Irish American Cultural Institute

Providing leadership and resources to preserve, interpret, and promote Irish and Irish American Cultures

Chapters

The IACI fully allows and encourages the establishment of new Chapters. The role of chapters is vital in the overall mission of the IACI. Chapters provide local perspective and input while carrying out meaningful activities that are consistent with the overall mission of the IACI.


Interested in Forming a Chapter?

 

We appreciate your time, energy and interest in serving as a Chapter President for the Irish American Cultural Institute. The work that we do cannot be done without the efforts of our Chapters.

Should there be an existing Chapter in your area, you will be referred to that Chapter.
Please don’t hesitate to let us know what questions or concerns you may have. We look forward to working with you.

Please contact us to learn more about IACI Chapters!

Boston Chapter


This chapter brought to Boston the renowned Irish poet Leanne O’Sullivan in April 2017. Ms. O’Sullivan is a poet from the Beara Peninsula in West Cork whose work has been widely hailed. She is the author of three collections of poetry and the recipient of numerous awards. Among her honors are the Chair of Poetry Bursary Award in 2009, the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature in 2010, and the Lawrence O’Shaughnessy Award for Irish Poetry in 2011. Leanne has also won the RTÉ Rattlebag Poetry Slam and the Davoren Hanna Award for a Young Emerging Irish Poet. The Irish American Cultural Institute then broadened Ms. O‘Sullivan’s reach by securing engagements for her with various other chapters.

 

For the Washington St. Patrick’s Day Ball in February 2017 the Boston Chapter bought a full table, took a full-page ad, and contributed $5,000 to the event. Likewise, for the Ball held on 24 February 2018, the Boston Chapter purchased a full table, again contributed $5,000, and took a full-page ad in the Ball program booklet—inserted as a loose page with the poem/story titled “TANGMALANGALOO” by John O’Brien.

 

The Boston Chapter is currently hosting a group of Irish musicians on tour as part of the IACI Perceptions Series. The hosting involves securing hotel accommodations for two nights and the bestowal of an honorarium of $600. 

Central NY Chapter

Events in 2017 
Imbolc and New Year's Party - January 22, 2017 with entertainment by the McCarthy Family. 
Irish Film Series hosted by Dr. James MacKIllop - February 6: 1916: The Irish Rebellion;  February 13: December Bride;  February 20: The Story of Ireland, Part II. 
Marching in the Syracuse St. Patrick's Parade March 11. 
Hosting  a "Songs and Stories of Ireland" program by Helena Byrne - March 29. 
Participation as a vendor in the Bob Gabor Irish Feis April 29. 
Annual picnic and meeting with board elections June 20. 
Participation in Erie Canal Towpath Day August 11, 2017. 
Participation in the Greater Syracuse Arts and Culture Festival sponsored by Believe in Syracuse, on August 18. 
Participation in the Syracuse Irish Festival on September 8 and 9, selling Irish items and offering miniworkshops in Irish language, tin whistle, and Celtic knotwork, as well as offering Irish language name tags. 
Samhain celebration party on October 30 at the CNY Philanthropy Center. 
 
Events in 2018 
Imbolc/New Year's party January 28.  Entertainment by members, including our Lucht Ceoil music group and guests. 
Irish Film Series with Dr. James MacKillop - Feb 13:  Odd Man Out;  Feb 20: Dancing in Lughnasa;  Feb. 27: The Story of Ireland (Medieval Period). 
 
Marching in the Syracuse St. Patrick's Parade March 17. 
 
Participation in LaFayette High School's Shared Heritage Day, April 20.  Our participation included storytelling, workshops on making St. Brigid's crosses and playing the spoons, a demonstration of playing the harp and other traditional instruments, a céilí dance lesson, Irish name tags, and many display items including models of a high cross, a book with reproductions of the Book of Kells, and other items relating to traditional Celtic artwork. 
 
We will participate in the Bob Gabor Feis again on April 28. 
 
