Grace Kelly

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sipa

 

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From the exhibit

abaca

 

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From the Exhibit

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From visit monaco
ntroduction
The Princess Grace Irish Library was opened in November 1984 by His Serene Highness The Sovereign Prince Rainier III of Monaco — as his tribute to the attachment Princess Grace (1929-1982) felt for her Irish origins. Operating under the ægis of the Fondation Princesse Grace, the Library is situated in the former family home of the late Countess Brame-Gastaldi, a short walk from the Palace on the Rock of Monaco.

It was during the 1961 State Visit to Ireland that Their Serene Highnesses The Prince and Princess of Monaco visited the two-roomed cottage — overlooking the Leg of Mutton lake at Drimurla in County Mayo — where the Princess’s grandfather John Kelly was born in 1857, a few years after the Great Famine. He emigrated to the United States in the late 19th century and founded what was to become one of Philadelphia’s leading construction companies.

Collections

Princess Grace’s personal collection of Irish books (most of which lined the walls of her Palace office) and Irish-American sheet music form the very heart of the Library’s collections. Many of the volumes are from the library of leading Irish diplomat Count Gerald Edward O’Kelly de Gallach (1890-1968) which Princess Grace purchased in the 1970s. There are also books inscribed to the Prince and Princess by former Irish president Eamon De Valera in 1961. Since the Library’s inauguration, some nine thousand books have been acquired — or donated by benefactors and visitors — including works from the Irish literary revival (1892‑1922), and an excellent selection of contemporary writings — many signed by the authors. Included are older Irish books and imprints. Among the prime volumes are the Annals of the Four Masters (1841-45), the modern facsimile Book of Kells (donated by Dr Michael W.J. Smurfit, Honorary Irish Consul to the Principality of Monaco) and early editions of the works of James Joyce including the first English and French editions of Ulysses. A rare seventeenth century atlas of Ireland, with Spanish text, is displayed in the Princess Grace Salon.

Visitors can admire a full-length portrait of Princess Grace by Mohamed Drisi, paintings by Jack Yeats and Louis le Brocquy, bronze heads of Oscar Wilde and William Butler Yeats by Dutch sculptor Kees Verkade (who also designed the Library’s logo), and a magnificent 19th century Spanish silver Virgin font which was once the property of the De Valera family.

Conferences, Symposia, Publications and Film Screenings

The Library is a very active centre for all things Irish. Its annual season of lectures and readings has featured distinguished speakers including Seamus Heaney (Nobel Prize for Literature, 1995), Anthony Burgess (a founder Trustee of the Library), Roy Foster, Anthony Cronin, Michel Déon (Académie Française), Desmond FitzGerald (The Knight of Glin), Garret FitzGerald (first Irish president of the EC Council of Ministers, and former Irish Prime Minister), Christopher FitzSimon, Jennifer Johnston, Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, Edna O'Brien, Homan Potterton, Ann Saddlemyer, Gerard Stembridge, Colm Tóibín, A.W.B. Vincent and many others. So far, most of the guest speakers have covered literary subjects; however, it is planned that future topics will include other aspects of Irish culture — from architecture to landscape gardening, from couture to cookery — in order to appeal to a wider audience.

The papers presented at all the Library symposia are published in The Princess Grace Irish Library Series: Assessing the 1984 Ulysses, Irishness in a Changing Society, Yeats the European, ‘Ulysses’: A Review of Three Texts, The Literary Works of Jack B. Yeats, The Celtic Connection, Rediscovering Oscar Wilde, Beckett and Beyond, Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’, Images of Joyce, That Other World: The Supernatural and the Fantastic in Irish Literature and its Context, Hearts and Minds: Irish Culture and Society under the Act of Union and The Irish Book Lover. All of these titles can be purchased from the Library by mail order.

Due to the continued generosity of Sir Michael Smurfit KBE, state-of-the-art audiovisual equipment enables Irish films and documentaries to be viewed at symposia and lectures throughout the year.

