Here is a selection of photos from a very special weekend in Brussels with an Irish Brontë theme.
On the weekend of Oct. 17-18, the Brussels Brontë Group welcomed the Banagher Brontë Group and a delegation from the Brontë Birthplace in Thornton for two days of activities focusing on the Brontës and their Irish connections.
Brussels’ European Quarter is not the usual location for the Brussels Brontë Group’s Saturday morning talks, but that’s where almost 60 of our members convened on Saturday 17 October.
In a building just up the road, the European Council had met the previous day to discuss trade and the budget. No such mundane topics were on our members’ minds as they headed from Schuman down rue Froissart. No, they were gathering to listen to talks about the much more important subject of the Brontë sisters. The venue was the Irish Embassy and the event was entitled A Morning with the Brussels Brontë Group: Celebration of the Brontës’ Irish Links.
"Cur le chéile agus cairdeas" ("Togetherness and friendship") -- the weekend of 17 and 18 October 2026 was memorable, in a very Irish way!
Brontë enthusiasts from Ireland -- the Banagher Brontë Group -- and a delegation from the Brontë Birthplace in Thornton were welcomed to Belgium by the Brussels Brontë Group for two days of activities focusing on the Brontës and their Irish connections.
If you love the Gothic side of the Brontë novels you are certainly going to love “The Lost Brontë” by Catherine Friend. Moreover, it is the perfect time of the year for a spooky story!
The French novelist and journalist Lilia Hassaine has something of a reputation as a feminist. Moreover, she is not afraid to denounce all kinds of racism, sometimes using far-fetched arguments.
So, when I found out that Hassaine had written a novel inspired by the character of Bertha Mason — the "madwoman in the attic" from Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre — I feared the worst. I must now admit that my fears about Hassaine's JE were entirely unfounded: I can't recommend this novel highly enough.
It is a fact that the Brontës loved animals and that the family always had pets in their home, especially dogs. I am a dog lover as well. So I was pleasantly surprised to learn that someone had gone to the trouble of writing a book of more than 340 pages dedicated to the Brontë family dogs.
My husband Paul and I headed again to Haworth last month for our annual visit and participation in the June weekend of events organised by the London Brontë group. Our friend Joanne Wilcock, an active volunteer at the Brontë Birthplace in Thornton, suggested a few Brontë-related locations “in the neighbourhood.”
Some of the places that she suggested we had already visited, but there were still some that we had not seen yet. She saw potential and was eager for us to tick some of the boxes of Brontë-related places that we had not been to.
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| Former Cowan Bridge School building |
Let Me In – The Brontës in Bricks and Mortar by Ann Dinsdale and Sharon Wright is a book that explores the buildings where the Brontës would have lived and visited, and which consequently influenced their writings.
Sharon spoke to the Brussels Brontë Group on Saturday April 25 about the book and the places that were important to the literary sisters.
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| credit: wikicommons |
Love it, hate it or tolerate it, the new Wuthering Heights film has succeeded in bringing Emily Brontë's only novel and the beloved works of all three Brontë sisters to a whole new audience.
On Thursday 12 March, I had the pleasure to attend “A Night with the Brontës” organised by Waterstones and the Brussels Brontë Group to celebrate Emily and her great book in light of the new movie.
Jones Hayden, Brussels Brontë Group Master of Ceremonies, bookgroup leader and sometimes tour guide, took us on an engaging journey to find the funny in the Brontës. His talk to the group on Saturday, Feb. 7, focused on the Brontë sisters’ novels, but also touched on their letters and the essays they wrote while in Brussels.
Paul Willocx, a member of the Brussels Brontë Group and graduate in Arabic and Islamic studies, took us on a very interesting literary journey, from Persia and Iran to the libraries and theatres of 19th-century Europe. His talk on Saturday, Feb. 7, focused on the influence of Middle Eastern writings on Western literature, including of course the Brontës.
Travellers preparing to board the Eurostar to Brussels at St Pancras in London can buy Helen MacEwan’s book The Brontës in Brussels at Hatchards bookshop in the station.
