Half century of diplomatic ties

Two thousand kilometres apart, Ireland and Hungary’s ties can be traced back over a millennium. Even before the Magyar settlement, Celts lived by the Danube basin. The great river owes its name to the Celtic Goddess Danu whose children, the Tuatha Dé Dannan, were Ireland’s first mythological settlers.

Across the centuries, Ireland and Hungary’s bonds were forged through shared Christian heritage and histories of invasion, occupation and – often failed – revolution. From these parallels sprang innumerable cultural and community connections.

The friendship between our nations was formalised in 1976 through the establishment of diplomatic relations between our states. But, like the Danube, the course of our history runs deeper. Marking the 50th anniversary of those ties, this exhibition celebrates a millennium of MagyÍr heritage.

Across the middle ages, renaissance and reformation, Ireland and Hungary’s bonds were forged through shared Catholic heritage and histories of invasion and occupation.

Through the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries, Hungarian and Irish reformers and revolutionaries inspired each other in leading national cultural revivals and pressing for independence.

Writers played a seminal role in the cultural revivals and independence movements of both nations. Across the 19th century, Ireland and Hungary’s leading poets found parallels in the patriotism of their respective causes.

‘‘Forget not the field where they perish’d, The truest, the last of the brave, All gone — and the bright hope we cherish’d Gone with them, and quench’d in their grave!’’

- From ‘‘Forget Not the Field’’ by Thomas Moore

Three of the giants of Hungarian letters – Sándor Petőfi, Mihály Vörösmarty and János Arany – penned translations of their Irish contemporary Thomas Moore’s ‘‘Forget Not the Field’’, a paean to Irish patriots.

‘‘Turn the hearts of the kings – let the Magyar again Reap the harvests of peace on his bountiful plain; And if not with renown, with affections and lives, Send the driven serfs home to their children and wives’’

- From ‘‘Hungary’’ by Samuel Ferguson

In 1848, Samuel Ferguson’s ‘‘Hungary’’ appeared in the Dublin University Magazine, an epic lament to news of the Revolution’s defeat

‘‘We, too, have seen our bravest and our best To prisons go, and mossy ruin rest Where homes once whitened vale and mountain crest; Therefore, O nation of the bleeding breast, Libations, from the Hungary of the West."

- From ‘‘How Ferencz Renyi Kept Silent’’ by WB Yeats

Inspired by the heroes of Hungary’s 1848 revolution, William Butler Yeats’ ‘‘How Ferencz Renyi Kept Silent’’ was published in Arthur Griffith’s The United Irishman in 1903. In it, the future laureate famously hailed Ireland as ‘‘the Hungary of the West’’.

Written across Trieste, Zurich, and Paris through the years of the ‘Great War’, James Joyce’s Ulysses is the most Dublin of novels. But it has a Hungarian heart – its protagonist, Leopold Bloom, is the son of Jewish Hungarian, Rudolf Virág, born in Szombathely.

Since 1994, Szombathely has held a major festival each Bloomsday to celebrate its Joycean heritage. Blum-House was inaugurated in 1997, having served as home to author Hungarian Márton Blum and his family from the mid-19th century, with a stunning Joyce statue unveiled there on Bloomsday’s centenary in 2004.

In 2020, in partnership with the Embassy of Ireland and the Dublin Project Arts Centre, Szombathely launched an ambitious new project, commissioning Irish and Hungarian artists to create murals inspired by each of Ulysses’s 18 episodes.

Since 2011, the Leopold Bloom Art Foundation, established by Irish entrepreneurs Mary McLoughlin and John Ward, has honoured outstanding contemporary Hungarian artists with one of central Europe’s most prestigious prizes. In 2024, the Foundation loaned its permanent collection to the Szombathely gallery.

In 2023, the city of Budapest marked its 150th anniversary by publishing Budapest Nagyregény, The Grand Budapest Novel, a collaborative literary project inspired by Ulysses where 23 Hungarian writers each contributed a chapter, one for each of the city’s districts. The publication was part of a larger European Odyssey, which explores Joyce’s novel across 18 European cities.

