History of the Association

2001

The confidence we had gained from the ready acceptances to our invitations in 2000 led us to issue an invitation to Seamus Heaney, winner of the 1995 Nobel Prize for literature, to visit Lisbon. On 18th May Mr. Heaney honoured us with a poetry reading in Casa Fernando Pessoa in Lisbon, an appropriate setting, as Fernando Pessoa is arguably Portugal’s most famous poet. The lyrical poetry of Heaney, with its references to digging the garden and folding freshly laundered sheets with his mother, brought back many childhood memories to the Irish in the audience. A lively question and answer session was followed by a reception. Mr. Heaney’s visit received extensive national radio and newspaper coverage including a full-page article in Publico. It was also reported by the late Frank Cunnane in the Anglo-Portuguese News of Thursday, 24th May.

On Saturday 16th June Ann Marie Hourihane, journalist and author of the highly acclaimed book ‘She Moves through the Boom’ gave a Bloomsday lecture entitled Dubliners Now. The lecture was held in the auditorium of FNAC bookstore in the old Chiado district of Lisbon and once again attracted a full house. In her lecture Ms. Hourihane discussed Ireland of the boom years, with its Expresso coffee and foreign workers, to that of James Joyce’s Dublin with particular emphasis on his book Dubliners. A question and answer session was followed by a reception.

On November 15th the Society organised the Portuguese launch of ‘The Irish College at Lisbon 1590 – 1834’ by Patricia O’Connell. The former librarian of National University Ireland, Galway, Mrs O’Connell gave an introduction to her book, which covers the history of the college that was set up under a board of Portuguese noblemen in conjunction with exiled Irish Jesuits in 1590. The college survived war, earthquake and suppression until it closed its doors in 1834. Thanks to the administrators of the Tribunal Administrativo do Circulo do Lisboa the Society was in a position to hold the launch in the former college building that is in Escadinhas de S. Crispim in the old quarter of Lisbon. A reception was held afterwards in one of the reception rooms that has wonderful views over the river Tejo and the city.

At this function the Society welcomed His Excellency Ambassador O’Connor and Mrs. O’Connor. The Ambassador had recently taken up his post in Lisbon and until his retirement in 2006 both he and Mrs. O’Connor gave every encouragement and support to the group to continue and to develop new projects.

2002

The Society helped with the launch of Laura Vasconcellos’ book Contos da Mitologia Celta that was held in FNAC Colombo on 15th March. Ms. Vasconcellos, a writer and journalist, had collected and translated into Portuguese a number of Irish myths and legends. The stories are based on journeys and adventures filled with magic and ending in a promised land of eternal happiness. Ambassador O’Connor and Prof. Dr. Armando Marques Guedes launched the book and the audience was entertained by Melting Pot, an Irish Folk Band.

We then decided that it was time to try our hand at organising a golf competition and Campo de Golfe De Montebelo was our chosen destination.

This beautiful golf course is situated in Farminhão not far from Viseu in the north of Portugal. We decided to organise an overnight stay in the Hotel Montebelo and a tour of either the Grão Vasco Museum or Carmulo Museum was arranged for non-playing participants. Eight players teed off over the rolling fairways on the morning of 4th May and congratulations to Maeve Gregan from the Algarve who won the first prize with 25 stableford points.

Shortly after this event John McKenny left Portugal. Luckily Irish people move around a lot and we were able to invite the recently arrived Siobhan Keating and her husband Aidan McMahon to join the committee.

2003

For a number of years we had had the idea of organising a St. Patrick’s Day celebration in Lisbon. We knew that in the past St. Patrick’s Dinner had been a very successful event and now with new energy and talents in the group we decided to hold a dinner on 15th March. The Lisbon Marriott Hotel was chosen for the event and we invited Ambassador and Mrs. O’Connor as our guests of honour. For the princely sum of €37 one could partake in a Buffet dinner with dancing to the traditional music of Melting Pot. Pernod Ricard Portugal-Somagnum Distribuição S.A. and Guinness generously sponsored drinks and a number of local companies donated products for a prize draw. 157 people attended the event and a great evening was had by all.

As a Bloomsday event Casa Fernando Pessoa co-hosted readings from Ulysses by The Lisbon Players on June 16th. The house where Pessoa, the famous Portuguese poet had lived was a very suitable venue as he and Joyce had been contemporaries in the early part of the 20th century. The Lisbon players, in period costume, gave dramatic readings in front of a full house and the appreciative audience enjoyed a reception afterwards. The prestigious newspaper Diario da Noticias covered the event in an article on Monday, 23rd June.

2004

The year got off to an early start on January 30th with a visit from Frank Nugent, Training Specialist, Mountaineer and Author. Frank, who is an intrepid explorer himself, had just published a book called Seek The Frozen Lands, Irish Polar Explorers 1740-1922 which details the considerable contribution by Irishmen to the exploration and charting of the Arctic and Antarctic regions in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. In the Instituto Camões in Lisbon we were treated to an engrossing lecture and learned that many Irish surnames now dot the maps of the frozen lands. Frank then took a number of questions from the audience before joining them in a reception hosted by the Society.

The second St. Patrick’s Day celebration organised by the Society was held on the 20th March in the Lisbon Marriott Hotel and, following the success of the previous year, was quickly sold out. Feedback was such that we knew that this would become an annual event and a number of people requested dancing lessons in preparation for the following year.

