On January 24, 2026, Congressman Richard Neal and the Irish Cultural Center of Western New England hosted a special screening of the award-winning documentary ‘Gerry Adams: A Ballymurphy Man’ at the Majestic Theater in West Springfield. This exciting event was a regional exclusive; it marked the first time the public was able to view this critically-acclaimed film about the former Sinn Féin leader in a New England cinema.
Following the screening, a reception and Q&A was held at the Irish Cultural Center. Featured speakers at the Q&A event were Congressman Richard Neal and Ciarán Quinn, Sinn Féin Representative to the USA and Canada, with producer and moderator William Tranghese.
ICC Executive Director Caroline Morrissey said, “It was an honor for the ICC to host the first public New England screening of ‘Gerry Adams: A Ballymurphy Man.’ The strong turnout and thoughtful conversation reminded us how deeply people care about understanding Ireland’s history and its path toward peace. We’re thankful to Congressman Neal, Billy Tranghese and Ciaran Quinn and all who helped bring this special event to our community.”
Congressman Richard Neal, Sinn Féin Representative Ciarán Quinn, and producer and moderator William Tranghese.Congressman Richard Neal, Sinn Féin Representative Ciarán Quinn, and producer and moderator William Tranghese speaking at the Irish Cultural Center Q&A following the documentary screening.Ciarán Quinn, Sinn Féin Representative to the USA and Canada; Sinn Féin Cllr. Aisling Hutton; ICC Co-Vice President Ed Sullivan; ICC Executive Director Caroline Morrissey; Michaela Burke, Fulbright Irish Language Teaching Assistant; ICC Co-Vice President Kevin O’Connor; Congressman Richard Neal; ICC Secretary Lynn McCarthy; ICC President Sean Cahillane.
Enjoy a delicious, romantic dinner with your special someone on Saturday, February 14 in the comfort and hospitality of the Irish House Restaurant. A crackling fire, cozy ambience, and live music make this a special evening.
Cost is $75 per couple. Includes: 1 Appetizer, 2 Entrées, 1 Dessert, 2 Glasses of Champagne. Server gratuity not included.
Reservations are required, please call 413-342-4358. Please select meal choices when making your reservation. Special event menu only this evening. Regular menu not available.
Live Music with Rosemary Caine 5 – 8 pm Enjoy an accompaniment of beautiful music by renowned Irish harpist Rosemary Caine, with fiddler Chris Devine. Rosemary’s life as a songwriter and composer started after she took up the Irish Harp in 1998. She has written, produced and collaborated on five Irish themed musicals, and founded Wilde Irish Women.
Valentine’s Dinner Menu
Appetizer (choice of 1) • Cucumber Chili Lime Salad • Seafood Cakes with Red Pepper Remoulade • Shrimp Cocktail with Cocktail Sauce
Entrée (choice of 2) • Roast Cod with Piccata Sauce and Rice • Sirloin Steak with Chimichurri and Mashed Potatoes • Chicken with Pan Jus and Mashed Potatoes
Dessert (choice of 1) • Chocolate Lava Cake with Raspberry Sauce • Cheesecake with a Choice of Sauce • Tiramisu
Guinness Six Nations Rugby is back at the Trinity Pub for 2026! Sponsored by the Springfield Rifles Rugby Club, the ICC continues our tradition of hosting viewing parties for select matches during the tournament on our big screen tv. The Trinity Pub bar will be open for all matches.
THURSDAY • FEBRUARY 5 Ireland vs France @ 3:10 pm (kitchen opens at 4 pm)
SATURDAY • FEBRUARY 7 England vs Wales @ 11:40 am (kitchen opens at 1 pm with a limited menu)
SATURDAY • FEBRUARY 14 Scotland vs England @ 11:40 am (kitchen opens at 1 pm with a limited menu) Ireland vs Italy replay from earlier in the day immediately follows
SATURDAY • FEBRUARY 21 Scotland vs Wales @ 11:40 am (kitchen opens at 1 pm with a limited menu) Ireland vs England replay from earlier in the day immediately follows
FRIDAY • MARCH 6 Ireland vs Wales @ 3:10 pm (kitchen opens at 4 pm)
SUPER SATURDAY • MARCH 14 Ireland vs Scotland @ 10:10 am Wales vs Italy @ 12:40 pm England vs France @ 4:10 pm (kitchen opens at 1 pm with a limited menu)
West Springfield, MA – The Irish Cultural Center of Western New England announces several recent appointments to its Executive Committee and Board of Directors.
