The Princess Grace Irish Library is a library situated in
Monaco
Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
named after
Princess Grace
Grace Patricia Kelly (November 12, 1929 – September 14, 1982) was an American actress who, after starring in several significant films in the early to mid-1950s, became Princess of Monaco by marrying Prince Rainier III in April 1956.
Kelly ...
, the wife and consort of
Prince Rainier III
Rainier III (Rainier Louis Henri Maxence Bertrand Grimaldi; 31 May 1923 – 6 April 2005) was Prince of Monaco from 1949 to his death in 2005. Rainier ruled the Principality of Monaco for almost 56 years, making him one of the longest-ruling m ...
. Among its collections of Irish literature, the library hosts the personal collection of Irish books and music that belonged to Grace, whose paternal relatives came from
County Mayo, Ireland
County Mayo (; ga, Contae Mhaigh Eo, meaning "Plain of the yew trees") is a county in Ireland. In the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, it is named after the village of Mayo, now generally known as Mayo Abbey. Mayo County Council ...
. The library was established in November 1984 by Prince Rainier, in memory of his wife.
Founding and collections
The Library was founded by Princess Grace's husband,
Prince Rainier II, and novelist
Anthony Burgess
John Anthony Burgess Wilson, (; 25 February 1917 – 22 November 1993), who published under the name Anthony Burgess, was an English writer and composer.
Although Burgess was primarily a comic writer, his dystopian satire ''A Clockwork ...
in honor of Grace's Irish heritage. The collection originally contained the princess's personal library of Irish literature and
Irish-American
, image = Irish ancestry in the USA 2018; Where Irish eyes are Smiling.png
, image_caption = Irish Americans, % of population by state
, caption = Notable Irish Americans
, population =
36,115,472 (10.9%) alone ...
sheet music
Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses List of musical symbols, musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chord (music), chords of a song or instrumental Musical composition, musical piece. Like ...
. Since its founding, it has acquired over twelve thousand books, including literature from the
Irish Literary Revival
The Irish Literary Revival (also called the Irish Literary Renaissance, nicknamed the Celtic Twilight) was a flowering of Irish literary talent in the late 19th and early 20th century. It includes works of poetry, music, art, and literature.
O ...
as well as classic volumes. The Library also contains multiple portraits and pictures of Princess Grace, by artists Mohamed Drisi, Jack Yeats, Louis le Brocquy, Jack Murray and Claire D’Arcy, respectively. The collection has a selection for young readers, offering books and DVDs for age two and upwards.
Events and publications
The library regularly sponsors public lectures and issues literary monographs. Previous speakers include poet
Seamus Heaney
Seamus Justin Heaney (; 13 April 1939 – 30 August 2013) was an Irish poet, playwright and translator. He received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature. . The library also hosted at one time a large, detailed, comprehensive and definitive online reference database of Irish writers, but this is now available instead at Ricorso's official website. The library also hosts regular conferences on Irish literature and readings. A Biennal Autumn Symposia is held at the Irish Library; past themes include "Irish Poetry After Feminism" and "George Moore: Situating the Oeuvre".
Bursaries
In association with the Ireland Fund of Monaco, residential bursaries have been established "to enable literary and academic writers born or living in Ireland to pursue a current project during a one-month residency at The Princess Grace Irish Library in Monaco". The bursaries are available in the spring and the fall.
The IFM Bursaries
The Ireland Funds webpage. Retrieved 2011-11-09.
See also
* Bibliothèque Louis Notari
The Louis Notari Library (french: Bibliothèque Louis Notari) is the National library of Monaco, founded in 1909. It has been the legal deposit and copyright library for Monaco since 1925. It has more than 400,000 books. It is named for Monegasque ...
, primary Monaco library.
References
External links
Official website
{{Authority control
Irish literature
Libraries in Monaco
1984 establishments in Monaco