Plaque unveiled in Limerick town to honour a ‘great friend to Bulgaria’

THE BULGARIAN Embassy have unveiled a plaque in honour of James Bourchier outside Bruff Post Office.

The Bulgarian ambassador to Ireland Gergana Karadjova made the trip to Bruff to unveil the plaque in honour of Mr Bourchier who was instrumental in setting up the Balkan League of countries who banded together to gain independence from the Ottoman Empire.

Much loved in Bulgaria where streets are named in his honour and stamps issued in his memory, Mr Bourchier’s story has been brought to life by author, Martin O’Brien and has led to the unveiling of the plaque in Mr Bourchier's honour.

The post office also holds a poster by Martin O'Brien who wrote the biography on Mr Bourchier who was “almost forgotten” locally but held in the highest esteem in Bulgaria

Mr Bourchier was born in Baggotstown House close to Bruff in 1850.

He attended Rev John Leech Prep School in Mitchelstown and then went to Portora Royal School in Enniskillen, where Oscar Wilde and Samuel Beckett also attended.

He later attended Trinity College Dublin and later made a move across the pond to Eton in Windsor.

He was appointed Assistant Master at Eton but due to partial deafness, he had to resign from this position.

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He went travelling in the Balkans and met another Etonian who got him a position as Balkan Correspondent with the British newspaper the Times.

Bourchier was decorated by Bulgaria, Greece, Romania & Montenegro.

Five streets in five different cities in Bulgaria, a metro station, a mountain, a valley, a cove in the Antarctic, a cigarette pack, a bust and a plaque on the streets of Sofia and a Marble bust in the National Gallery of Bulgaria.

Bourchier was the first Irish person to appear on a foreign European stamp.

A total of 15,820,700 Bulgarian stamps were issued with Bourchier’s name in 1921, 400,000 thousand stamps were issued in his name in 1939 and 5,500 stamps were issued in his name in 2020.

In 1990 a Jubilee Sheet newspaper was published dedicated to the 140th anniversary of his birth and the 70th anniversary of the death of a “great friend of Bulgaria”.

Former Irish ambassador to Bulgaria, Michael Forbes was also in attendance for the unveiling along with the Bulgarian ambassador.

Bourchier died on the December 30, 1920 in Sofia Bulgaria, and he is resting at Rila Monastery Bulgaria.