The Irish Embassy in Paris hosted a launch of The Irish Proust: Cultural Crossings from Beckett to McGahern (Bloomsbury Academic, 2026), co-edited by Dr Max McGuinness and Professor Michael Cronin from the Department of French, School of Languages, Literatures and Cultural Studies, Trinity College Dublin.
The event took place on 15 January 2026, and the book was launched by Professor Dan Gunn of the American University of Paris. The building housing the Irish Embassy has a special connection to the French author, Marcel Proust, as it was built in 1892 by Henri Le Tonnelier, Marquis de Breteuil, a contemporary of the author’s and a source of inspiration for one of his characters, Hannibal de Bréauté-Consalvi. The launch was opened by His Excellency Niall Burgess, Ambassador of Ireland to France and Monaco, and took place in the presence of a large crowd, which included the author and essayist Amin Malouf, Secrétaire perpétuel de l’Académie française.
Image from left to right: H.E. Niall Burgess, M. le Comte de Breteuil, Lara Marlowe, Ms. Morgan-Burgess, Prof. Michael Cronin, Prof. Dan Gunn, Prof. Elisabeth Ladenson, Prof. Nathalie Mauriac-Dyer, Dr. Max McGuinness, Prof. Isabelle Serça, Prof. Patrick Donovan, Dr. Richard Robinson, Dr. Deirdre McMahon, Amin Malouf (Secrétaire perpétuel, Académie Française), Mme. Malouf, Dr. Pierre Joannon.
'The Irish Proust: Cultural Crossings from Beckett to McGahern', is a collection of essays and is the first book devoted to exploring Marcel Proust's influence on Irish literature and Irish themes within his work. Featuring contributions from eleven scholars of French and Irish studies, The Irish Proust reveals a surprising textual dimension of Proust's novel and traces the enduring legacy of his work throughout modern Irish letters.
Proust's work, which was banned in Ireland during the 1940s and 1950s, occupies an essential position within the Irish literary and cultural imaginary. From Samuel Beckett and Elizabeth Bowen to Brendan Behan and John McGahern, À la recherche du temps perdu has been a touchstone for generations of Irish writers.
Including bold new readings of Proust's presence within the writings of Beckett, Bowen, Behan, McGahern, and Mary Devenport O'Neill, The Irish Proust draws on a wide range of archival sources and sheds new light on the cosmopolitan, modernist literary culture that emerged in post-independence Ireland despite a hostile official climate.
Image: Professor Michael Cronin.
Image: Dr Max McGuinness.
Image: Audience at the book launch at the Irish Embassy in Paris.
Further details on the book are available from the publisher’s website here.