Dr. Alicia St. Leger will present an illustrated talk on the Huguenots connections with Cork. Dr. St. Leger is the author of the Silver, Sails and Silk: Huguenots in Cork 1685 - 1850. About 10,000 Huguenots are thought to have come to Ireland, mostly settling around Dublin, Cork, Portarlington in Co. Laois. The French quarter in Cork city held the highest concentration of the population in the county.

Huguenots were French Protestants, followers of the teaching of John Calvin (1509 -1564), whose numbers and power grew in the seventeenth century. Their perceived threat to the established religious and political order in France led to periods of persecution in the late sixteenth century. By the 1680s, a Roman Catholic revival prompted an increasing number of challenges to the liberties of the Huguenots, culminating in the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. Many fled France and arrived in Ireland, bringing with them skills, knowledge and a reputation for hard work.

A Huguenot church was built in Cork for worshippers in a street now known as French Church Street. The Huguenot Burial Ground is located on Carey's Lane.
Seating capacity 30 persons
Booking is essential as places are limited.
Please email corkigs@gmail.com to book your place.

Address
Cork Civic Trust House, Co. Cork City