In person lecture by best-selling author Flor MacCarthy

The Princess and the Presidents

Did you know that the first ever State Visit to Ireland was by HSH Prince Rainier and Princess Grace of Monaco in 1961? Or that President Éamon de Valera sent a gift of an Irish pony ‘Babbling Brook’ to Princess Caroline when she was four years old?

Join us for an illustrated talk by best-selling author and journalist Flor MacCarthy, who is the spring 2024 Ireland Funds Monaco Writer-in-Residence at the Princess Grace Irish Library in Monaco. Her talk on the relationship between the Prince's Family and successive Irish presidents as seen through their correspondence is based on her bestselling book The Presidents’ Letters: An Unexpected History of Ireland.

Flor MacCarthy, presents highlights which show the warm friendship between Ireland and Monaco which continues to this day. She will take a quick look at each of the nine Presidents of Ireland since the creation of the Irish Free State in 1922. You will discover how the book project came about and how she gained access to the letters.

Each letter tells a story!

A selection of other highlights from the book will be reviewed:
● Letters between  President de Valera, JFK and his widow Jacqueline Kennedy
● De Valera’s message flown to the Moon (in the pocket of Buzz Aldrin’s spacesuit) aboard the Apollo 11 space mission, 1969
● The envelope on which President Mary McAleese scribbled a phonetic message in Irish which was used by HRH Queen Elizabeth II as the opening words of her historic speech in Dublin Castle, May 2011.

All ticket sales support the cultural & educational activities of the non-profit Library.

Thank you for your support.

Your name has been added to the list of attendees who have pre-paid for the event.