Pedagogical Activities

The Library works with the English Department at the Lycée Albert I (senior high school) in Monaco. After viewing Irish films at the Library, the pupils discuss the subject in class and appreciate this opportunity to express themselves on matters as varied as music, mythology, history and contemporary social problems. In 2003, a new activity was added to the schools programme: English-language theatre workshops animated by Melanie Clark Pullen — a talented Irish actress who has performed on stage and in television in Great Britain and Ireland — are proving tremendously popular and stimulating for the pupils. April 2005 saw the first writing workshop presented by Irish poet Leontia Flynn; it was a great success and the students showed remarkable literary flare. In 2006, the first “learning through art” workshop took place in January, and the first poetry workshop in April. The proof that learning can be fun! At least twice a year, speakers at the Library address the high school students.

Saint Patrick’s Day in Monaco

Since 1999, special Saint Patrick’s Day events have taken place in various venues across the Principality: The Cathedral, Chapelle de la Visitation, Théâtre des Variétés, and Cinéma du Sporting. The Monegasque public has enjoyed performances by Les Petits Chanteurs and La Maîtrise de Monaco (Boys’ Choir and Cathedral Choir), students from the Académie de Musique–Fondation Prince Rainier III (performing music and songs from Princess Grace’s personal collection of Irish-American sheet music held in the Library), dancers from the Académie de Danse Classique Princesse Grace, the Pallas Quartet (Cork School of Music), Tom Cullivan and Wolfgang Löll. In 2000, children from Rostrevor in Northern Ireland performed An Iarlais — an opera in Gaelic — at the Théâtre Princesse Grace. Cinema buffs have not been forgotten… for a weeklong Irish Film Retrospective delighted audiences in 2001. Saint Patrick’s Day in 2006 was celebrated with the inauguration of a month-long exhibition of literary portraits by Irish photographer John Minihan.

Administration

The Library is directed by a four-member Board of Trustees:

·Mrs Paul Gallico (appointed 1984 Dame d’Honneur, Palace of Monaco
·His Excellency Philippe Blanchi (appointed 1993 Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Embassy of Monaco, Rome, Italy
·Mr Mark Armstrong (appointed May 2005 Director, Sotheby’s, Monaco
·Mr Georges Lisimachio (appointed May 2005 Secretary General and Advisor, His Serene Highness The Sovereign Prince’s Cabinet, Palace of Monaco

Jean‑Claude Riey (Secretary-Treasurer, Fondation Princesse Grace) oversees the Library’s finances. The Library’s permanent staff are Judith Gantley (administrator) and Géraldine Lance (secretary).

In addition to the Library’s main funding by the Fondation Princesse Grace, The Ireland Fund of Monaco — President Michael Fitzgerald, Founder/Honorary President A.W.B. Vincent — is immensely generous to the Princess Grace Irish Library. It finances the PGIL‑EIRData website (www.pgil-eirdata.org). This vast dataset of electronic Irish records contains biographical information on more than 4,500 Irish writers together with primary and secondary bibliographies, commentaries, quotations and notes. It also includes a library of Irish literary classics, an Irish-studies bulletin, a gazette of Irish scholarship and a gateway for Irish studies. The website was launched with an inaugural click by His Serene Highness Hereditary Prince Albert of Monaco and Dr Mary McAleese (President of Ireland) in October 2000 in Monte Carlo.

In the autumn of 2001, The Ireland Fund of Monaco created a Bursary — enabling Irish writers and academics to pursue their writing and research projects in the friendly surroundings of the Library — which consists of a one-month stay in Monaco in the Spring and Autumn; the laureates to date are Eoin McNamee, Angela Bourke, Molly McCloskey, Fred Johnston, Leontia Flynn, Justin Quinn and John F. Deane. Dr Gerry Smyth, reader in Cultural History at Liverpool John Moores University, will be resident at the Princess Grace Irish Library from mid-September to mid-October 2006.

 

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Picture of the Princess Grace Irish Library

irish connections

 

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ebay

 

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youtube grace video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WMywY2bEt0&feature=related

 

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Grace wedding video
youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZxjNmR1SVo&feature=related

 

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pt of Grace's wedding
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJXcE5KmSqM&feature=related
youtube

 

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affluent traveler

 

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nordphoto

 

[kochie332]

Oh, and I've been meaning to thank you, Kochie, for all of your wonderful posts. The pictures you post are truly rare, and I can't thank you enough for sharing them with us.

its my pleasure




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EVC

 

[nmyngan]

the set in #3223 is so lovely.. especially her expression in the last pic

 

[nmyngan]

i love how she made her hair with flowers

 

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ibl

 

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