An Irishman's Diary on Basil Zaharoff

Sir Basil Zaharoff (1849-1936) rose from extremely humble origins to become one of the world's wealthiest men. I have just written an Irishman's Diary in the Irish Times newspaper about his life and times. Read it here.

Photograph of Basil Zaharoff. Image source: Gallica

After making his fortune from arms dealing, Zaharoff bought the Chateau de Balincourt outside Paris and lived there. In an effort to remain anonymous and guard his privacy, he reportedly bought up all the postcards he could that featured an image of the house. Find out more about this enigmatic character who spent his lifetime covering up his past here.

Image was important to Zaharoff. He wanted to be associated with philanthropy and not with arms and munitions, where he actually made his money. To this end, he made donations to prestigious universities in the UK, France and elsewhere. In the Sorbonne University in Paris, the 'Earl Haig Chair of English Literature' was established in 1918. Meanwhile, across the Channel in Oxford University, the 'Marshal Foch Professor of French Literature' was set up. It is not clear what happened to the position in the Sorbonne, but it doesn't seem to exist anymore. The current holder of the position in Oxford is Catriona Seth. Read more about the history of these academic positions here.

Another aspect of Zaharoff's donation was the annual Zaharoff Lecture, which takes place in Oxford University. At these lectures, prominent French writers are invited to speak about their work. The 2018 lecture was given by the award-winning author, Pierre Michon.

Book review - The Building Site in Eighteenth-Century Ireland

During the eighteenth-century, the Protestant Ascendancy were stamping their mark on the physical landscape of Ireland. This was seen in the large private houses and estates that were built all around the country and in the planned estate towns such as Abbeyleix.

I have just written a book review of The Building Site in Eighteenth-century Ireland by Arthur Gibney in the peer-reviewed academic journal Irish Studies Review. Follow this link for the article.

Front cover of The Building Site in Eighteenth-Century Ireland.

The book's author, Arthur Gibney (1933-2006), was one of the leading architects of his generation. When he graduated in 1958, he went to work with Michael Scott, who had designed Busáras, the new central bus station in Dublin. Two years later, Gibney went into partnership with Sam Stephenson. Together, they were responsible for many new buildings, including the controversial ESB headquarters on Dublin’s Fitzwilliam Street, along with other office blocks around the capital. When he split from Stephenson, Gibney established his own practice where he designed new buildings but also restored historic buildings. Through these renovation and conservation projects, he gained an invaluable insight into old building techniques.

As Gibney states in the book, the eighteenth-century buildings of Ireland can be book-ended between the construction of the Royal Hospital Kilmainham (completed 1684), designed by William Robinson, and the Four Courts (completed 1802), designed by Thomas Cooley and James Gandon. Below are photographs of these two fine buildings.

Courtyard of Royal Hospital Kilmainham.

Dublin Four Courts. Image source: Wikimedia Commons 

The Press and the vote - NPHFI 2018 Conference NUIG

The 2018 annual conference of the Newspaper and Periodical History Forum (NPHFI) took place in the National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG) on Friday 9th and Saturday 10th of November. This was a fitting venue as this is where the first conference took place in 2008.

Entrance to quadrangle at National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG).

The conference theme was 'The press and the vote'. Researchers and academics from universities in Ireland, South Africa and right across the UK came to discus the theme. We heard about a wide range of periodicals, geographic locations and time periods from local, national and niche newspapers, from Ireland, Europe, North America and South Africa and from the 18th right up to the 20th century.

Presenting a paper on Le Monde's coverage of Irish politics in the 1990s.

I presented a paper on Le Monde's coverage of politics in Ireland in the 1990s. The period was one of great change both politically and socially. We only have to think of the election of the first female president, the Irish constitutional referenda on abortion, divorce and the Good Friday Agreement, the legalisation of contraceptives and the decriminalisation of homosexuality to see that the 1990s was a time of change.

