Paula Farquharson – Good News Monaco

Paula Farquharson with chalice for Irish Mass at the Palatine Chapel. Photo: Courtesy of PGIL/Michaël Alesi/Palais Princier

Recently discovered in a cardboard box and auctioned in the UK, the chalice will be the subject of a lecture at the Princess Grace Irish Library by Dr Krasnodębska-D’Aughton, University College Cork (UCC), on Wednesday January 22, at 7pm.

Meet old and new friends at the library and discover the mystery behind one of the few remaining chalices from the 15th century.

Earlier in January, the Ó Learghusa Chalice was used to celebrate mass in the private chapel of the Prince’s Palace in Monaco in the presence of Prince Albert II and the Princess of Hanover. And, as Paula Farquharson, director of the Princess Grace Irish Library, points out, it was the first time that mass was celebrated in Europe with the chalice for centuries.

“Before King Henry VIII’s divorce led to the reformation and forced the Catholic Church in Ireland to go underground, this medieval chalice was used in friaries and monasteries in Ireland,” explains Paula.

“Later such religious items were either hidden or sent to mainland Europe for safekeeping. Many didn’t survive and were melted down for their silver and gold. This lecture has all the excitement of a turbulent era in history and the audience will have the unique opportunity to see this rare chalice for one evening only before it goes to Ireland for permanent display at Kylemore Abbey.”

Since its purchase in 2021, the chalice has featured in articles and on television in the United States, where it has also gone on exhibition at top universities.

Dr D’Aughton is a Senior Lecturer in the School of History, UCC, who specialises in the cultural and religious history of the Middle Ages. She has published internationally on the Irish mendicant orders, liturgical silver, Irish illuminated manuscripts as well as on manuscripts in Polish libraries.

Tickets €10 (includes a drink after the 45-minute talk) available at the door or online.

While at the library, make sure you check out 40th Anniversary Princess Grace Irish Library: A Tribute To Princess Grace of Monaco (2024; Éditions Des Archives Du Palais De Monaco. The 128-page limited-edition commemorative book will take you on a journey of discovery about Princess Grace from Ireland to America and to Monaco.

It was presented to Prince Albert II and the Princess of Hanover on November 20, 2024, exactly 40 years to the day they inaugurated the Princess Grace Irish Library in the presence of their father Prince Rainier III.

The book is not available to purchase but a copy can be viewed at the library, or download a digital version at http://www.pgil.mc. QR codes lead readers to emotive performances by musicians and students from the Académie Rainier III in Monaco and Technological University Dublin, conservatoire, as well as a special music piece composed by Michael Flatley, titled The Princess Grace Set.

Article first published January 21, 2025.

Did you know the Princess Grace Irish Library has a rare first edition of James Joyce’s Ulysses? The copy is numbered 312 out of 1,000 printed on handmade paper dated February 2, 1922. It was published in Paris by the English-language bookshop Shakespeare and Company, owned by American ex-pat Sylvia Beach, who had met Joyce at a party in Paris.

The classic is set on a single day June 16, 1904, and, since 1954, a Bloomsday festival – named after the central character, Leopold Bloom – takes place on this day. Loyal fans dress up in Edwardian costumes and celebrate in the streets of the author’s native Dublin, as well as in cities worldwide.

WATCH VIDEO ABOVE: Bloomsday in Monaco 2022.

Bloomsday in Monaco is organised by the Princess Grace Irish Library (9 Rue Princesse Marie de Lorraine) in partnership with the Monaco-Ireland Arts Society and a group of talented actors.

“This is our fourth year to celebrate Bloomsday in Monaco with actors from the Monaco-Ireland Arts Society,” says library director Paula Farquharson. “What was born out of necessity, due to Covid restrictions, has morphed into an annual celebration of Ireland’s most famous writer. Although not one of Ireland’s four Nobel prize winners, Joyce has inspired and intrigued the literary scene and the greater public who embrace this day across the globe.”

The kick off is at 2:15 pm inside the library (first floor), where this year there’s a special display of James Joyce memorabilia, on loan from the private collection of Michael Flatley, award-winning dancer and producer of Riverdance and Lord of the Dance.

Around 2:45 pm Bloomsday revellers leave the library to stroll around Monaco-Ville just as the author’s fictional character, Bloom, did when he wandered Dublin city on June 16, 1904. First stop is beside the Prince’s Palace (by the tourist bus stop).

The literary event is free – just turn up wearing a hat. “We’re delighted to frolic about in Monaco-Ville with dramatic readings and the odd obscenity exclaimed from James Joyce’s masterpiece Ulysses,” enthuses Paula.

“We’re grateful to Prince Albert for allowing us to perform passages from the book on the Palace Square – we chose morally decent parts! Much to the delight of tourists who question, ‘What’s going on? Why the Irish flag?’”

The Princess Grace Irish Library at 9 rue Princesse Marie-de-Lorraine is free to visit. Open Monday to Thursday 9 am to 5 pm (last guided visit at 4:30 pm) and Friday 9 am to 4 pm (last guided visit 3:30 pm). Email for general enquiries and reservations.

Article first published June 14, 2024. Feature photo courtesy of the Princess Grace Irish Library.