Imperial event marks 75 years in Cork for Alliance Francaise
Pictured at the Alliance Francais 75th anniversary reception in the Imperial Hotel were Capt Eoin Carroll, PSO General Officer to Commanding 1 Brigade; Cllr Derry Canty, Chairman International Relations and Tourism SPC; Johanna Murphy, President Cobh and Harbour Chamber; Karen Van Vlierberge, Belgium Ambassador; Josselin Le Gall, Hon Consul of France in Cork; Valerie David McGonnell, President Alliance Francais Cork; Anne Kristine Kjelsen, Hon Consul of Switzerland and Dominic J Daly, Hon Belgium Consul.. Picture: Howard Crowdy
AN organisation promoting French culture and the language in Cork celebrated its 75th anniversary this week at the venue where it all began almost eight decades ago.
The event took place at Imperial Hotel in Cork city and was attended by Cork’s Lord Mayor, Deirdre Forde (Fine Gael), Ambassador of Belgium to Ireland, Karen Van Vlierberge, Hon. Consul of France in Cork Josselin Le Gall and Hon. Consul of Switzerland in Cork Anne Kristine Kjelsen. Hon. Consul of Belgium in Ireland Dominic Daly was also in attendance.
Alliance Française de Cork President, Valérie David-McGonnell paid tribute to the original trailblazers behind the organisation as part of the event.
Addressing the audience she said: “As President of Alliance Française de Cork, I would like to remember its very first President, Ethna Byrne Costigan, who was Professor of Romance Languages in UCC until the late 1960s, and Ms de Ronville, the very first French teacher of AF de Cork who taught her French classes in the Savoy Cinema in those days.” She also gave an insight into Alliance Française de Cork’s history.
“Rachel Burrows was a teacher and actress from Limerick who founded the “Cork French Circle” when she moved to Cork in 1947,” the organisation’s president said. “From November 1947, meetings were held at the Victoria Hotel, then the Savoy, the Graduates Club (on Grand Parade), and the Imperial Hotel, which is why we have chosen this magnificent hotel as the venue of our 75th anniversary. Today, we are proud to be part of an international network of over 830 Alliances Françaises in 131 countries in the world.”
The French native underlined the objectives of the organisation.
“Our main mission is to promote the French language and it is a pleasure to do so in such a Francophile city as Cork where several mayors in the past were French Huguenots, such as Joseph Lavitt after whom Lavitt’s Quay was named in 1704,” she said. “Our mission is also to promote the different cultures of French-speaking countries such as France, but also Belgium and Switzerland of which we have representatives here tonight.”
Alliance Française de Cork are also behind the Cork French Film Festival which runs on an annual basis and aims to bring French film to a Cork audience.
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