It was refreshing to look at a book based on Italo-Irish relations, rather than Franco-Irish studies, which I normally work on. It seems to me that Ireland's relationship with France is quite different from that with Italy.
We've seen that at crucial moments throughout Irish history, Irish people have looked to France for help. An example of this would be the 1798 Rebellion, when Wolfe Tone and The Society of United Irishmen sought and received French military assistance to stage an uprising against British rule in Ireland. I don't think we could say that the same kind of relationship exists / existed between Italy and Ireland.
Nevertheless, there have been a good number of significant cultural, religious and military connections between Ireland and Italy down through the years. For example, James Caulfeild, 1st Earl of Charlemont, who built the architectural gem that is the Casino at Marino in Dublin, traveled extensively in Italy. He spoke the language like a local, admired the country immensely and was greatly inspired by its architecture and customs.
The following book, Italian presence in Ireland: a contribution to
Irish-Italian relations (Dublin: Istituto Italiano di Cultura, 1964), would provide readers with an introduction to the area. It was published to mark the 10th anniversary of the founding of the Italian Institute of Culture in Dublin.
According to an article in the Irish Independent from 8 January 1955, five hundred people applied for membership of the Institute in the first few weeks after it opened. They were only expecting one hundred and fifty. It seems that Irish interest in Italy is nothing new!
No comments:
Post a Comment