The Princess Grace Irish Library is a library situated in
Monaco
Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...
named after
Princess Grace, the wife and consort of
Prince Rainier III. 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. 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 in honor of Grace's Irish heritage. The collection originally contained the princess's personal library of Irish literature and
Irish-American sheet music
Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chords of a song or instrumental musical piece. Like its analogs – printed Book, books or Pamphlet, pamphlets ...
. Since its founding, it has acquired over twelve thousand books, including literature from the
Irish Literary Revival 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. 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, primary Monaco library.
References
External links
Official website
{{Authority control
Irish literature
Libraries in Monaco
1984 establishments in Monaco
Libraries established in 1984