On 27th May we were delighted that Seamus Heaney, winner of 1995 Nobel Prize for Literature, accepted our invitation for a return visit to Portugal. Casa Fernando Pessoa again co hosted the event in Pessoa’s house in Lisbon. Seamus Heaney gave a wonderful reading interspersed with anecdotes as to why he wrote a particular poem or by what thought process he came to a particular idea. The event was much appreciated by the audience and in particularly by the International Baccalauréat students who had an opportunity to speak with the poet at the reception afterwards.

The celebration of the Centenary of Bloomsday started early with ‘Joyce Internacional’, an exhibition on James Joyce organised by the Department of Foreign Affairs which was on display in Casa Fernando Pessoa from 10th – 21st May. With this as a backdrop, on the 16th June the Lisbon Players once again donned their period costumes and treated us to very enjoyable excerpts from Ulysses, followed by a rendering of popular Dublin ballads. The Society hosted a reception for each of these events in a manner that Joyce would have approved of.

On November 19th Professor Luke Gibbons gave a lecture entitled Beyond the Pale: Racism, Immigration & Contemporary Ireland. Held in the early 19th century surroundings of the Reservatorio Mãe d’Agua, Professor Gibbons discussed how Irish society is being influenced and affected by immigration after centuries of emigration being the norm. His talk raised much interest amongst the audience and created a lively debate which was followed by a candle lit reception in the foyer of the beautiful Reservatorio.

2005

In the latter part of 2004 the Society was asked to join The World Monuments Fund (Portugal), Ambassador O’Connor, Catherine Cotter and Desmond Greene in devising and organising an event to mark the completion of important restoration work at the Convento of Bom Sucesso, a 17th century architectural gem of the Irish Dominican Sisters. The World Monuments Fund had financed the restoration and because of the Convento’s Irish connections it was felt that an Irish input into the celebration of the completion of the work would be appropriate. The result was that on the 26th January a concert by Anuna was held in the candle lit octagonal church. From the moment the first clear voice rang from the upstairs choir, followed by the cloaked candle holding singers moving slowly towards the altar, to the last note the audience was involved in a very spiritual experience.

Catherine and Desmond later went on to help the Society with the Celebration of Irish Film and St. Patrick’s Day Celebration 2006.

The Lisbon Marriott Hotel was once again the venue for St. Patrick’s Day Celebration on 12th March. As the guests descended the stairway to the reception they were greeted by the dulcet tones of the Harp played by popular Irish harpist Madeline Doherty, who also sang and played during the evening. The evening’s entertainment, which consisted of a reception followed by dinner and dancing to the live traditional music by Melting Pot was by now ‘a must’ for the Lisbon social calendar and we had many names on a waiting list for places.

2006

The year started with more goodbyes as Ambassador O’Connor was retiring after forty years service with the Department of Foreign Affairs. He and Mrs. O’Connor were leaving Portugal and the Society wanted to express their gratitude and wish them well in the new phase of their lives. A formal dinner on the 14th January at the Assa Massa Restaurant in the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Quinta da Penha Longa was chosen for the event. During the apéritif, the guests were entertained by João Oliveira on piano. The large number of guests who attended confirmed that the Ambassador’s posting in Lisbon had been a very successful one. The O’Connors were presented with a special edition of The Door Stands Open, two poems and an essay written by Seamus Heaney in memory of Czeslaw Milosz and were thanked for the enthusiastic support they had given during their time here from which the Society had benefited enormously.

The successful teaming with the Lisbon Marriott Hotel continued for the 4th annual St. Patrick’s dinner which was held on 18th March. Teresa O’Donnell the well-known Irish harpist played at the reception and during dinner Guests were entertained by a lively display of modern and traditional Irish dancing by the Celtic Rhythm Dancers. They also attempted to put some order into the enthusiastic dancing, which followed the meal but gradually gave in and joined in the undisciplined high stepping, arm swinging ‘dances’, which are always enjoyed at this event.

In 2005, Emer Nowlan had organised a Gaelic Games Day, which was warmly welcomed by the Irish families living in Portugal. As Emer had returned to Ireland the Society took upon itself the organisation of the event on 13th May in the sports fields of St. Julian’s School in Carcavelos. Coaching was provided by John Burke, with able support from Sean O’Riain, Vincent Herlihy and Emer herself who visited Lisbon for the event. The afternoon began with an introduction/reminder of how Gaelic Football is played followed by a game in which adults and children participated. A Puc Fada Competition followed this. Young, and not so young, children were kept entertained by the bouncing castle and after the game, participants retired to the Lisbon Casuals clubhouse to enjoy the prize draw and live music by the band Melting Pot.

On 16th June the Society,in association with Teatro São Luiz in Lisbon, celebrated Bloomsday with Classical Ulysses. The theatre, which first opened its doors in 1894, was an ideal location and the original frescos evoked a turn of the century atmosphere. Dr. Jorge Salavisa, Director of the theatre, who introduced the afternoon’s programme, opened the event. Irishman Peter Flanagan, leader of The Lisbon String Quartet then explained why they had chosen the pieces they were about to perform and their connection to Joyce. The highly acclaimed Portuguese actress Graça Lobo gave a dramatic reading in Portuguese of Molly Bloom’s famous soliloquy. A break for Gorgonzola and a glass of Burgundy followed and gave the audience of 120 an opportunity to chat and admire the costumes of those who dressed in period for the occasion. Afterwards, David Nolan, a Dubliner with an amazing likeness to Joyce, enthralled the audience with his reading of the description of Gerty MacDowell, his authentic accent and period costume adding greatly to the effect. The Lisbon String Quartet then closed off what was to be the last event organised by the Irish Portuguese Friendship Society.