Ireland and France: Transnational Nations explores Ireland’s many-sided relations with the wider Atlantic world, and in particular the strong connections that Ireland, directly and indirectly, has had with France almost since the Norman Conquest of 1066. What the exhibition traces is nothing less than Ireland's transnational reality from the early seventeenth century up to the present day, showcasing a variety of artifacts: documents occasioned by the attempted French invasion of Ireland in 1796; personal, confessional and political interventions; polemical and testimonial works; reportage on moments of high historical significance in the history of Ireland and of France,  

In brief, the works on display document a wide spectrum of contexts, motivations, and languages. They testify to close cultural and creative relations, spanning major episodes in the life of the two nations. We warmly invite participants in this year’s annual SOFEIR conference to join us in exploring these singular interconnections, and to view items written not only in French and in Irish, but also in Latin and English, as well as works from our own era that make a distinctive and special virtue of being as transcultural as they are translinguistic.

Many thanks to Barbara Diener, Louise O'Connor, Crónán Ó Doibhlin, John Rooney and Emer Twomey of the UCC Boole Library for their assistance with this exhibition.