Le Monde covered these events and more with their correspondent in London and local journalists such as Joe Mulholland and John Horgan, who wrote about events as and when they happened. The question is why was Le Monde so interested in reporting on these events. The answer is in the title of my paper, more to follow... Well done to the committee and the local organisers for putting together a great conference.

Open House Dublin 2018 - Résidence de France

The Open House Dublin 2018 took place on Saturday October 13th. It is an initiative to showcase outstanding architecture in Dublin. Buildings that are not usually open to the public open their doors and you can see inside some real architectural gems. It is Ireland's largest architecture festival.

View of Résidence de France from Ailesbury Road.

This year, I was delighted to be a guide at the Résidence de France for the second year in a row. The Résidence de France, the official residence of the French ambassador to Ireland is located at 53 Ailesbury Road, Dublin. The building was designed by the architect, Alfred Gresham Jones and built between 1883 and 1885 for George Bustard.

Originally known as Mytilene, it is an impressive looking building with its carved granite staircase leading up to the portico. The white brick distinguishes it from all the other houses on the road, which are clad in red brick. Inside, the layout is much the same as it was when it was built. When the French Government bought the building in 1930, the furniture had all been auctioned off by the Bustard family.

Close up view of front of the Résidence de France.

What a great initiative the Open House is. I am so grateful to have been a part of it again this year.

An Irishman's Diary on Claude Pélieu, a French member of the Beat Generation.

Claude Pélieu (1934-2002) was one of the only French members of the Beat Generation. He moved to America at age 29 and was later associated with some of the founding members of the movement, such as William Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg. I have just written an Irishman's Diary in the Irish Times newspaper about Pélieu and his life and times. Read it here.

Experimental poet, author, translator and collage artist, Pélieu packed a lot into his life. Pélieu came to Ireland in Autumn 1962 with his friend, Michel Doss. The trip was a complete disaster from start to finish. They arrived in Dublin from Fishguard on September 9th and traveled on to Sligo, Donegal, and Galway before returning to France.

Photograph of part of the exhibition in Boole Library, University College Cork (UCC).

Galway was boring and poverty-stricken, according to the Frenchman, while Donegal (Bloody Foreland to be specific) was "sublime". Dublin was a disappointment to him; he saw nothing but drunks and priests in the capital. Ireland's weather did not help the situation; Pélieu complained about the incessant wind and rain in letters home to his then wife, Lula Nash.

Pélieu and his friend ran out of money and had to turn to the French Consul in Galway and the French Ambassador in Dublin for help. They made it home to Paris OK, but the French Embassy sent Pélieu a letter requesting to be reimbursed. I wonder if he managed to pay them back!

I first came across Claude Pélieu at an exhibition in the Boole Library in University College Cork (UCC), Ireland. The exhibition was entitled, 'Claude Pélieu, On All Frequencies', and was curated by James Horton. It ran from 2 July - 30 September 2018.

History Ireland magazine article Sept/Oct 2016 - now free to view

The article that I wrote for History Ireland magazine in September/October 2016 is now free to access on the History Ireland website. Check it out here.

In the article, I talk about the French Catholic bishops' mission to Ireland in October 1916. When war was declared, there was an unprecedented rapprochement between the church and state in France. The Union Sacrée, as it was known, brought together the French State, Churches, trade unions and other organisations in a move that had never been seen on such a scale before in France's history.

The churchmen who visited the country wanted to meet with their confreres in Ireland and impress on them the need for manpower on the side of the Allied Powers in their fight with the Central Powers. They visited Dublin, Maynooth and the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland, Armagh.

One of the visitors wrote newspaper articles about the visit in the French catholic newspaper, La Croix and also in a catholic magazine. These articles were later gathered together and published in the form of a pamphlet, called Notre Visite en Irlande (7-14 Octobre 1916).

Front cover of Pierre Batiffol's Notre Visite en Irlande, available on Gallica. Read it here.

