then His Serene Highness
Hereditary
Prince Albert of Monaco and Dr Mary McAleese, President of
Ireland.
In 2001, The Ireland Fund of Monaco
created
a Bursary enabling Irish writers and academics to pursue their writing and
research projects in the friendly surroundings of the Library. It consists
of a
one-month stay in Monaco in the Spring and Autumn. The laureates to date are
Eoin McNamee, Angela Bourke, Molly McCloskey, Fred Johnston, Leontia
Flynn, Justin Quinn, John F. Deane, Gerry Smyth, Anne Fitzgerald, Mary
O’Donnell, Brian Lynch, Fintan Vallely, Martina Devlin and Gréagóir Ó Dúill.