Four decades after the Easter 1916 rising, the Irish people were profoundly moved by the heroism of Hungarians’ revolution against Soviet oppression.

Ireland granted asylum to 541 Hungarian refugees in the wake of the 1956 revolution. Most were housed in Knockalisheen, County Limerick, and, within a few years, moved on from what was then Western Europe’s poorest state.

Others stayed – amongst them Henry Spelter, one of Hungary’s most celebrated confectioners. He found work at Bewley’s, Dublin’s oldest café, where his ‘Mary Cake’ became a favourite. Today, in a tribute to Henry and his fellow refugees, its sales raise funds for Ukrainians displaced by Russia’s invasion.

Thomas Kabdebo (1934 – 2018) was another 56er who left an indelible imprint on Ireland. Chief Librarian at the National University of Ireland Maynooth from 1983, he was a prolific author, editor and broadcaster, publishing many seminal works on Irish – Hungarian links.

In 1925, Dublin stockbroker Hubert Briscoe was appointed Hungarian Honorary Consul to Ireland meeting the criteria for ‘‘a businessman of good standing who would like to supplement a solid civic status with a little consular dignity’’. Only after the British declaration of war on Hungary in December 1941 did Briscoe resign from his post, due to the irreconcilability of the declaration with his business interests in Britain.

On 1 October, 1976, the countries formally re-established diplomatic relations ‘‘guided by the desire to promote friendly relations and to develop economic, social and cultural cooperation between their two States’’. Hungary opened a resident Embassy in Dublin in February 1991, whilst Ireland opened a resident Embassy in Budapest in 1995.

President Árpád Göncz made a first state visit to Ireland, hosted by President Mary Robinson.

A gifted writer, Hungary’s first democratically elected President had earlier translated the seminal plays of Sean O’Casey and John Millington Synge. Five years later, President Mary McAleese made a first Irish state visit to Hungary, returning six years later to attend the 50th anniversary commemorations of the 1956 Revolution.

Since Ireland’s Presidency welcomed Hungary to the EU in 2004, the countries’ community and commercial ties have flourished.

Today, almost 10,000 Magyar reside in Ireland. At 1,000, Hungary’s Irish community is smaller, but no less dynamic – ‘‘kicsi a bors de erős’’ – boasting a vibrant GAA club, a passionate pop-up Gaeltacht, and some of Europe’s best Irish pubs, cafés and bakeries, including the award winning Arán in Budapest’s historic Jewish quarter.

Over the decades, Hungary’s renowned University of Veterinary Medicine has trained almost a thousand Irish students. Hundreds more have studied music at the Liszt Academy, whilst many young Hungarians have enrolled at Irish institutions.

With community came commerce. Today, annual bilateral trade in goods and services exceeds €7 billion. Established in 2005, the Irish Hungarian Business Circle represents Irish firms employing over 4,000 Hungarians.

Investors include Kingspan (building components) in Újhartyán, McHale (agricultural machinery) in Szolnok, ICON (medical research) in Budapest, and CRH (building components) country-wide. Irish agrifirm ClonBio has built Europe’s largest grain bio-refinery and ethanol production facility in Dunaújváros.

From its regional hub in Budapest, Ryanair operates 500 weekly flights, including daily connections with Dublin.

From fine art to folk dance, classical music to modern literature, Ireland and Hungary remain deeply connected by culture.

Both nations are celebrated for their folk cultures. The links between Irish and Hungarian folk music and dance are remarkably strong, with trad groups like Greenfields and dance schools at the heart of Budapest’s annual St Patrick’s Festival.

In 2023 Müpa hosted the premiere of György Kurtág’s opera Endgame, inspired by Samuel Beckett’s masterpiece. There the Embassy presented the Magyar maestro with a commendation from President Higgins.

When Ireland and Hungary faced off in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, Sammie Szmodics was amongst ‘‘the Boys in Green’’. Born in Colchester, the Ipswich town flyer has both Hungarian and Irish heritage and could have played for either side.

Ireland’s record goal scorer, Robbie Keane, was appointed manager of Hungary’s most celebrated football club, Ferencváros, in 2025. In his first season, alongside fellow Irish international Rory Delap, Keane led Fradi to its 35th national league title.