ADEFFI 20th Anniversary Conference - UCD 19-20 October 2018.

The Association des Études Françaises et Francophones d'Irlande (ADEFFI)'s 20th anniversary conference will take place in University College Dublin (UCD) on the 19th and 20th of October 2018.

The theme of this year's conference is: 'États Présents États Futurs: French and Francophone Studies in the 21st Century'.

ADEFFI 2018 conference poster.

An Irishman's Diary on artistic and literary visitors to Ilnacullin (Garinish Island)

The island of Ilnacullin (which means 'island of holly' in Irish) lies about a half a mile from the coast. The island is also sometimes referred to as Garnish or Garinish island. It sits in Bantry Bay in West Cork and is protected from the worst of the Atlantic Ocean by the surrounding hills and mountains.

The pond in the Italian garden on Ilnacullin.

There is a Martello tower on the island, which was one of a series of towers built around the coast of Ireland to guard against possible attack during the French Revolutionary Wars. When John Annan Bryce and his wife Violet bought the island from the British War Office in August 1910, the tower was one of the few structures on the island. There was a small bit of farming going on, but by and large the island was a barren rock.

View of surrounding hills from Ilnacullin.

The Bryces subsequently transformed the island, importing subtropical shrubs, plants and trees from as far afield as Australia, India and China. These rare specimens have thrived in the micro-climate that exists on Ilnacullin. It is a special place and I have just written an Irishman's Diary in the Irish Times newspaper about the island's history and how the Bryce family welcomed artists and writers to their home. Read it here.

George Russell (AE)'s painting (now in Bryce House on Ilnacullin).

The Press and the Vote - 2018 NPHFI conference, 9-10 Nov. 2018

The 2018 Newspaper and Periodical History Forum of Ireland (NPHFI) conference will take place in  NUI, Galway, Ireland on Friday and Saturday 9 & 10 November 2018. This year's conference theme is 'The Press and the Vote'.

Speakers from all over Ireland, the UK and further afield will discuss how the Fourth Estate and democracy and elections have cross paths over the last 100 years. The keynote speech will be given by Professor Louise Ryan of the University of Sheffield - 'The Irish Citizen as an archive of feminist history - reading the past through a newspaper'.

Keep up to date - A conference programme will be available on the Forum's website in due course and updates will be posted on the Forum's Twitter and Facebook accounts. If you have any questions, or would like to register for the conference, contact the Forum's Secretary, Dr James O'Donnell at nphficonference@gmail.com

2018 Conference Poster. Designed by Joe Breen.

Coming Home: Art and the Great Hunger - art exhibition, Skibbereen, Cork, Ireland.

'Coming Home: Art and the Great Hunger' is an exhibition of contemporary and historical art work depicting scenes from the Irish Famine and its aftermath. The exhibition is comprised of paintings and sculpture from Ireland's Great Hunger Museum at Quinnipiac University, Connecticut, USA. This museum has the world's largest collection of Irish famine related art.

SKIBBEREEN
I attended the opening of the 'Coming Home' exhibition in Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre in Skibbereen, West Cork, Ireland on Thursday 19 July 2018. It will run at Uillinn from 20 July until 13 October 2018. Learn more about 'Coming Home' by following this link to the exhibition's webpage.

Skibbereen is a town that had seen its fair share of death and immigration before, during and after the Famine. The Skibbereen Union area lost over a third of its people during the Great Famine. See here for more on how the town was affected by the Famine.

Following its run in Skibbereen, the 'Coming Home' exhibition will then open in An tSeaneaglais (Glassworks), Cultúrlann Uí Chanáin, Derry from January to March 2019. See here for more information: https://www.artandthegreathunger.org/

Some of visitors in Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre on the opening night, 19 July 2018.

The 'Coming Home' exhibition is a truly unique collection of art works. I was particularly struck by the breath of artists, painting styles and the mixture of old and new art works. They have work from the time of the Famine right up to the present day. Below are two paintings that caught my eye.