 
Ongoing activities:   
We have acted as the sponsoring organization for Young Artist grants to fiddler/violinist Joanna Maressa totaling $5000 in 2018.  We anticipate supporting this gifted musician for another grant this year. 
We continue to have a (small) Irish language class which meets weekly.  For the first time this year we continued through the whole winter instead of having just spring and fall 10-week courses.  Last year we also had monthly Irish language conversation meetings but these have been discontinued.  Although it is not directly a CNY-IACI program, we are pleased that our language teacher has begun teaching Irish through the Oasis program as well, with classes open to ages 55 and up. 
We volunteer at the Samaritan Center, serving dinner once monthly.   
We have a monthly "Irish Saturday" open to members, with a Lucht Ceoil session at 10 AM, storytelling at noon, and an Irish language study group meeting at 1:30.  Attendance is small but persistent. 
We discontinued our website in October of 2017 for technical reasons, but have a new website which is 

Events in 2017 
Imbolc and New Year's Party - January 22, 2017 with entertainment by the McCarthy Family. 
Irish Film Series hosted by Dr. James MacKIllop - February 6: 1916: The Irish Rebellion;  February 13: December Bride;  February 20: The Story of Ireland, Part II. 
Marching in the Syracuse St. Patrick's Parade March 11. 
Hosting  a "Songs and Stories of Ireland" program by Helena Byrne - March 29. 
Participation as a vendor in the Bob Gabor Irish Feis April 29. 
Annual picnic and meeting with board elections June 20. 
Participation in Erie Canal Towpath Day August 11, 2017. 
Participation in the Greater Syracuse Arts and Culture Festival sponsored by Believe in Syracuse, on August 18. 
Participation in the Syracuse Irish Festival on September 8 and 9, selling Irish items and offering miniworkshops in Irish language, tin whistle, and Celtic knotwork, as well as offering Irish language name tags. 
Samhain celebration party on October 30 at the CNY Philanthropy Center. 
 
Events in 2018 
Imbolc/New Year's party January 28.  Entertainment by members, including our Lucht Ceoil music group and guests. 
Irish Film Series with Dr. James MacKillop - Feb 13:  Odd Man Out;  Feb 20: Dancing in Lughnasa;  Feb. 27: The Story of Ireland (Medieval Period). 
 
Marching in the Syracuse St. Patrick's Parade March 17. 
 
Participation in LaFayette High School's Shared Heritage Day, April 20.  Our participation included storytelling, workshops on making St. Brigid's crosses and playing the spoons, a demonstration of playing the harp and other traditional instruments, a céilí dance lesson, Irish name tags, and many display items including models of a high cross, a book with reproductions of the Book of Kells, and other items relating to traditional Celtic artwork. 
 
We will participate in the Bob Gabor Feis again on April 28. 
 
 
Ongoing activities:   
We have acted as the sponsoring organization for Young Artist grants to fiddler/violinist Joanna Maressa totaling $5000 in 2018.  We anticipate supporting this gifted musician for another grant this year. 
We continue to have a (small) Irish language class which meets weekly.  For the first time this year we continued through the whole winter instead of having just spring and fall 10-week courses.  Last year we also had monthly Irish language conversation meetings but these have been discontinued.  Although it is not directly a CNY-IACI program, we are pleased that our language teacher has begun teaching Irish through the Oasis program as well, with classes open to ages 55 and up. 
We volunteer at the Samaritan Center, serving dinner once monthly.   
We have a monthly "Irish Saturday" open to members, with a Lucht Ceoil session at 10 AM, storytelling at noon, and an Irish language study group meeting at 1:30.  Attendance is small but persistent. 
We discontinued our website in October of 2017 for technical reasons, but have a new website which is 

Events in 2017

 

1. Imbolc and New Year's Party, with entertainment by the McCarthy family (22 Jan. 2017).

2. Irish Film Series hosted by Dr. James MacKIllop: “The Irish Rebellion”; “December Bride”; and “The Story of Ireland, Part II” (6, 13, and 20 February 2017).

3. Marching in the Syracuse St. Patrick's Day Parade (11 March 2017).

4. Hosting a "Songs and Stories of Ireland" program by Helena Byrne (29 March 2017).

5. Participation as a vendor in the Bob Gabor Irish Feis (29 April 2107).

6. Annual picnic and meeting with board elections (20 June 2017).

7. Participation in Erie Canal Towpath Day (11 August 2017).

8. Participation in the Greater Syracuse Arts and Culture Festival, sponsored by “Believe in Syracuse” (18August 2017).

9. Participation in the Syracuse Irish Festival, selling Irish items and offering mini-workshops on the Irish language, the tin whistle, and Celtic knot-work, as well as offering Irish-language nametags (8 and 9 September 2017).