President Sean Cahillane (Springfield), Vice Presidents Ed Sullivan (West Springfield) and Kevin O’Connor (Westfield), Treasurer Stephanie Joyce (Holyoke), and Secretary Lynn McCarthy (West Springfield) have been formally approved as the ICCWNE’s Executive Committee and voted in by the full Board of Directors.
The Board’s unanimous endorsement reflects broad support for its leadership and direction and underscores its confidence in the Committee’s ability to guide the ICCWNE’s strategic priorities and uphold the organization’s mission.
Executive Director Caroline Morrissey stated, “Working alongside such a dedicated and thoughtful Executive Committee is a privilege. Each member brings invaluable experience and a deep commitment to the Irish Cultural Center’s mission. Together, we are strengthening the ICCWNE’s programs, expanding our reach, and building a vibrant future for our community.”
The Executive Committee serves as the ICCWNE’s core leadership team, helping guide major decisions, support organizational planning, and ensure smooth and effective operation. It works closely with the Executive Director in day-to-day operations and ensures that key decisions are made efficiently and responsibly.
President Sean Cahillane is looking forward to a great year to come. “We have been blessed all these years with a dedicated Board of Directors led by a strong, capable leadership team. This newly elected Executive Committee will strive to make our mission come to life, as well as seeing to the completion of our Community Performance Center, thus capping off a seven-year, $4 million-plus buildout,” he stated.
The ICCWNE has also elected new members to its Board of Directors.
Hilary Sullivan (West Springfield) and Brendan Fitzgerald (Agawam) recently joined the Board and are committed to helping the ICCWNE grow as a center of Irish culture and community in Western New England.
The Irish Cultural Center was established in 1999 to foster an appreciation of Irish culture in Western New England. Located at 429 Morgan Road in West Springfield, MA, the mission of the ICCWNE is to cultivate a connection with Ireland, through the arts, culture, history, language, and heritage. The ICCWNE offers opportunities to engage in educational, travel, and social events that promote Irish culture.
The Irish Cultural Center, Inc. of Western New England is an IRS Section 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable organization.
Join us in the Irish Cultural Center Book Club. We’ll enjoy good craic and delve into Irish and Irish-American literature, with guided discussion in a welcoming, relaxed atmosphere. This event is open to all.
Our meeting will take place on Thursday, February 12 from 5:30–6:30 pm at the ICC.
We are reading A History of the Irish, As Told By Their Food: A Book About Ireland and Irish America, With Recipes by Leslie Landrigan. Participants are encouraged to arrive a few minutes early to get settled, perhaps grab a drink, mix and mingle. You are welcome to stay after at the Trinity Pub to socialize with dinner or drinks.
In addition to our regular dinner menu, we offer a specially priced Book Club Buffet at $15.50 per person, plus tax and tip. Guests of Book Club attendees are also welcome to partake in the buffet. February buffet menu: scrod, chicken piccata, bourbon meatballs, vegetable medley, garlic mash, rolls and salad. Choose this option at registration.
About the Book What can butter and ham tell us about Irish history? In this book, they can tell you a lot. So can the Salmon of Knowledge, the priest’s drop of whiskey and the pig—“the little gentleman who pays the rent.”
This book about Irish food unlocks the secrets of the Emerald Isle, its history and its culture. It explains why oat cakes go with Imbolc and barmbrack with Samhein. It recounts the tragic events that led to the reign of the potato. And it describes how Catholicism affected the Irish diet, from salt fish to dairy cake.
View the history of the Irish people in Ireland and in America with this captivating book. Filled with recipes, stories and illustrations, readers will gain a deeper understanding of Irish heritage and culture.
Available from several vendors online or your favorite local book shop. Or, check your local library. • Amazon.com >
Books for Upcoming Meetings • March 12, 2026: The Tide Between Us: An Irish-Caribbean Story of Slavery & Emancipation by Olive Collins • April 9, 2026: Ring of Salt by Betsy Cornwell
Exclusive Documentary Screening at the Majestic Theater, presented by Congressman Richard Neal and the Irish Cultural Center of Western New England on Saturday, January 24.
