01 janvier 2020
16 novembre 2019
Change to programme
Chers Amis,
I am sorry to have to tell you that, due to unforeseen circumstances, we are unable to proceed with our talk …. “Haussmann et Paris embellie”.
It is planned to reschedule this talk early next year.
However we will still be meeting in The Dark Horse on Wednesday 20th November at 7:30pm. The idea will be to recreate, in our favourite Belfast venue, the atmosphere of a French Café with music and chat (French and English) and perhaps a little surprise or two.
Looking forward to seeing you in ….Le Cheval Noir ( sorry, The Dark Horse )
on … le mercredi 20 novembre 2019 à 19h30
À bientôt, Philip
12 novembre 2019
Bulletin mensuel : novembre 2019
Chers Amis,
The next meeting of the Cercle Français de Belfast will be …
on Mercredi 20 novembre 2019 à 19h.30
in The Dark Horse Coffee House,
30-34, Hill Street Belfast BT1 2LB
Topic: Haussmann et Paris embellie
Speakers: Hélène GUILLET et Philip McGRORY
Hélène et Philip vous emmènent dans le Paris de Napoléon III avec les grands travaux du Baron Haussmann pour l’embellissement de Paris.
Hélène and Philip take you back to the Paris of Napoleon III with the large-scale transformation of the city under the design of Baron Haussmann.
Book Launch by Cercle français Life Member, John Crothers
The Official Launch of …
Echoes of a Distant Music, a Biography of Ronald E Lee, MBE (1929-1992)
byJohn Crothers,
will take place ...
in St Anne's Cathedral, Belfast,
on Friday 22nd November at 7.30pm.
Ronnie Lee was unique, in that he blazed a trail for the choral directors who would come after him. The fact that he was a personal friend of, and admired by, such musicians as David Willcocks, John Rutter and Yan Pascal Tortelier, speaks for itself. His life's work took him to St Matthew's Parish Church, St Bartholomew's Parish Church and Grosvenor High School, where his singers covered themselves with glory, both at national and international level. His recordings on the Chandos label with the Ulster Orchestra have become the stuff of legend.
Of particular interest to us is the fact that the very last concert Ronnie conducted publicly, in October 1992, was for the newly-constituted Alliance française de Belfast, the brainchild of Professor Colin Radford, and the forerunner of the Cercle français.
With two choirs, Grosvenor (conducted by Edward Craig) and Renaissance (conducted by Ian Mills), singing some of the works associated with the legendary Belfast conductor the evening promises to be a musical delight and one which members will much enjoy. Make a note in your diary … St Anne's Cathedral, Belfast, Friday 22nd November at 7.30pm.
Looking forward to seeing you on Wednesday 20th November.
À bientôt, Philip
08 novembre 2019
Tristes nouvelles : Hilary HEADLEY
Hilary pictured at her 2017 Cercle talk on Debussy and friends |
It was with great sadness that we learned this morning of the death of Hilary Headley. Hilary was a member of the Cercle Français de Belfast from its early days and in more recent times was a much valued and active member of our committee.
She will be greatly missed.
Hilary’s funeral is on Wednesday 13th November at 12.00 in St George’s Parish Church, High Street, Belfast then to Roselawn Cemetery at 2.30.
Philip
She will be greatly missed.
Hilary’s funeral is on Wednesday 13th November at 12.00 in St George’s Parish Church, High Street, Belfast then to Roselawn Cemetery at 2.30.
Philip
29 octobre 2019
Reportage : Francis Hutcheson talk by Dr James Dingley
Dr James Dingley presenting his talk on Francis Hutcheson at the Dark Horse |
Cercle member Eileen Griffiths reports on our last talk given by Dr James Dingley entitled Francis Hutcheson and the foundation of Modern France.
At the
Dark Horse on Wednesday 23 October, Dr James Dingley gave a very
comprehensive and illuminating talk on the moral philosopher Francis Hutcheson,
who was born in Saintfield in 1694 and whose work influenced social and
political thinking in Great Britain and Ireland from the 18th century onwards. He was hailed as the ‘Father of the Scottish
Enlightenment’ and his philosophy informed the United Irishmen movement. His
influence spread further afield and his ideas of no state religion, with a
stress on individual civil and religious liberty and equality, also contributed
to the French and American revolutions.