10. Samhain celebration party at the Central New York Philanthropy Center (30 October 2017).

 

Events in 2018


1. Imbolc/New Year's Party, with entertainment by members, including our Lucht Ceoil music group and guests (28 January 2018).

2. Irish Film Series hosted by Dr. James MacKillop: “Odd Man Out”; “Dancing at Lughnasa”; and “The Story of Ireland (Medieval Period),” (13, 20, and 27 February 2018).

3. Marching in the Syracuse St. Patrick's Day Parade (17 March 2018).

4. Participation in LaFayette High School's Shared Heritage Day, 20 April 2018. Our participation included storytelling, workshops on making St. Brigid's Crosses and playing the spoons, a demonstration of playing the harp and other traditional instruments, a céilí dance lesson, Irish nametags, and many display items, including models of a high cross, a book with reproductions of the Book of Kells, and other items relating to traditional Celtic artwork.

5. We will participate in the Bob Gabor Feis again on 28 April 2018.


Ongoing activities:


We have acted as the sponsoring organization for Young Artist grants to fiddler/violinist Joanna Maressa totaling $5000 in 2018. We anticipate supporting this gifted musician for another grant this year.


We continue to have a (small) Irish language class which meets weekly. For the first time this year we continued through the whole winter instead of having just spring and fall 10-week courses. Last year we also had monthly Irish language conversation meetings but these have been discontinued. Although it is not directly a CNY-IACI program, we are pleased that our language teacher has begun teaching Irish through the Oasis program as well, with classes open to ages 55 and up.

 

We volunteer at the Samaritan Center, serving dinner once monthly.

 

We have a monthly "Irish Saturday" open to members, with a Lucht Ceoil session at 10 AM, storytelling at noon, and an Irish language study group meeting at 1:30. Attendance is small but persistent.

 

President             Ann Peterson

Vice-President     Mary Kate Walsh

Secretary             Bonnie Kelly

Treasurer             Helen Jennings​

 

Visit our Webpage
John Walsh/Jersey Shore Chapter

This very active chapter conducts a monthly series of lectures at the Sea Girt Lighthouse before enthusiastic audiences of 40 to 50 persons. Recent lecture topics (in 2017) have included the Druids; the 1798 Rebellion; Beyond the “Ninth Wave”; Irish Theatre; Thomas Francis Meagher (1823-67): Irish Patriot, Civil War General, and Montana Frontier Governor; Irish Literature; the Wall Murals of Northern Ireland; and the Irish Brigade in the American Civil War.

 

In addition, the renowned poet Leanne Sullivan from the Beara Peninsula of West Cork gave a reading of her poetry (part of the Irish Perceptions Series). And in September 2017 a symposium was held at St. Catharine’s School in nearby Spring Lake on the topic “Ireland and America: ‘A Whispering Comes over the Sea.’” At this symposium Dr. Dermot Quinn of Seton Hall University gave the keynote address, which was followed by a panel discussion featuring Prof. Marion R. Casey of New York University; Prof. Linda Dowling Almeida of New York University; and Maureen Dunphy Brady.

 

The monthly lecture series for 2018 is featuring the following talks: “J.P. Dunleavy: The Writer and Fighter” (by Bill Dunn); “And Friends, Music, and Song” (by Max Carmichael); the acclaimed musicians and singers Manus McGuire and Dave Curley (part of the Irish Perceptions Series); “Irish Americans” (by Micheál Ó Maille); “Ulysses Uncovered” (by the “Blooms Brothers”); “Women of Ireland” (by Micheál Ó Maille); “Challenges to Irish America in the Twenty-First Century” (by Terry Golway), with a panel discussion and lunch at the Brookdale Country Club; and “The Sinn Féin Election of 1918” (by Henry McNally). The performance of the musicians and singers Manus McGuire and Dave Curley on 16 April 2018 at Spring Lake Manor in Spring Lake Heights, NJ, was followed by a buffet dinner costing $40 per person or $30 for IACI members.

 

In support of local festivals, the Jersey Shore John Walsh Chapter is taking one table at the Central Jersey Irish Festival at Lake Topanemus Pond Park in Freehold, NJ, on 19 May 2018, and another table at the New Jersey Irish Festival at Monmouth Park Racetrack on 10 June 2018. 


