Princess Grace Irish Library

Monaco, the tiny principality wedged between the French and Italian rivieras, might not be the most likely place for a celebration of Bloomsday.

But the Princess Grace Irish Library, which will celebrate its 40th birthday in 2024, has ensured that even this unusual and glamorous part of the Mediterranean has a home for Irish arts and culture - with everything from symposiums and conferences on Irish literature, to the annual festivities for James Joyce’s Ulysses.

Cultural programme

Paula Farquharson is the director of the Princess Grace Irish Library. Originally from Dublin, she has lived in the Riviera area for 22 years and now oversees the cultural programme that the library is known for.

“It’s very international here in Monaco,” she explains. “So it’s not just Irish people who come to the Library and attend our lectures, we have a lot of people who have a love of Ireland, or who have family connections and a passion for Irish literature and history.”

Following in Princess Grace's footsteps

In that way, the library’s visitors are following in the footsteps of Princess Grace herself, whose grandfather was born in County Mayo.

The Princess was in touch with her roots, and Prince Rainier and Princess Grace’s state visit to Ireland in 1961 was the first visit by a head of state to the Irish republic.

Today, the library’s collection includes the Princess’s own library of Irish literature, as well as Irish-American sheet music and a first-edition copy of Ulysses, and it’s a valuable resource for academics with an interest in these aspects of Irish culture.

Sustainability

Recently the Library hosted a symposium “Sustainability in Irish Culture”, in partnership with Villanova University’s Center for Irish Studies. Villanova is in Philadelphia, where Princess Grace grew up, and her niece Susan Kelly vonMedicus is an instructor there and co-directed the symposium in Monaco.

As director, Farquharson’s day can vary from arranging a symposium for travelling scholars one day to greeting local schoolchildren as they visit the library the next.

Writers in residence

The Library also offers bursaries, funded by The Ireland Funds Monaco, for writers and academics in residence. This year, the Princess Grace Irish Library has benefitted from the Emigrant Support Programme, and this funding has meant Farquharson could hire an editorial assistant for a new project.

“Our upcoming 40th anniversary warranted something really special,” says Farquharson. “We decided we’d do a retrospective book about Princess Grace, and her Irish origins, and her attachment to Ireland which continues with HSH Prince Albert II and his family.”

Adrianna Rokita, a recent graduate from the Masters programme in literary translation at Trinity College Dublin, is working at the Library for several months as a bilingual editorial assistant.

Immersive research

Having originally met Farquharson in Dublin after hearing about the work of the library, she’s been immersing herself in research for the book, which will commemorate and keep the connection between the two countries alive.

“​​I've learned so much about Princess Grace working among her books and also thanks to regular visits to the Palace Library and Archives. It’s exciting to discover information about past visits by the family to Ireland, starting with the first official State visit in 1961 by Prince Rainier III, to present-day when Prince Albert II unveiled a sculpture of his mother, Princess Grace in Newport, County Mayo in March 2023,” Rokita says.

“Recently, we had a lecture by Dr Cappock on the British artist Francis Bacon’s ties to Ireland and Monaco, which was also amazing to learn about.”

For Ireland, literature has always been a way to communicate its history and character with the wider world. Thanks to the work of the Library’s small team, there’s a place for Irish culture and all who enjoy it in Monaco.