Marie Malone

History student, Marie Malone has been pursuing a research Master’s in Societies and Urban Cultures (16th–21st centuries) at Bordeaux Montaigne University since 2024. She is studying the role of Irish priests and members of religious orders in the Diocese of Bordeaux during the 17th and 18th centuries, under the supervision of Professor Éric Suire and Aude Loriaud. Her work is based on a prosopographical (collective) approach in order to analyse the presence of the Irish clergy in the city. Attracted by the opportunities offered by Bordeaux, particularly its Irish seminary, priests, men and, to a lesser extent, women of religion, took part in the religious and social dynamics of the diocese in the modern period.

As the recipient of the 2026 fellowship bursary for the study of the heritage collection and currently in residence at the CCI, Marie’s research into the Historical Archives will focus on individuals rather than solely on the administrative organisation of the Bordeaux seminary. The heritage collections will allow her to trace the history of this building, from its earliest occupants – priests or students – in the 17th and 18th centuries, to its more recent residents in the 19th century, who had become tenants of the buildings administered by the Fondation Irlandaise.