The first is by Grace Henry (1868-1953). Scottish-born Grace Henry and her Belfast-born painter husband, Paul Henry, were drawn to the West of Ireland. They were especially well known for their landscapes showing the hills, lakes and maritime scenes from Kerry, Galway and Mayo.

'Lady of the West', by Grace Henry (c. 1912-1919).

The second painting that drew my attention is by Henry Allan (1865-1912). Allan was born in Dundalk. Initially, he trained at Belfast and Dublin. Then, in summer 1884, like many of his contemporaries, he studied at the Académie Royale in Antwerp. Vincent van Gogh also studied at the Académie for a short period around this time. 

It was the style of the painting that stuck out. It was painted in 1900, but for a variety of reasons, not least the broad brush strokes, it looks like a much more modern style. According to the museum label, it shows rag pickers at a paper mill, somewhere in Dublin. The subject is obviously very sad, but I love the bright colours of the greens and browns in the foreground. 

'The Rag Pickers', by Henry Allan (1900).

The 'Coming Home' exhibition is well worth a visit. I hope you get to see it as it makes it way around the island of Ireland. A accompanying learning resource has also been developed for primary and secondary schools. It too is well worth a look. This is a link to it on the Scoilnet website. Well done to all involved with these projects that do so much to help us better understand this important time in Irish and world history.

An Irishman's Diary on the SS Sirius.

The SS Sirius was the first steamship to travel all the way from Europe to North America using continual steam power. The Dublin-registered ship was built in 1837 in Leith, Scotland by Robert Menzies and Sons. Other steamships had made the trip across the Atlantic Ocean before, but they had relied mainly on their sails and had had not used steam power alone.

I have just written an Irishman's Diary in the Irish Times newspaper about the SS Sirius. Read it here.

Painting of the Sirius by Samuel Walters. Image source

The Sirius carried forty passengers on her trip to New York in April 1838. In first class, there were 5 ladies and 6 gentlemen, they paid 25 guineas each. In second class, there were 5 ladies and 3 gentlemen, they paid 20 guineas each. In steerage, there was 1 lady and 20 gentlemen, they each paid 8 guineas.

The Sirius was a true trailblazer. Her voyage across the Atlantic opened up the possibility of regular transatlantic trade and was greeted with great welcome on both sides. In time, larger ships would connect the Old World and New World.

If the Sirius had a wildly auspicious start, she had an ignominious end. Due to fog, she was wrecked in Ballycotton Bay in Cork in January 1847. Below is a photograph of the paddle shaft that was recovered from the Sirius. It was brought to Templemichael Mills in Cork. In recent years, it was put on display in Passage West.

The paddle shaft from the Sirius, on display in Passage West, Cork.

Carl Marstrander - article in 'Ireland's Own' magazine.

Carl Marstrander was born in Kristiania (Oslo), Norway in November 1883. He studied Old and Middle Irish as an undergraduate in Oslo. Marstrander then visited the Blasket Islands in August 1907 to learn modern Irish. His teachers were the islanders themselves, whose mother tongue was Irish.

The Blasket Islands lie just off the coast of County Kerry in the west of Ireland. They were inhabited until November 1953, when the Irish government decided to move the population to the mainland, due to declining population and the hard living conditions there. I have just written an article in the magazine, Ireland's Own, about the celebrated Norwegian linguist, Carl Marstrander, and his connection to the Irish language and to the Blasket Islands. Read it here.

Cartoon of Carl Marstrander (1883-1965). Image source

Marstrander and the other Celtic scholars and linguists (Robin Flower, Kenneth Jackson, and Marie-Louise Sjoestedt, to name but a few) who visited the Blaskets in the early 20th century had a big impact on the Irish language and on the Blasket islanders.