Hutcheson
was a Presbyterian minister of the New Light movement, which embraced all ideas
of enlightenment and science, believing that studying and obeying the laws of
nature brought one closer to God. They also thought that religion should be a
private matter, and that better results were obtained when there weren’t the
constraints imposed by the hierarchies of an established church. Dr. Dingley
explained that this partly accounts for the Presbyterian church being such a
rich ground for radical philosophies at that time, though their position also played a part in
that they were excluded from the body politic until the end of the century and
were unable to attend the main universities. In fact, Hutcheson did his best
work in his ten years at a Dissenting academy in Dublin. These academies taught
new sciences and business and were intellectual hothouses, being influenced by
the ideas of the English and Continental Enlightenment. All the European
thinkers read each other and in Ulster, the more practical philosophy of the
English met the more abstract philosophy of the Europeans. Hutcheson was able
to benefit from this and to carry the ideas forward to Glasgow university where
he taught for the last sixteen years of his life.
After
200 years of religious wars Hutcheson and his peers believed in freeing the
individual from constraints and oppression, in taking religion out of the
public sphere so that everyone had equal opportunities. They adhered to the
view that man is not innately sinful, and that order and harmony would come via
inner discipline and through mutual inter-dependence, not from aristocratic or
clerical control. Hutcheson believed in
the greatest happiness for the greatest number and that virtue and good
behaviour, not greed, self-interest or rights, would yield the greatest
happiness. The industrious individual was the model of virtue, order and
conduct.
In terms
of a French connection, pamphlets of the French revolution reflected Ulster
Presbyterian ideals. Hutcheson was a major influence on Voltaire and Rousseau
and through them made a large contribution to the French revolution, to the
ideas of the separation of law and state and to the no teaching of religion in
schools. The French Enlightenment was very pro-Plantation, attracted to the
concept of civility and progress. The belief was that trade encouraged civility
because people had to learn to liaise and cooperate and create an open space
for everyone. The French language was
commonly used for trade in Europe at that time and James pointed out
that our local Newsletter carried adverts for French dancing etc.
Hutcheson
died in 1746 and James expressed surprise that a man of Hutcheson’s
stature, a mentor to such notable figures as Adam Smith and David Hume and a
major influencer in Europe and America, should be largely unknown in his
homeland, with no statue, only a plaque to celebrate and immortalize his life. Dr. Dingley said that on his travels abroad he
often met people who were much more aware of Hutcheson’s significance, than
here at home. Certainly it seems as
though a man of his ilk could be useful in our current crises!
Eileen Griffiths
Eileen's collection of vignettes, Older not Wiser, was published earlier this year by Lupus Books, ISBN 978-1-916031-80-7. We are grateful to her for writing this piece for our blog and take this opportunity to extend special thanks to James for a "very comprehensive and illuminating talk".
Un très grand merci !
20 octobre 2019
Francis Hutcheson and the foundation of Modern France
James Dingley, pictured at his Durkheim talk last year at the Dark Horse |
On Wednesday 23 October James Dingley, having delighted us with his talk last year on Émile Durkheim, returns as our conférencier to illuminate the role played by Francis Hutcheson in the foundation of modern France.
Considered as the father of the Scottish Enlightenment, Francis Hutcheson (1694-1746) in fact hailed from Saintfield, County Down. Well known to the French philosophes such as Voltaire and Rousseau, he had a profound effect on the development of modern France and the ideals it embodied from 1789 on. Although he was a major thinker of the Enlightenment he is now almost forgotten in his native Ulster.
James's talk is sure to both inform and delight and we look forward to welcoming members, old and new, as well as their guests.
Venez nombreux !
7.30 pm Dark Horse Coffee House, 30-34 Hill Street in Belfast's Cathedral Quarter.
11 octobre 2019
80 minutes with Seamus Heaney
Saturday 19 October at 2pm – Admission free
To mark the year that would have been his 80th birthday,
Alliance Française Dublin, Le Cercle Français de Belfast and the National Library of Ireland are proud to present an evocation by Jim Holland of his friendship
with the poet through anecdotes and readings of early poems in English and French.
Introductions and reading of poems in English by Jim Holland and versions in French
by special readers Maryvonne LeRoy, Claudine McKeown, Allison Neill-Rabaux, and Chris Tracey.
The event will be launched by the President of Alliance Française Dublin Mr Pat Cox.
National Library of Ireland, Kildare St, Dublin 2
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