Events 2023

Join us on December 13th and 20th for an open day for Christmas with readings, cartoons and activities for children.

Enjoy "The Christmas Story" by Irish author Fiona Biggs and illustrations by Jen Hill (for under 9 year-olds).

The beautiful book has a pop-up crib!

Drop into the library anytime 9am - 5pm.

Enjoy a spectacular performance of traditional music from Princess Grace's personal collection of Irish American song sheets performed by Dubh Linn. The recording is also a lecture by Dr Helen Lawlor from TU Dublin Conservatoire and her performance on the harp at the library. Helen performed 'Farewell my gently harp', which she specially arranged for the Académie Rainier III Harp Ensemble in Monaco.

Save the date!

Tonight Friday 10th Nov at 8.30pm

Venue: Auditorium of Collège Charles III.

Enjoy a theatre performance of the play 'The Last Burning'

(This is not a PGIL event)

A lecture by Dr Margarita Cappock who has written extensively and curated several exhibitions on the Irish-born, British artist Francis Bacon. Join us for an insightful journey into Bacon’s work, life and creative process, with a special focus on the influence of Ireland, where he was born and spent his formative years.

Dr Joseph Lennon, Director of Center for Irish Studies at Villanova will deliver a lecture in Monaco for Friends of the Library and interested academics on the subject of research for the symposium he will direct entitled 'Sustainability in Irish Culture - communication of sustainability through literature and culture'. He will present a summary of the scope, subjects and presentations of the weekend symposium, which will discuss priorities and strategies to address sustainability and climate change and the influence of Irish literature and culture on the narrative. 

Join us at the library for our open day to celebrate this year's theme 'Live heritage' (Patrimoine vivant).

From 9:30 - 17:00 enjoy a visit of this cultural gem on the 'Rock' with Princess Grace's personal collection of books, music scores and other treasures on display. We will also host three concerts with the talented pupils from Monaco's conservatoire L'Académie Rainier III.

Click for more details - register for a guided visit or to attend a concert!

The Princess Grace Irish Library (PGIL) is delighted to collaborate once again with the Blackwater Valley Opera Festival for a unique cultural event, by honouring Ireland’s literary history with a recital ‘Yeats in Music’, with the Royal Irish Academy of Music on Saturday 3rd June at 4pm at St Carthage’s Cathedral in county Waterford, Ireland. We hope to have a performance of the recital in Monaco later this year.

In collaboration with the Princess Grace Irish Library, the Trinity College Dublin Chapel Choir will visit Monaco for the first time to perform at the morning mass at the Cathédrale de Monaco. The choir is comprised of students who will sing hymns and psalms during the mass to celebrate this special religious fête. The church is open to all (no reservations required).

The Trinity students will visit the library after the mass. All are welcome to join us.

'Around the World with W.B. Yeats and James Joyce: a diplomatic odyssey.' 

By Daniel Mulhall, author, former Ambassador of Ireland to the USA (2017-2022), recent Global Distinguished Professor of Irish Studies at Glucksman Ireland House (NYU) - fall 2022 and the current Parnell Fellow at Magdalene College, Cambridge, U.K.

A literary odyssey kicks off a collaboration between Glucksman Ireland House (NYU) and the Princess Grace Irish Library in Monaco with the inaugural lecture on May 10th by Daniel Mulhall, former Ambassador of Ireland to the USA.

Join us for a talk and performance on the harp.

Theme: 'The Irish harp in music, literature & culture'

This event takes place thanks to the Irish Research Council New Foundations Award

The Princess Grace Irish Library and The Ireland Funds Monaco hosted an afternoon of music and singing in the presence of H.S.H. Prince Albert II and His Children Hereditary Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella to celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day. The following day His Serene Highness went to Ireland, to unveil a sculpture of Princess Grace in Newport, Co Mayo, a few kilometres from where Her grandfather was born in 1847.

This year we are collaborating with La Médiathèque de Monaco who will host flautist Fintan Vallely over from Ireland for a Saint Patrick's Day lunchtime concert on Tuesday March 14th at 12:15. The event takes place at the Sonothèque José Notari, 2, Princesse Antoinette (behind the port).

March 17th is Ireland's National Day.

After a hiatus of a year, the Princess Grace Irish Library (PGIL) is delighted to announce the recipient of The Ireland Funds Monaco Bursary for spring 2023. The candidate selected to receive this prestigious bursary is Gráinne Hurley a writer and researcher. Gráinne will give a talk in Monaco on Thursday, 2nd March 2023 around the subject of her work-in-progress, ‘Mary Lavin and The New Yorker', which explores writer Lavin’s relationship with the magazine. Lavin was born in America to Irish parents and at the age of 10 returned to live in Ireland and went on to become one of modern Irish fiction's most subversive voices.

Donough Cahill is the Executive Director of the Irish Georgian Society and will talk to us about the conservation projects under his radar. With a nod to our theme in 2023 ‘Irish-American influence on culture’, he will explain the scope of the IGS's branch in the USA. 

To kick off 2023 Director Paula Farquharson has recorded a message for you. If you don't have time to read our newsletter, you can listen instead!

We look forward to welcoming you at the library. See you on January 18th for a talk by The Irish Georgian Society - reserve now! 

Do you recognise Lismore Castle in the background? Paula attended the recital 'Joyce in Music' in June last year at the Blackwater Valley Opera Festival in county Waterford. We are delighted to continue our collaboration this year.