• 2:00 pm Film Screening at the Majestic Theater 131 Elm Street, West Springfield, MA
• 4:30 – 6:00 pmReception and Q&A at the Irish Cultural Center 429 Morgan Road, West Springfield, MA
Tickets Tickets are $10, general seating. Your ticket provides admission to the film screening and the Q&A at the ICC. This event is sold out.
About the Event Congressman Richard Neal and the Irish Cultural Center of Western New England invite you to a special screening of the award-winning documentary Gerry Adams: A Ballymurphy Man at the Majestic Theater. This exciting event is a regional exclusive; it marks the first time the public will have an opportunity to view this critically-acclaimed film about the former Sinn Féin leader in a New England cinema. The film premiered at the Galway Film Festival last year and commercial screenings have taken place in movies theatres across Ireland. The next planned viewing in the US is at the Capital Irish Film Festival in Washington, D.C. in February.
Following the screening, a reception and Q&A for ticketholders will be held at the Irish Cultural Center. The Irish House Restaurant and Trinity Pub will be open with a full bar and a limited dinner menu for purchase. Speakers will include Congressman Richard Neal; Ciarán Quinn, Sinn Féin Representative to the USA and Canada; and producer and moderator William Tranghese.
This exclusive Q&A is open only to those who purchase tickets to the film screening; proof of purchase must be presented. The Irish House Restaurant opens for regular dining at 6:00 pm. Live music by The Blaney Brothers starts at 6:30 pm.
We encourage our local Irish affiliate groups to attend this special event!
Background Gerry Adams was the President of Sinn Fein for more than thirty years and is considered one of the principal architects of the Good Friday Agreement, the historic treaty that brought peace and reconciliation to the island of Ireland after decades of conflict. Adams has a well-established relationship with Western Massachusetts, having visited the region shortly after President Clinton issued him a visa to travel to the US for the first time in 1994. As the guest of Congressman Neal, a longtime friend and colleague, he has returned on several occasions, most notably marching in the Holyoke St. Patrick’s Parade in 2006. In A Ballymurphy Man Gerry Adams tells the remarkable story of his life of political activism in his own voice for the first time. Supporters of the conflict resolution in Ireland and beyond will find this documentary compelling, revealing and informative. We look forward to seeing you there.
Join us in the Irish Cultural Center Book Club. We’ll enjoy good craic and delve into Irish and Irish-American literature, with guided discussion in a welcoming, relaxed atmosphere. This event is open to all.
Our meeting will take place on Thursday, January 8 from 5:30–6:30 pm at the ICC.
We are reading The Pig Did It by Joseph Caldwell. Participants are encouraged to arrive a few minutes early to get settled, perhaps grab a drink, mix and mingle. You are welcome to stay after at the Trinity Pub to socialize with dinner or drinks.
In addition to our regular dinner menu, we are now offering a specially priced Book Club Buffet, available as an option at registration. This buffet will be offered exclusively to Book Club attendees at $15.50 per person, plus tax and tip. Guests of Book Club attendees are also welcome to partake in the buffet.
About the Book What the pig did – in Joseph Caldwell’s charmingly romantic tale of an American in contemporary Ireland – is create a ruckus, a rumpus, a disturbance . . . utter pandemonium. Aaron McCloud has come to Ireland from New York City to walk the beach and pity himself for the cold indifference of the young lady in his writing class he had chosen to be his love. The pig will have none of that. Aaron’s aunt Kitty McCloud, a novelist, wants to get on with her bestselling business of correcting the classics, at the moment Jane Eyre, which in Kitty’s version will end with Rochester’s throwing himself from the tower, not the madwoman’s. The pig will have not a bit of that. What the pig eventually does is root up in Aunt Kitty’s vegetable garden evidence of a possible transgression that each of the novel’s three Irish characters is convinced the other probably benefited from. How this hilarious mystery is resolved in The Pig Did It – the first entry in Mr. Caldwell’s forthcoming Pig Trilogy – inspires both bitingly comic eloquence and a theatrically colorful canvas depicting the brooding Irish land and seascape.
Books for Upcoming Meetings • February 12, 2026: A History of the Irish, As Told By Their Food: A Book About Ireland and Irish America, With Recipes by Leslie Landrigan • March 12, 2026: The Tide Between Us: An Irish-Caribbean Story of Slavery & Emancipation by Olive Collins • April 9, 2026: Ring of Salt by Betsy Cornwell
This event is sold out. Tickets will not be sold at the door.
