Saturday 28 May - 4pm

Anita’s, Mountshannon

Charlotte Brontë: the Irish connection

In 1854 the celebrated author of Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë married her father’s curate, Irishman, Arthur Bell Nicholls, a fact that is well known; what is less well known is how they honeymooned for almost the entire month of July in Ireland. Their travels took them through Dublin, Offaly, Clare, Kerry and Cork. Their longest sojourn being in Clare, on the Shannon and at the famous Victorian Irish watering place of Kilkee. Join award winning writer and author of Charlotte & Arthur, Pauline Clooney, as she takes you back, through visuals, letters and extracts from her novel to that Summer of 1854. Meet a Charlotte Brontë seldom found in biographies alongside her gentle Irish husband Arthur

Join award winning writer and author of Charlotte & Arthur, Pauline Clooney, as she takes you back, through visuals, letters and extracts from her novel to that Summer of 1854. Meet a Charlotte Brontë seldom found in biographies alongside her gentle Irish husband Arthur

Pauline Clooney

Pauline Clooney is an award-winning Irish author and creative writing teacher at Kildare Writing Centre and the Irish Writers Centre. She is the 2021 recipient of the Dennis O Driscoll literary bursary awarded by Kildare County Council and was one of five writers chosen by Listowel Writers Week to attend their 2022 writer’s residency in Cill Rialaig, Kerry, Ireland. Her debut novel, Charlotte and Arthur, reimagining Charlotte Brontë’s honeymoon in Ireland in 1854, was published by Merdog Books October 2021. Described in the Official Brontë Journal, Brontë Studies as: “… a funny, enjoyable, and reflective read on the brief marriage of Charlotte Brontë and Arthur Bell Nicholls, capturing their individuality alongside their charm as a couple. Whether you are a Brontë aficionado or novice, there is something for everyone in this debut novel.”