Growing up in Co Monaghan, Rachael Ní Leannáin always imagined herself living in Paris. She first visited the French capital the summer she finished her Leaving Certificate in 2022.
That holiday “confirmed I had to live there”, Ní Leannáin says.
On that holiday her father introduced her to Parisian history; where Van Gogh lived, Gertrude Stein’s Paris salon or where Hemingway wrote A Moveable Feast, coincidentally only one or two cobblestone streets away from where Ní Leannáin lives now, the Centre Culturel Irlandais (CCI).
Housed in the former Irish College, whose origins stretch back to 1578, the CCI has a long history as the cultural interface between Ireland and France.
After graduating from Queen’s University Belfast with a degree in English and Film Studies, Ní Leannáin wanted to immerse herself fully in French culture. She headed straight for Paris, where the Parisian apartment hunt began. “My aunt is an artist,” Ní Leannáin says. “So she knew about the CCI and encouraged me to apply to live there.”
Ní Leannáin performs and teaches Irish music regularly, which she says provided her with “so many opportunities”, including receiving the acceptance email from the CCI. In her application to become an official resident of the CCI Ní Leannáin cited her skills as a traditional Irish musician and a fluent Irish speaker.
From Ní Leannáin’s bedroom window she can see the church in the CCI’s grand courtyard where she plays the fiddle as a paid musician for official CCI events.
Ní Leannáin did not expect to find “a family away from home” during her creative journey at the CCI. “Once you’ve met someone once, there’s always a friendly ‘hello’ the next time. The CCI meant I was never alone in Paris. I know I have made lifelong friends here.”
Despite living more than 700km away from Monaghan town, Ní Leannáin has “never felt more connected to Ireland than I have in the past year. I think when you’re living abroad, your sense of pride in your country is heightened.”
Centre Culturel Irlandais (CCI) in the heart of Paris. Photograph: Anne-Sophie Delhommeau
When Ní Leannáin’s sister visited Paris, they both spoke Irish for the duration, she recalls, “because, when everyone around you is speaking their own language, it sparks a desire to speak yours”.
“I think I have spoken more Irish this year than I have any other year since my Leaving Cert, which is hilarious considering I’m in France.”
“Being Irish can be a real advantage when living abroad,” says Nora Hickey M’Sichili, director of the CCI. “Ireland enjoys a warm reputation as a country of music, culture and creativity, and people are often eager to engage with Irish traditions. Traditional music and the Irish language provide a wonderful means of making connections and sharing something distinctive about Ireland.”
Many of Ní Leannáin’s work opportunities have been “directly tied to her Irish identity – in music and in media”.
Rachael Ní Leannáin performing at the Centre Culturel Irlandais (CCI). Photograph: Damien Boisson-Berçu.
“If you had told 15-year-old me, who was absolutely obsessed with the Fleadh, that in seven years she’d be playing the fiddle in front of the Taoiseach whilst living in Paris, I’m not sure she’d believe it,” she says, “or translating for Kneecap when they were being interviewed here.”
Ní Leannáin believes that identity and place are hugely intertwined. “I wouldn’t be who I am if I was not Irish. I have no doubt that whatever I do and wherever I go it will always be a key part of what I do and who I am”.