Following on from the interest shown in their language and culture and heritage by all these outsiders, the islanders gained a new found sense of self-confidence. This can clearly be seen in the many of the books that the islanders produced in subsequent years about their unique way of life. These are a couple of the books Fiche Blian ag Fás [Twenty Years A-Growing] (1933) by Muiris Ó Súilléabháin and An t-Oiléanach [The Islandman] (1934) by Tomás Ó Criomhthain.

When Marstrander died in 1965, the historian Daniel Binchy said "almost everything written by Marstrander on Celtic matters is of lasting significance". A student of Marstrander's in Oslo, David Greene (who became Professor of Irish at Trinity College Dublin), praised Marstrander's approach to research saying that he was an expert "without becoming a narrow specialist" and that he "was never worried that he might make a mistake". But perhaps the best praise came from islander who taught him Irish, Tomás Ó Criomhthain, who said "Ni fear go dtí é" [He is without equal].

An Irishman's Diary on Asnières-sur-Seine - an alternative day trip from Paris

I spent a summer in Asnières-sur-Seine (a suburb on the north-west edge of Paris) about ten years ago. At the time, it was just a place to rest my head. I was not aware of the history of the place or even very interested in finding out about it.

Now, a little older, a bit more curious and even a little wiser - I have just written an Irishman's Diary in today's Irish Times newspaper about Asnières and its rich history. Read it here.

Below are some images related to the newspaper article. The first shows the racehorse, Troytown, that was born in Co. Meath in Ireland in 1913. The second photo shows the entrance to the pet cemetery as it appeared on an old postcard.

The third image is a reproduction of Georges Seurat's Bathers at Asnières. The fourth image shows the interior of the house that Louis Vuitton had built in Asnières.

Co. Meath-born champion racehorse Troytown. Image Source: Gallica

Entrance to the Cimetière des Chiens. Image Source: Le Pieton de Paris

Bathers at Asnières by Georges Seurat. Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

Interior of Louis Vuitton house in Asnières. Image Source: Savoir Flair magazine

Lastly, the French comedian, Fernand Raynaud, had a sketch about Asnières and the telephone exchange (Le 22 à Asnières). It is from 1966 and is in black and white, so it is obviously dated, but I think the humour is still fresh. Have a look at it here and let me know what you think: http://www.ina.fr/video/I06268515  

An Irishman's Diary on the Cork Butter Exchange

It would not be an exaggeration to say that the people of Cork in Ireland are extremely proud of their city and county. In fact, so proud are they that they can even make you believe that Cork lies at the center of the world.

In one case, though, it is true. Cork did lie at the center of the world - the world of butter to be exact!

I have just written an Irishman's Diary in the Irish Times newspaper about the Cork Butter Exchange. For much of the 19th century, the Cork Butter Exchange was the largest butter market in the world and Cork branded butter could be found on all continents.
Read the article here.

Entrance to the Cork Butter Exchange.

Aerial view of the Cork Butter Exchange (bottom right) and Firkin Crane (circular building in center), taken from St. Anne's Church spire (Shandon Bells).

If you visit the Shandon area of Cork City, it is worth your while to walk up the 132 steps to the viewing platform of St. Anne's Church to get a panoramic view of the Butter Exchange and the other associated buildings nearby.

The Butter Museum is just beside the entrance to the Butter Exchange and is worth a visit to get an understanding of how important this industry was to Ireland in the 18th and 19th centuries and continues to be.

The Firkin Crane is also worth a visit if you are interested in dance.

Call for papers - 'The Press and the vote', NUIG 9-10 November 2018.

The 2018 annual conference of the Newspaper and Periodical History Forum of Ireland will take place in NUI, Galway on 9-10 November 2018.

The theme for this year's conference is: 'The Press and the vote' and the keynote speaker is Professor Louise Ryan.

Please send your abstracts to the secretary, Dr James O'Donnell at nphficonference@gmail.com by 7 June 2018.

Call for papers - NPHFI 2018.

You can download a PDF version of the call for papers from the NPHFI website here.

