In February 1926, pioneering scholar Carter G. Woodson—one of the architects of African diaspora studies in the United States—launched what would later become Black History Month. A decade earlier, he had already transformed the field by founding one of the first scholarly journals dedicated to African American history. These landmark achievements unfolded against a backdrop of political upheaval in Ireland and the cultural ferment of the Harlem Renaissance, alongside the global influence of figures such as Paul Robeson and Marcus Garvey, who both took an interest in Ireland.

This online webinar, convened by the directors of the African American Irish Diaspora Institute—Professors Christine Kinealy, Kimberly DaCosta, and Miriam Nyhan Grey—will explore the intertwined histories and shared experiences of Black and Irish Americans. The discussion will be enriched by a special performance from actor Eon Grey portraying Paul Robeson, whose extraordinary career was marked by an enduring affinity with Irish creativity, both on stage and in song. This event is presented under the auspices of the Black, Brown and Green Voices series from the African American Irish Diaspora Network, and in collaboration American Irish Historical Society.

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The American Irish Historical Society and www.IrishAmerica250.org  invite you to celebrate our national holiday Presidents Day Monday, February 16, 2026  

We seek to recognize the twenty-three American Presidents with Irish roots whose leadership gave us hope and courage throughout the last 250 years . 

To commemorate this unique occasion the distinguished Irish poet Micheal O'Siadhail will do a first reading of his new poem " Irish America 250"  and author Niall O Dowd will be talking about his new book "George Washington and the Irish".

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Breandán Mac Suibhne is a historian of modern Ireland at the University of Galway. His publications include The End of Outrage (Oxford, 2017), which was Irish Times Irish Nonfiction Book of the Year.  Mac Suibhne is one of the directors of Imirce, a project that makes thousands of Irish emigrant letters available through an online database. He is currently completing a book on the actual people on whom characters in Brian Friel’s Dancing at Lughnasa (1990) are, more or less, based, and he is a member of an international team that has edited and annotated the correspondence (1798–1846) of the Moore family of Derry and Baltimore, Maryland, for publication by the Irish Manuscript Commission.

The great leave-takings from Ireland for North America constitute one of the largest movements of population in the modern era. In 1845–55 alone, some 2 million Irish people crossed the Atlantic, that is, almost a quarter of Ireland's 1845 population of 8.5 million. And another 4 million left for America by 1929. There were more Irish-born people living in New York in 1890 than in Dublin. In an illustrated talk, University of Galway historian Breandán Mac Suibhne gives an overview of changing patterns of emigration from Ireland, from the 1600s through the  late 1900s, and provides an update on the Imirce project that is making thousands of Irish emigrant letters publicly available through an online database.

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In 1764 the Rev. Thomas Clark gathered his congregation at the Cahans meeting house, near Ballybay Co. Monaghan. Answering "the call" from America, Clark then led some 300 men, women and children on foot to the port of Newry, and boarded ship for New York. From New York they travelled up the Hudson; first to Albany, then Stillwater before finally settling in today's Salem, Washington County NY. Their journey has become known as the "Cahans Exodus" Anthony Anderton first became aware of the "Cahans Exodus" during a 2015 visit to Ballybay - his mother's hometown. He researched the history of the Exodus, and contacted the Cahans Heritage Committee. In 2023 and 2024 he visited Ballybay and retraced the overland "Exodus" route, making photographs of sites and locations in Monaghan, Down and Louth. In early February 2026 he will visit Salem NY to continue his project research and he will include this material in the presentation to the AIHS.

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We are excited to welcome Vincent J Quealy Jr and Cauvery Madhavan for a literary discussion of their impressive books ‘Reflections of an Irish Grandson’ and ‘The Inheritance’.

Vincent Quealy, Jr. was born in Boston, MA, one of six children of Vincent and Anne Quealy. His grandparents were both born in Ireland and lived there into early adulthood, eventually emigrating to the United States in the early 1900’s and settling, for a time, in Lowell, MA. Vincent is the author of ‘Reflections of an Irish Grandson’, a poignant and heartfelt story of his family’s Irish history. Blending personal stories with vivid reflections on Ireland’s past, this beautifully written memoir captures what it means to be Irish-American. It’s been called “A moving tribute to Irish roots, family and the stories that shape us.” Vincent is a graduate of Boston College, Class of 1975, and remains deeply engaged with many university programs and initiatives, including the Boston College Ireland Business Council. He lives in Scituate, MA with his wife, Joanie, and very nearby their three children and six grandchildren.

Born in India, Cauvery Madhavan moved to Ireland 40 years ago. Her books Paddy Indian and The Uncoupling were published to critical acclaim. Her last novel, The Tainted, was chosen by Laureate Sebastian Barry for his Laureate Picks 2020. It was one of An Post Irish Book Awards’ Top Summer Reads. The book was chosen by The Times for their list of top 40 Historical Fiction novels and won the runner-up prize for the SAHR Prize for Military Fiction. 

Her new book, The Inheritance, has been widely hailed as a sumptuous, moving evocation of landscape, history and the human spirit. A very keen golfer and cook, she has three children and lives with her husband in County Kildare.

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