Irish corner: Oliver O’Hanlon on the Princess Grace Irish Library in Monaco

There is a corner of Ireland in Monaco. Named the Princess Grace Irish Library, it was established more than 40 years ago, a couple of years after the death of Monaco’s princess Grace (otherwise known as the Hollywood film star Grace Kelly).

Officially opened by prince Rainier III on November 20th, 1984, as a tribute to his late wife and her connection to Ireland, it is a place for lectures, exhibitions and readings. Its unique holdings, which comprise books that lined the walls of the princess’s palace office and other items such as Irish and Irish-American sheet music collected by the princess, pay homage to the land of her ancestors.

Located not far from the Prince’s Palace, the library sits in an old part of the city known as Monaco-Ville. This district has the nickname of le Rocher or ‘the Rock’ as it is built on a headland that juts out into the Mediterranean Sea. It is the only English-language library in Monaco.

Some 12,000 books have been acquired or donated since the repository was established. That is on top of the books and material that the princess had amassed. A large part of her collection came from the estate of one of Ireland’s first diplomats, count Gerald Edward O’Kelly de Gallagh.

It was after her visit to Ireland with her husband in June 1961 (the first State visit to Ireland by a foreign head of state since independence) that she began her collection. The volumes in the princess’s personal book collection include histories of Ireland such as Douglas Hyde’s A Literary History of Ireland from the Earliest Times to the Present Day and Daniel O’Connell’s A Memoir on Ireland, Native and Saxon. Novels by Maria Edgeworth and George Moore also fill the shelves.

It holds a modern facsimile of the Book of Kells. This was donated to the library by Michael Smurfit, who served as Ireland’s honorary consul to the principality for many years. One of the library’s most prized items is a first edition of James Joyce’s Ulysses.

In the section for young readers, there is a range of books for all ages from picture books such as Mel Carroll’s A Belfast Fairytale to the likes of Eoin Colfer’s Artemis Fowl fantasy novel series.

The music scores that the library holds were acquired by the princess in 1978. There are over 1,000 original music scores (mostly Irish-American covering the years 1840-1940) housed in a music cabinet. They came from an Irish-American named Michael E. O’Donnell who emigrated to United States from Co Mayo (like the princess’s grandfather).

The library comes under the aegis of La Fondation Princesse Grace, a foundation that was formed by the princess in 1964 to promote humanitarian initiatives. Its main aim is to help children in paediatric hospitals throughout France and their families. The foundation has since added the support of cultural activities to its remit.

One of those involved with the library from the early days is Pierre Joannon, who the writer Anthony Burgess described as “a Frenchman, but an Irishman by adoption”, such is his love of and interest in all things Irish. He was a trustee of the library for several decades and also served as Ireland’s honorary consul in the south of France for 50 years.

Today, the library acts as a focal point for Irish culture on the Côte d’Azur. It organises talks on aspects of Irish history and culture and hosts an annual St Patrick’s Day celebration that is attended by prince Albert. Monaco’s royal family has been involved from the very start. In May 1986, princess Caroline opened a conference there on Irishness in A Changing Society.

It also plays host to Irish writers and academics through its residential bursaries, which are funded by The Ireland Funds Monaco. This is the Monaco branch of the philanthropic organisation established in 1976 by Dan Rooney and Tony O’Reilly.

The literary bursary takes place in the spring of each year, while the academic bursary takes place in the autumn of each year. The lucky recipient has their travel and accommodation costs paid and receives an honorarium at the end of their tenure.

Colum McCann was granted the inaugural award in 2002, while recent awardees include the Cork writers Cónal Creedon (2025) and Flor MacCarthy (2024). The emerging writer Jeanne Sutton is the latest recipient of the writer-in-residence bursary, while Prof Chris Morash of Trinity College Dublin is the latest academic-in-residence.

The library’s 40^th anniversary in 2024 was marked with the publication of a book on its history and the release of a postage stamp. Appropriately, the stamp bears an image of the princess dressed in green and sitting in front of a bookcase.

It is not only the books that are Irish in the library. Its rooms are illuminated by Waterford Crystal lighingware, and paintings by Jack Yeats and Louis Le Brocquy adorn the walls. As such, it acts as a veritable Irish cultural bastion on the French Riviera.