Valérie David-McGonnell loves Normandy. She moved to Cork and showcases our beautiful region to our Irish cousins.
One of my friends with a passion for genealogy helped me trace my Norman roots back to the 16th century!
Let me introduce myself…
I’m a teacher and I’ve been president of the Alliance Française in Cork since 2022, co-director of the Cork French Film Festival since 2020 and president of the biggest Irish association of French language teachers, AIPLF. I came to Cork almost 25 years ago. It’s the second biggest city in Ireland.
One of my papers for my Master’s degree was about French teaching at secondary schools in
the Republic of Ireland between Independence and the 21st century. I’m also interested in the historical bonds
between France and Ireland which I put centre stage at events and activities.
Senator Olivier Cadic awarded me the French Senate Medal in September 2023 for my work promoting the French language in Ireland.
Valérie David-McGonnell and Normandy
Despite growing up in the Hauts-de-France region, all my great-grandmother’s family on my father’s side was from Normandy and lived there for over 400 years. One of my friends with a passion for genealogy helped me trace my Norman roots back to the 16th century: this branch of my family lived in Quillebeuf-sur-Seine (in the Eure region) in the 16th and 17th century then the Le Havre district until the early 20th century.
I actually did one of my Master’s degrees at Université de Caen.
I had the honour of meeting Hervé Morin, President of the Normandy Regione, and David Margueritte, President of Cotentin Council, in June 2022.
My role as an ambassador
As the president of an Alliance Française and the Irish association of French language teachers, one of my roles is to introduce people to different French and French-speaking regions. Given my Normandy roots, I was delighted to host a webinar in October 2022 for the AIPLF to introduce Irish French teachers to Cotentin in partnership with the Normandy Alliance Française, Cotentin Tourist Board, French Embassy in Ireland and Irish Embassy in France. When I host get-togethers in Cork, I use them to put the spotlight on French cuisine and I always try to feature cheese from Normandy.
I attended the inauguration of a commemorative plaque in County Cork, in July 2022, celebrating the 200th anniversary of the death of one of Napoleon’s generals who came from Normandy: Charles Lefebvre-Desnouettes whose name is engraved on the west side of the Arc de Triomphe. Desnouettes was killed when the Albion was wrecked off the coast of Ireland. The plaque in Templetrine Cemetery, where his body will be laid to rest, mirrors the monument that his widow had built in his honour in Sainte-Adresse in Normandy.
Another interesting connection between Cork and Normandy: Mary Frances Crowley, the head nurse at the Irish Red Cross Hospital in Saint-Lô (a temporary hospital which Ireland gifted to Normandy at the end of World War II) was born in Wexford but grew up in County Cork.
Become a Normandy ambassador abroad
At heart, by adoption, by birth… You’re from Normandy.
More than anything else, you love Normandy: its diversity, its lifestyle, its dynamism.
The network of ambassadors brings together all those who, like you, share the values, the spirit and the desire to bring the region to life.
Together, let’s make Normandy shine.