This Chapter meets on the second Monday of each month at 7 pm at the Sea Girt Lighthouse, significant Irish History and Culture presentations by noted scholars and musicians will enrich our appreciation for our Irish Heritage, and are suitable for students, who are very welcome so this knowledge and appreciation will continue through generations.

 

If you are interested in being a part of this chapter, please contact us, and be sure to watch for more details on upcoming events and meetings.  Visit our webpage

Rochester Chapter

 

Among the past and upcoming events of the Rochester Chapter are the following:

(1) The annual Bob Kelly Lecture (named for a co-founder of the Rochester Chapter) was presented in October 2017 by retired college and secondary-school teacher Dr. Bo Smith on the life and work of Countess Constance Markievicz (1868-1927), the revolutionary nationalist, suffragette, socialist, and Sinn Féin and Fianna Fáil politician.  

(2) Later that month, Dr. Micheline Sheehy-Skeffington elucidated the lives and contributions of her grandparents, the suffragette Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington, and her husband, the pacifist Frank Sheehy- Skeffington.

(3) In January 2018, Cormac O'Malley spoke on the life and published works of his father, the War of Independence and IRA leader Ernie O'Malley.

(4) In anticipation of the ancient and modern feast of Imbolc on 1 February 2018 (the first day of spring), Rochester Chapter participants learned to make St. Brigid Crosses at a St. Brigid's Day party at the end of January.

(5) In March 2018, in cooperation with the local chapter of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, the Rochester Chapter presented an Irish siamsa (entertainment or amusement) at three local libraries. The evening events consisted of a demonstration of Irish bread-making (with bread baked on site and ready to eat by evening’s end); performances by the local branch of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann and a local dance school; and two educational talks. One lecture was titled “The Peter Robinson Settlement Project of 1823 and 1825 [in Upper Ontario],” and the other was titled “Watershed Events in Irish History.”

(6) The Chapter participated in the Rochester St. Patrick’s Day Parade on 17 March 2018.

(7) The Chapter also participated in “Remembering the Great Irish Famine,” a full-day program on 13 April 2018, sponsored by St. John Fisher College in Rochester. The day ended with a concert featuring the renowned Sligo fiddler Manus McGuire and Dave Curley, a champion step dancer, singer/songwriter, and guitar player.

(8) The Chapter will host its annual dinner on 3 May 2018 at St. John Fisher College, featuring guest speaker Helena Byrne, seanchaí (storyteller) and singer. At this event Dr. Bernard Hart will receive the fifth annual Eoin McKiernan award, named for the IACI founder.

(9) The Rochester Chapter will participate in the Finger Lakes Celtic Festival in Shortsville, NY, on 19 May 2018.

 

The Rochester Chapter also sponsors a “Literary Roundtable,” led by Dr. Bernard Hart and others “with a passion for Irish literature,” and usually held on the final Thursday of each month from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Irondequoit Public Library.

 

Lastly, the Rochester Chapter has been sponsoring an Irish Film Feis during 2017 and 2018, with a total of six films in the series, including “The Wind That Shakes the Barley” (2006), “Kisses” (2008), “Jimmy’s Hall” (2014), “Intermission” (2003), “Philomena” (2013), and “In America” (2002). The film series ran from 1 October 2017 through 8 April 2018. General admission was $25 per film or $138 for the series; IACI members paid $20 per film or $108 for the series.

President: Michael E. McCarthy 

President Emeritus - Deirdre McKiernan Hetzler

Treasurer: Mary Ellen Sweeney

Secretary : Gail Kindlon

Literary Roundtable and Film Feis-  Katherine Flynn

Film Feis - Kathleen Russell

Event Liaison - Fionnuala Regan

Membership/Registration/Ducas - Art Smith 

Communications - Jeanne Crane

Website and Flyer Development - Jack Rosenberry 


Advisors 

History and Film Events - John O’Sullivan

Irish Studies Director - Timothy Madigan

Legal Advisor - Edward P. Hourihan Jr,.  LLC

Media Advisor, WROC TV - Maureen McGuire 

 

For more information about the chapter, visit  our website   Or contact us at -iacirochester@gmail.com