Easter Rising 1916 in French photograpic newspaper 'Excelsior'

The Easter Rising began in Dublin, Ireland on this day 24 April in 1916. At the time, France was engaged with her ally, Great Britain, in the First World War against the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria). Seen from France, the events in Dublin were initially perceived as an attack on France's ally, Great Britain - a stab in the back.

When the Rising commenced, the French press did not have any journalists on the ground in Ireland and therefore they were not sure how widespread it was. This lack of real information is reflected in how they described the Rising. It was variously labelled a riot, skirmish, clash, revolt, and finally rebellion. When they had time to reflect on what had happened in Dublin, they had a more informed reading of the situation and it was no longer seen as just an attack on Great Britain, but a break for Irish independence.

The French daily newspaper Excelsior started to cover events in Dublin from as early as 30 April 1916. According to Clyde Thogmartin's The National Daily Press of France, Excelsior was France's "first photographically illustrated paper". It was started by Pierre Laffitte in 1910 with financial assistance from the controversial industrialist Basil Zaharoff. Excelsior was an innovative publication that used good quality photographs to report on the major news stories of the day. It reached its zenith in the 1930s and ran until 1940. Below, you can see some of the images that they published following the outbreak of the Rising, from the arrival of troops on the streets of Dublin, to the destruction of O'Connell Street (Sackville Street) and the execution of some of the leaders of the Rising.

Excelsior, 30 April 1916. 'Les Irlandais du front répondent aux "égarés" de Dublin' [The Irishmen from the front respond to the "strays" of Dublin]. Source: http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k46067275/f6.item

Excelsior, 5 May 1916. 'La Révolte de Dublin est réprimée' [The Dublin revolt is suppressed]. Source: http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k4606732g/f1.item

Excelsior, 7 May 1916. 'Après la révolte de Dublin' [After the Dublin revolt]. Source: http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k46067349/f1.item

Excelsior, 7 May 1916. 'A Dublin - quelques aspects de la ville au lendemain des événements révolutionaires' [Dublin - some impressions of the city in the aftermath of the revolutionary events].
Source: http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k46067349/f8.item

Excelsior, 9 May 1916. 'Au moment où s'achevait la révolte irlandaise...' [The moment when the Irish revolt came to an end].
Source: http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k46067364/f8.item

Excelsior, 13 May 1916. 'Maintenant que l'ordre est rétabli en Irlande' [Now that order has been restored in Ireland].
Source: http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k46067401.item

Excelsior, 17 May 1916. 'Plusieurs têtes de la révolte de Dublin' [Some of the leaders of the Dublin revolt].
Source: http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k4606744p/f7.item

An Irishman's Diary on Amy Johnson, Queen of the Air

Amy Johnson (1903-1941) was a remarkable individual who set many flying records and broke all the rules when it came to women and aviation. She was the first woman to fly solo from London to Australia.

I have just written an Irishman's Diary newspaper article about her in the Irish Times newspaper. Read it here.

Photograph of Amy Johnson. Source: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

If you would like to learn more about this world-class pilot, you will find lots of information about Amy Johnson on the internet. Several books have been written about her (including one by Gordon Snell) and some songs have been penned to celebrate her achievements. The Irish singer, Johnny McEvoy, sang about her in a song named 'Amy Johnson'. Listen to it here.

More information about Amy Johnson -

• Read this brief biography on the website of the Amy Johnson Arts Trust.
• Read this contemporaneous newspaper article from the Manchester Guardian about her record-breaking flight from London to Darwin. 
• Read about the route that she took from London to Darwin on this website from the Amy Johnson Arts Trust.

Photograph of Jim Mollison flying over Portmarnock Strand. Source: Wonders of World Aviation

2018 Franco-Irish Literary Festival

Upper Yard, Dublin Castle, Dublin, Ireland.