Join us at the ICC’s Irish House Restaurant and Trinity Pub on December 31, 2025 from 5–8:30 pm for a beloved tradition, as we ring in the New Year with a live broadcast of the ball drop in Dublin, Ireland.
Gather together and enjoy a delicious gourmet buffet dinner starting at 5:30 pm. At 7 pm (midnight Irish time), we’ll celebrate the New Year with a champagne toast while watching the live stream ball drop from Temple Bar in Dublin.
We are excited to have Jimmy McArdle, an original member of the Irish folk band The Bards, and Jerry Murphy, Holyoke’s accomplished accordion player, providing great Irish music and entertainment from 6 – 8 pm.
Tickets $65 ICC Patrons / $70 General – includes buffet, entertainment and complimentary champagne toast. Advance tickets are required; tickets are non-refundable.
Buffet Menu: Rolls, Salad, Bourbon Meatballs, Baked Stuffed Shrimp, Chicken Piccata, Pasta Primavera, Rice Pilaf, Roasted Potatoes, Vegetable Medley, Assorted Desserts. The Trinity Pub full bar will be open to purchase drinks.
Seating includes tables with regular height chairs and taller bistro-style. Please let us know if accessible seating is required.
GivingTuesday is a Global Generosity Movement on December 2, 2025. There are two ways to support the Irish Cultural Center on this day of giving!
We are so proud of what the Irish Cultural Center has accomplished in the past 25 years as an organization, and we look forward to expanding in the years to come with your help. The ICC is a gathering place, connecting people to each other and helping us all to preserve American-Irish heritage and culture.
Your support allows us to share Irish arts and culture in the community by providing in-person events, virtual events, and educational programming. A traditional Irish music seisiún, concerts, Irish language classes, children’s events, book readings, Irish-oriented lectures, political discussions, international relations, sports, and student international exchange are all examples of what we offer, most of them free, and all available to the public.
The latest phase of construction at the ICC is our Community Performance Center. This space will provide total accessibility for all and welcome the public to a variety of concerts and cultural programs by touring professionals as well as regional performers.
This is also the perfect day to become an ICC annual Patron.A Patron is a person who has made a commitment to preserve, promote and cherish our Irish culture and heritage. The success and continued growth of the ICC is only possible because of the enthusiasm and sustaining commitment of our Patrons. Learn more about Patron levels and benefits >
Join the Irish Cultural Center on December 6 for a fun and festive day out at the Greater Boston Stage Company in Stoneham, MA. This all-day bus trip to the theater includes transportation, a buffet dinner, and the New England Premiere of An Irish Carol by Matthew Keenan.
It’s Christmas Eve in David’s cozy Dublin pub, and the ghosts of his past are finally catching up with him. This comic and heartfelt tribute to Dickens’ timeless classic is infused with Irish wit and warmth, reminding us that it’s never too late for a life to change.
Day’s Agenda (Exact times are subject to small changes) 10:30 am – Doors open at the ICC (429 Morgan Rd, West Springfield, MA) 11:00 am – Bus departs the ICC 1:00 pm – Bus arrives in downtown Stoneham at Greater Boston Stage Company (395 Main St, Stoneham, MA) 1:00–1:45 pm – Free time for coffee and croissant, see downtown Stoneham (time available depends on traffic) 2:00 pm – Play begins 3:45 pm – Depart theater 5:45 pm – Arrive back at ICC for buffet dinner
Purchase tickets online > or call Caroline Morrissey at 413-333-4951 ext. 4. Cost is $150 per person. Includes round-trip bus transportation, theater ticket, ICC buffet, coffee/tea, and bus driver tip. Each guest is responsible for the cost of their own drinks at dinner.
Prefer to just attend the theater performance and have your own plans at night? Call Caroline to reserve your theater ticket and bus seat without the buffet dinner at a reduced rate.
Additional Details – Please indicate how many seniors are in your party. – Please indicate if you have any dietary needs or call Kathy (413-519-3846) to discuss any menu concerns. – Cancellations will be honored IF the ICC can resell your tickets. A $10 fee will be deducted from the refund.
(Advisory: it wouldn’t be an authentic Irish pub without a bit of colorful language!)
Live Music with Rosemary Caine
About the Book
About the Book
