American Irish Historical Society

Mail Club Práta
2026-05-13 18:30 - 20:30 UTC | American Irish Historical Society, 991 5th Ave, New York, NY, 10028, United States
Some of the best ideas are old ones. On Wednesday May 13th, The American Irish Historical Society hosts the launch of The Mail Club Práta, an analog folklore pamphlet about histories of Irish songs in America. The Mail Club Práta is the creation of literary artist and folk musician Melanie Beth Curran. The monthly mailer is Curran’s act of creative resistance and remembering, a means to restore slowness and depth in the way historical material is experienced. The evening will feature a concert and storytelling from Curran, a special display of musical materials from the AIHS archives, and the launch of The Mail Club Práta itself. Attendees can expect light refreshments and are encouraged to dress up as gallantly and Irishly as they are inspired to. This will prove to be a memorable evening in a beautiful space. Newcomers to the American Irish Historical Society are encouraged to visit and explore!
Melanie Beth Curran is a literary artist and folk musician collecting and performing the lost songs of Irish America. Her work is devoted to remembering and enshrining living traditions in the digital age, through analog mediums like zines, performance with banjo, guitar and voice, and creative approaches to folklore collection. Curran holds an MFA in Creative Writing from The New School in Manhattan and was a Fulbright research fellow to Bretagne, France.
www.melaniebethcurran.com
IG Social link: @the_melaissance

Robert Briscoe Awards
2026-05-18 18:00 - 21:00 UTC | American Irish Historical Society, 991 5th Ave, New York, NY, 10028, United States
Proceeds from the 2026 Robert Briscoe Awards will go directly toward Emerald Isle Immigration Center’s critical operating costs, sustaining the full range of services at both Bronx and Queens offices in the face of ever-increasing funding challenges.

Due limited venue capacity, tickets for this event are expected to sell out rapidly. Please visit the 2026 Robert Briscoe Awards page on eiic.org to purchase individual tickets, which are available at $300 via Eventbrite.

To learn more about sponsorship opportunities, please contact Sophia Schmitz at officeassistant@eiic.org or (718) 478-5502 Ext. 104.

Grace Kelly: Drumilra's Irish-American Princess
2026-06-10 18:00 - 21:00 UTC
As part of AIHS’ Irish-America 250 Program, please join us to celebrate the legacy of Princess Grace Kelly in a new exhibit, “Grace Kelly: Drumilra’s Irish-American Princess.” This exhibit commemorates the visit Princess Grace Kelly took back to her family’s ancestral home on June 10th, 1961. The launch will feature remarks by Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason on her relationship to Monaco and viewings of the exhibit led by our Curator. Guests are encouraged to emulate Kelly in their fashion and embrace Irish royalty.”

Grappling with Ghosts
2026-06-15 18:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | American Irish Historical Society, 991 5th Ave, New York, NY, 10028, United States
Join Dr. James Harvey at the American Irish Historical Society on Monday, June 15 (6:00 to 8:00 pm) to hear excerpts from his memoir of life in postwar Ireland and London, Grappling With Ghosts. Reviewers hail it as a “page turner” that is “poignant” and “fascinating.” Harvey recreates a bygone era in which Ireland remained poverty-stricken after 700 years of British rule, and bomb-shattered London clung to an image of British exceptionalism as its empire circled the drain. Return again to Ireland’s “33rd county,” the Kilburn area bordering Paddington, as the author takes you from his grandmother delivering him by lamplight in a thatched Donegal cottage to the emigrant’s pain of leaving for New York.

2026 Origin Theatre Gala Celebrating Enda Walsh
2026-06-29 18:30 - 21:30 (America/New_York) | American Irish Historical Society, 991 5th Ave, New York, NY, 10028, United States
Celebrate Enda Walsh and guests with Origin Theatre Company at The American Irish Historical Society on the Upper East Side. Origin will be honoring Enda Walsh with the title Ard Seanchaí (“Chief Storyteller”) and celebrating the legacy of his work in Ireland and America.
Doors open at 6:30 PM, and the celebration will kick off at 7 PM. We will have musical performances, an open bar, and hors d’oeuvres provided by Stout NYC.
Click here to purchase tickets
Please reach out to acleary@origintheatre.org if you have any questions!

Annual Golf Outing and Dinner
2026-07-20 11:00 - 17:00 UTC | Ardsley Country Club, 100 North Mountain Drive, Dobbs Ferry, NY, 10522, United States
Monday, July 20, 2026
11:00 AM to 9:00 PM
Dinner begins at 5:00pm with entertainment provided by the McLean Avenue Band. 🍀

Please join us on July 20, 2026 at Ardsley Country Club, 100 North Mountain Drive, Dobbs Ferry, NY, 10522 for an Irish celebration sponsored by the American Irish Historical Society, AIHS.
The event will include a round of golf with a shotgun start at 12:30 pm followed by a dinner at 5:00 pm with a traditional Irish buffet, and entertainment provided by the McLean Avenue Band. 🍀
A portion of the proceeds of our fundraiser will go to The West Side Campaign Against Hunger a501(c)(3) non-profit corporation to help distribute healthy food to families across NYC.
If you wish to pay by check, please make check payable to The American Irish Historical Society. Please mail to American Irish Historical Society, c/o Fiona Walsh, 991 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10028.
We offer online payment via credit card and U.S. bank transfer below.
We look forward to celebrating with you this summer!

Lecture from UConn professor Dr. Mary Burke on Grace Kelly: Princess Grace and the Making of Irish America
2026-07-22 18:00 - 20:00 UTC | American Irish Historical Society, 991 5th Ave, New York, NY, 10028, United States
This lecture focuses on the publicly curated persona of Grace Kelly, which diminished the usual associations of her Irish Catholic famine-era roots. Her globally broadcast 1956 royal wedding at Monaco transformed the film star into the “Irish Princess.” This rise to the highest social echelon paved the way for “America’s royals,” the Kennedys, as well as broader Irish American assimilation.

Mary M. Burke, Professor of English at the University of Connecticut, is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin and Queen’s University Belfast. A widely published scholar of Irish and Irish American identities and cultures, she is the author of the award-winning Race, Politics, and Irish-America: A Gothic History (Oxford UP, 2023), from which her talk will draw.

John Bulls Other Island
2026-08-10 19:00 UTC | American Irish Historical Society, 991 5th Ave, New York, NY, 10028, United States
Free event, click here to learn more and register for your free reservation.
