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.