LEENTJE

Author Leentje Folens
Photo Andrew Watchorn

Leentje has written a wonderfully evocative book about her father, Albert Folens, and her mother, Juliette.

FOLENS' NOTES

An early copy of Folens' Notes

I am very aware of Folens' Notes because I used them in school. They were in a class way above the traditional cog notes where you just learned everything off by heart and regurgitated it at the exam. As we all knew, exams require regurgitation if you're to get the marks, but it does help if you also have some reasonable understanding of what you are dealing with.

PERSPECTIVE

Our Boys vs The Schweinhunden

CONTEXT ! CONTEXT ! CONTEXT !

Something we always have to bear in mind when looking beyond our own inner selves. I am always aware of its importance when I am pursuing my family or my local history. It is a mistake to interpret people's actions from the past in terms of todays knowledge and values. You have to see the world as they saw it and give them credit where credit is due for taking decisions within the options open to them and the background against which they were reared.

BRUGGELING HONORIS CAUSA

Brugge, SPQB, Senatus Populusque Brugiensis
Window in the College of Europe residence
in anticipation of a visit by Napoleon

This post is a little piece of indulgience on my part.

Albert Folens' associations with the Belgian city of Brugge (Bruges) are fairly tentative. His aunt was a nun there. He nearly ended up in prison there. And some of his relations live there today.

My own associations with the city are somewhat stronger.

HIDDEN HISTORY: IRELAND'S NAZIS What they got wrong

Fictional Albert Folens in zany uniform

The tv programme was screened by RTÉ on 16 January 2007, fronted by Cathal O'Shannon, and by God did they get a lot wrong. These were not mistakes but a conscious effort to cast Folens in the worst light possible.

THE NAME "ENGLISH"

Cover of Albert's 1958 book "Aiséirí Flóndrais"

Albert was very taken with the similarity between the Celtic and the Flemish cross and he puzzled over this for a number of years. He finally came up with an explanation of his own and it seemed quite logical, so he included it in the book he published in Irish in 1958.

THE BEE STING

"Some Nazis had fled to Ireland after the war. The big Irish schoolbook company was founded by a Nazi.That was another reason the education system was bullshit" he said.

The quote is from Paul Murray's latest novel "The Bee Sting" and it is uttered by a vacuous youth trying to impress his girlfriend when he finally managed to get his tongue out of her mouth.

UNDER FIRE

Bombed out area of Göttingen at the end of WWII

Albert's first encounter with being under fire was not personal. It was not him who was under direct fire. It was the brewer's three sons in his native village of Bissegem in Flanders, Belgium. They died in an Allied air attack on the village during WWI and their memory lives on in the company of the Battle of the Golden Spurs and The Lion of Flanders. These all imbued the local youngsters with a spirit of patriotism and a hate of the French and of the English bombers.

OF FLEMISH AND CELTIC CROSSES

Just in case you think I exaggerate when I say the Belgian state was attempting to suppress Flemish culture and language, you might just be convinced by this example which draws on Leentje's book.

GULDENSPOORENSLAG

Monument to the Battle of the Golden Spurs
Markt Brugge (Bruges)

The Battle of the Golden Spurs (Dutch: Guldenspoorenslag) was a military confrontation between the royal army of France and rebellious forces of the County of Flanders on 11 July 1302 during the Franco-Flemish War (1297–1305). It took place near the town of Kortrijk (Courtrai) in modern-day Belgium and resulted in an unexpected victory for the Flemish. It is sometimes referred to as the Battle of Courtrai.

AISÉIRÍ FLÓNDRAIS

Albert published this book in 1958 in response to a request from two prominent Irish speakers. The idea was to outline the struggle to achieve equal status for the Flemish language with that of French. They felt this might be useful to those campaigning for the revival of the Irish language in Ireland.

DE LEEUW VAN VLAANDEREN

Cover of The Lion of Flanders 1838

This is the villain of the piece.

OOPS !

Maria Folens (b. Debusschere)

Maria was pregnant but she didn't know that until Albert popped out.

THE IRISH EDUCATION SYSTEM 1950s

Albert Folens had a passion for teaching and he was a good teacher. When he came to Ireland he had difficulty coming to terms with the Irish education system. It did not recognise his excellent teaching qualifications and he had to start from scratch, getting a BA, HDip and MA in UCD, all first class honours. As a member of ASTI he was frequently ejected from meetings for his radical advocacy. Through his teaching he became acutely aware of the gaps/faults in Irish secondary education and set about remedying these to the best of his ability. Thus was Folens publishers born and the company continues to support the sector to this day.