We are delighted to welcome Neal Doherty back to the library. A lecturer, guidebook author and qualified tourist guide, Neal will give a multimedia presentation and show us Mayo, in the west of Ireland and the links to the Kelly family and their ancestral home, now owned by H.S.H. Prince Albert II and his family.
Buy your ticket here!
H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco with his fiance Charlene Wittstock visiting the ruins of the Kelly homestead in county Mayo during the Sovereign's first State Visit in 2011 to the land of his ancestors. It was exactly 50 years after His own parents visited Ireland for the first time during Prince Rainier III's State Visit in 1961.
© Eric Mathon - Archives du Palais princier
HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco with the sculptor Mark Rhodes in front of the sculpture of Princess Grace which was unveiled in March 2023. The Princess was born Grace Kelly and her ancestors are from county Mayo in the west of Ireland.
© Edward Reid
© Neal Doherty
About the speaker
Born and educated in Dublin, Neal Doherty's first career was with Nestlé, where he managed its chilled food business in Ireland. On retiring, a second career beckoned as a historian and tourist guide. He now works as a freelance guide in English and French for private clients (www.AlchemyTours.ie). His tours in the west of Ireland, where he now lives, include a visit to Drimurla, the birthplace of Princess Grace’s paternal grandfather. In March 2023 Prince Albert II unveiled a sculpture of his mother in nearby Newport, to commemorate the family's link to the county.
Neal has appeared on the Irish TV programme Nationwide and written the following Guide Books:
- Streets of Dublin
- Statues and Sculptures of Dublin.
- The Complete Guide to Belmullet
- The Complete Guide to Achill Island
View HERE the TV interview with Neal Doherty
Theme of talk by Neal Doherty
A voyage of discovery across history and Ireland's wild landscape in county Mayo.
Neal will give a multimedia presentation and show us the west of Ireland and the links to the Kelly family and their ancestral home, now owned by H.S.H. Prince Albert II and his family.
Neal's talk will outline the origins of Princess Grace née Kelly in County Mayo in the west of Ireland - covering part of the 1800s, when her grandfather John Henry Kelly was born and left Ireland as a young man of 20 years old. The talk will touch on the plight of the population due to the famine and aftermath and emigration from there, reasons which influenced Princess Grace’s grandfather's decision to leave his homeland. Achill Island, not far from Newport is where many emigrants like Kelly left from, sailing on "coffin ships" as they were known for the high mortality rate en route for the USA.
Neal will source from his published Achill Island Guide Book to reveal lots of stories, including the building of the railway from Westport to Achill Sound, Grace O’Malley’s Castle (The Pirate Queen), The Deserted Village and more ... including The Tuke Emigrations. The latter was an assisted migration scheme led by English Quaker philanthropist James Hack Tuke between 1882-1884, helping about 10,000 impoverished families from western Ireland (especially Connemara) emigrate to the United States and Canada to escape famine and poverty; it was funded partly by the UK government.
Fast forward to modern day and you will discover the Mayo that John Henry Kelly's granddaughter visited in 1961, accompanying her husband Prince Rainier III on His State Visit to Ireland. Other famous diaspora who left the west of Ireland may also pop up!
Princess Grace arrives in Ireland in June 1961 for the first time. The occasion is the official State Visit by her husband HSH Prince Rainier III of Monaco.
© Princess Grace Irish Library Archives
HSH Prince Rainier III of Monaco beside his wife Princess Grace as she accepts a gift of a green Connemara marble coffret from one of her relatives, the Kelly family in County Mayo, where her grandfather John Henry Kelly was born and lived until he emigrated at 20 years old.
© Lensimen - Archives du Palais princier
Three ways to reserve for the talk:
- Buy a ticket in advance online HERE
- or email: info@pgil.mc
- or Tel: + 377 93 50 12 25
Event details:
- Admission is €10 per person - students €5
- If paying when you arrive at the library, note we don't take cards - please be ready to pay either cash or cheque made out to 'Fondation Princesse Grace'
- The talk starts at 19:00 – please arrive at least 10 minutes before to be seated & enjoy the library
- New option this year! You can tell us where you prefer to be seated and we will reserve your seat - to give you time to browse the books before the event starts!
- We close the doors at 19:00 to avoid disturbing the speaker!
Directions to the library HERE
Buy your ticket!