I really enjoyed the 2018 Franco-Irish Literary Festival. I could not attend the whole festival, but got to listen to some of the writers and poets that were on the programme. It took place in Dublin Castle and the Alliance Française on Kildare Street from 23-25 March 2018.

The theme for this year's festival was 'Sex and Sensibility'. Writers and poets from France, Ireland and Québec addressed how the theme shows up in their work. As ever, it was really good to hear the speakers answer questions from the moderators and the audience while engaging with each other in French and English.

We don't often have the opportunity to meet and listen to so many writers discuss their work and read from their own work in such a convivial setting. So well done to the Alliance Française for organising it and long may it continue!

 Full house for Welcome Address by Frédérique Tarride (French Embassy).

First panel discussion with Julie Rodgers (moderator), Rob Doyle, Dairena Ní Chinnéide, Marie-Chistine Pinel.

 

Second panel discussion with Dominique Le Meur (moderator), Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, Myriam Gallot and Paul McVeigh.

An Irishman's Diary on the Two Sisters ship and undelivered letters

In March 1757, the Two Sisters ship was sailing from Bordeaux in south west France to Dublin in Ireland when she was stopped coming out of the Bay of Biscay by a British privateer. The Seven Years' War was in full swing and there was not supposed to be any trade between France and Great Britain (which made things very difficult for Ireland at the time).

I have just written an Irishman's Diary article in the Irish Times newspaper about the fascinating story of the Two Sisters ship and her unusual cargo. Read it here. The 125 letters that the ship was carrying from France to Ireland are really interesting to read. The letters are reproduced in the book The Bordeaux-Dublin Letters, 1757: Correspondence of an Irish Community Abroad, ed. by LM Cullen, John Shovlin and Thomas M Truxes (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013).

They provide a privileged insight into the private lives of a range of individuals and highlight the many connections that existed between Ireland and the outside world at this time. The letters include everything from the birth of children and the death of loved ones to family disputes, debts and a father advising his son how to behave in business and in life in general.

Front cover of The Bordeaux-Dublin Letters, 1757: Correspondence of an Irish Community Abroad

The letters also show that even though the language may have changed over the years, their concerns were not that different from today. They are mostly written in English, but there are also some letters in French. One letter includes a quote about the power that letters can have over their recipient, "ut clavis portam sic pandit Epistola pectus" [As Keys do open Chests, So Letters open Brests].

FRANCO-IRISH CONNECTIONS

The links between this part of France and Ireland began to develop when Irish communities became established in France. This came about when Irish soldiers, scholars, priest and merchants arrived in France.

Soldiers
Irishmen had been travelling to France to join armies from as early as the 1590s. Thousands made the journey in the following decades, eventually forming their own regiments within the King's armies. It was said that the French admired the Irish soldiers for their bravery. Here is a short article from History Ireland about the Franco-Irish military connections.

Scholars and priests
Irishmen could not be educated for the priesthood in Ireland during the 16th century because of the Penal Laws. For this reason, Irish Colleges sprang up in cities right across Europe to cater for the theological and academic needs of these young men.

The first colleges were established in Salamanca and Madrid in Spain in the 1580s by a Jesuit priest from Kilkenny named James Archer. A college was opened in Bordeaux in 1603 by a priest from Cork named Diarmuid MacCarthy.

Merchants
Trade between France and Ireland has been going on for centuries. Amongst other goods, butter and beef were exported from Ireland to France and wine was exported from France to Ireland. By the 1610s, Bordeaux was the largest single exporter of wine to Ireland.

With few business opportunities in Ireland in the 17th century, some Irishmen traveled to France to try their hand at the wine trade. The name Hennessy immediately comes to mind. Richard Hennessy left Cork for France in the mid 1700s. He initially fought in the King's Irish Brigade. He eventually settled in Cognac in 1765 and the rest as they say is history. Other names include, Thomas Barton who arrived in Bordeaux in the 1750s. For more on the history of Franco-Irish trade, search for books and articles by Mary Ann Lyons and Louis Cullen.