Many thanks to H.E. Karen Van Vlierberge, Ambassador of #Belgium to #Ireland, for the invitation to an early celebration of the Belgian National Day today in Dublin last Friday.

This year, in order to celebrate the 2024 Belgian Presidency of the EU Council, Alliance Française de Cork was delighted to create a quiz in French about Belgium, in collaboration with Alliance Française Antwerp: https://create.kahoot.it/share/quiz-sur-la-belgique/4392164e-bf53-4bc5-b274-e98c1a997a20

From left to right: Andre Flammang (Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Luxembourg in Ireland) ; Valérie David-McGonnell (Alliance Française de Cork President) ; H.E. Karen Van Vlierberge (Ambassador of Belgium to Ireland) ; Julien Thonar (Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Belgium in Ireland) ; Anne-Kristine Kjelsen (Hon. Consul of Switzerland in Cork).

#Bastilleday2024 #14juillet was celebrated last Monday, at the French Residence in #Dublin

Many thanks to H.E. Vincent Guérend, Ambassador of France to Ireland, for the invitation.

From left to right: Valérie David-McGonnell (President of AF de Cork), H.E. Vincent Guérend, Ambassador of France to Ireland, Édouard Philippe (Le Havre Mayor/former Prime Minister of France), & Cllr Dan Boyle (Lord Mayor of Cork).

From left to right: Kate McQuinn and Vicky Bouché (post-primary teachers in Cork), Valérie David-McGonnell (President of AF de Cork), and Hélène Conway-Mouret (French Senator).

Our 2024-2025 timetable has been released!

• Our in-person year-long courses for teenagers and children will start on the week of 18th September;
• Our online French upskilling 10-week courses for primary-school teachers will start on the week of 18th September;
• Our in-person 15-week Autumn term for adults will start on the week of 23rd September.

To see our 2024-2025 timetables: https://www.alliancefrancaisecork.com/-Our-French-Courses-

Registration is now open!
To register, please send us an email at info@alliancefrancaisecork.com

The "Béthune rend hommage aux combattantes de l’ombre" ceremony took place in northern France on 24th May. It was organized by the Mayor of Béthune City and his elected representatives, in the presence of Hannah E. Twomey, Consul of Ireland to Paris, and Alliance Française de Cork President Valérie David-McGonnell.

This event paid tribute to four French, Belgian and Irish members of the French Resistance who served the cause of the liberation of France in the city of Béthune during WWII, including Cork Franciscan Sister, Kate McCarthy, aka Sr Marie Laurence, whose relatives travelled from Ireland to attend the ceremony. A large crowd attended the ceremony. A delegation of French Franciscan sisters were also present.

Born in 1895 in Drimoleague, County Cork, Sr Marie Laurence worked as a nurse at the Béthune Hospital during the First and Second World Wars. In 1940, she joined the "Musée de l’Homme" Resistance network. She was arrested by the Gestapo in June 1941, imprisoned and deported. She was released from the Ravensbrück concentration camp in April 1945. After the war, Sr Marie Laurence returned to Ireland. She was awarded several medals by France: the "Médaille commémorative française de la guerre 1939-1945" and the silver "Médaille de la reconnaissance française". She later became Mother Superior of the Honan Home in Cork. She died in 1971.

During her speech at the Béthune ceremony, Valérie David-McGonnell announced that, in the autumn, one of our classrooms will be renamed in memory of Sr Marie Laurence.

AF de Cork President Valérie David-McGonnell with Béthune City Mayor Olivier Gacquerre, Deputy Mayor Maryse Bertoux, and Deputy Director of Culture and Events Sandrine Donchez.

AF de Cork President with relatives of Sr Marie Laurence: her niece Sr Breda McCarthy, and her grandnieces Caitriona Hayes & Siobhan Sheils.

Article in French: https://lepetitjournal.com/dublin/une-irlandaise-honoree-en-france-pour-sa-bravoure-pendant-la-seconde-guerre-mondiale-387029?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR2qK4w75Uo9llOb4LGtPHA-fFCwpqDXnPCyrmN5NASdNX78m07jW0HDNvw_aem_AUZVlzS1JCBlzy04fZroLvbFKFARXAuOusdN_IHIhgx4prRhTzkHQey4bj5WIpcQI6z7Q0ngNVj_YXGGv0SgJN8M

Article in English: https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-41408468.html

L’Alliance Française de Cork est ravie de soutenir la Fête de la Bretagne à Cork, du 18 au 21 mai.

Alliance Française de Cork is delighted to support the Festival of Brittany in Cork, from 18th to 21st May.

On 13th and 14th May 2024, we were delighted to welcome "Destination Francophonie"’s TV Presenter Ivan Kabacoff and cameraman Fabrice Hacout (TV5MONDE) to Alliance Française de Cork.

As part of the shooting of their next episode about Ireland, Alliance Française de Cork President Valérie David-McGonnell was interviewed, and a class was visited.

It was a great opportunity to talk about our "DELF for DEIS schools initiative", our Cork French Film Festival, and the exhibition "Trésors et lumières du Cotentin" (by photographer Arnaud Guérin) which is currently on show in our gallery with the support of the Cotentin Tourist Office (Normandy) and the Embassy of France in Ireland.

To celebrate the European Night of Museums, we invite you to visit our current exhibition « Trésors et lumières du Cotentin »
by French photographer Arnaud Guérin, on Saturday 18th May from 4 pm to 7 pm (free entry).

Exhibition organised with the support of the Cotentin Tourist Office (Normandy) & of the Embassy of France in Ireland.

Liste complète des événements en Europe :
https://nuitdesmusees.culture.gouv.fr/programme#/search@46.4745563,8.3575419,4.38

L’Alliance Française de Cork est ravie de soutenir la présentation de Laurence Merlette, peintre et spécialiste de l’histoire de l’Art, sur le thème de la découverte de la peinture :
le jeudi 16 mai, à 17h30.

Pour s’inscrire, voir le QR code dans l’image suivante :

On 9th May, we were delighted to welcome second-level teachers from the Lycée Jean Macé in Rennes and from Scoil Mhuire in Cork.

Together with Douglas Community School, they have organised a school exchange between Brittany and Cork for their students.

It was also the occasion for them to try Hegarty’s delicious Templegall cheese which is made in Cork by French cheesemakers Jean-Baptiste ENJELVIN and Quentin Duboz.