Join us in the new 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, Patrons and the general public. 

Our August meeting will take place on Thursday, August 10 from 5:30–6:30 pm in the Celtic Room at the Trinity Pub. 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.

We are reading “The Mammy” by Brendan O’Carroll. Like the novels of Roddy Doyle, “The Mammy” features pitch-perfect dialogue, lightning wit, and a host of colorful characters. Earthy and exuberant, the novel brilliantly captures the brash energy and cheerful irreverence of working-class Irish life.

To Register
The Book Club is free to join. Please pre-register so we know how many people to expect. Register online >

About “The Mammy”

“Mammy” is what Irish children call their mothers and The Mammy is Agnes Browne—a widow struggling to raise seven children in a North Dublin neighborhood in the 1960s. 

Popular Irish comedian Brendan O’Carroll chronicles the comic misadventures of this large and lively family with raw humor and great affection. Forced to be mother, father, and referee to her battling clan, the ever-resourceful Agnes Browne occasionally finds a spare moment to trade gossip and quips with her best pal Marion Monks (alias “The Kaiser”) and even finds herself pursued by the amorous Frenchman who runs the local pizza parlor. (text from Amazon.com)

Available from several vendors online or your favorite local book shop. Or, check your local library. 
• Amazon.com (new)
• Better Worlds Books (used)

News and Press Release: 
The 28th Annual Glasgow Lands Scottish Festival – July 15, 2023

Where: Look Park, 300 North Main Street, Florence (Northampton), MA 

When: Main events take place 9:00 am – 5:00 pm; Music til 8:30 pm including Enter the Haggis, Screaming Orphans, Albannach, Sarah the Fiddler, and Charlie Zahm. Held rain or shine. Opening Ceremonies at 11:00 am.

Tickets: $25; Children 6–12 $5, Children under 6 free. Advance tickets on-line $22.

On Saturday, July 15 beautiful Look Park comes alive with Highland pipers and drummers, a clan parade, sheep herding, Scottish dogs and other animals, wool spinners and weavers, dance demonstrations, and lively Celtic music. Celebrate your Scottish heritage – real or coveted – with kilt-wearing, tree-tossing Scotsmen at the Highland athletic games and delight in plates piled high with scones, shortbread, bridies or meat pies. There will be over 20 pipe bands competing with over 400 pipers and drummers marching in opening ceremonies. 

Come celebrate the second largest Scottish Festival in New England, and the only one in Massachusetts.

This family fun event includes children’s athletic games and a water spray park. Many Clans and a genealogist will be present to assist in tracing your Scottish ancestry. Vendors will be offering a variety of Scottish foods and imports. Listen to the beautiful Celtic harp music of the Pioneer Valley Harpers’ Guild. Learn about spinning and weaving from the Weavers’ Guild of Springfield. Relive history with the Historic Highlanders.

For 2023, Glasgow Lands Scottish Festival presents world class Celtic music in the Ceilidh tent from 9:45 am – 8:30 pm. Featured artists Enter the Haggis, Albannach, Screaming Orphans, Sarah the Fiddler, and Charlie Zahm will present music ranging from sweet, pure song and boisterous ballads all the way to fiery fiddling and full-blown Celtic rock & tribal drum, and comedy! Whether sitting in the Ceilidh Tent watching the show, quenching your thirst in the Celtic Pub with local microbrews provided by New City Brewery (Easthampton) or just having a picnic on the grass nearby, plan on enjoying great live Celtic music all day long. Again this year – Whisky Tasting! – sponsored by ImpEx  and Four Seasons Wine & Liquor, Hadley, MA.

The Glasgow Lands Scottish Festival, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation.  Its mission is to support other nonprofit organizations and to provide scholarships for qualifying Scottish dance, pipe and/or drum students. Event co-sponsored by: Westfield Bank, New England Public Media, Burger King of Northampton, and New City Brewery.

All Festival Proceeds Benefit: River Valley Counseling Center, a multi-service agency in Hampden County, MA, is a licensed mental health clinic, offering a range of traditional and non-traditional outpatient services to adults and children. Also, Forum House, Westfield, a service of Viability, Inc., a 501(c)(3) not for profit organization serving disabled and disadvantaged adults in Hampden, Hampshire and southern Worcester Counties.

For more information and schedules, visit the Glasgow Lands website > 

Visit our ICC info table in the Clan area!

*Update – this show is now sold out. Tickets will not be sold at the door.*

Join Father Patrick Aloysius Misgivings for this divine presentation of stories and one liners about growing up Catholic. From miracles and marriage counseling to bazaars and birth control, nothing escapes the good father’s razor sharp Irish wit. This hilarious interactive comedy includes a collection, a raffle and even an actual Bingo game.

The show takes place on Thursday, August 17 at the Irish House Restaurant and Trinity Pub from 6:30–8:30 pm. Doors open at 5:30 pm. Get tickets >

Tickets are $40 with buffet and $20 for the show only. Get your tickets online. Table seating location is first come, first served on show day. Ticket sales end on August 14.

Irish House Summertime BBQ Buffet (available with $40 ticket)
Entrees: BBQ Chicken, Bourbon Meatballs, Parmesan Pasta w/ Applewood Smoked Bacon, Ratatouille
Sides: Shrimp and Pasta Salad, Cornbread, Coleslaw, Baked Beans, Potato Salad
Homemade desserts will be available à la carte. Full bar will be open for all ticket holders.

Please let us know if special seating accommodations are required. Table seating location is first come, first served. Seating includes tables with regular chairs and taller bistro-style.

Tickets are non-refundable. Get tickets >

Join us in the new 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, Patrons and the general public. 

Our July meeting will take place on Thursday, July 13 from 5:30–6:30 pm in the Celtic Room at the Trinity Pub. Light appetizers will be provided. You are welcome to stay after at the Trinity Pub to socialize with dinner or drinks.

We are reading “The Ninth Hour” by Alice McDermott, a magnificent new novel from one of America’s finest writers – a powerfully affecting story spanning the 20th century of a widow and her daughter and the nuns who serve their Irish-American community in Brooklyn.

To Register
The Book Club is free to join. Please pre-register so we know how many people to expect. Register online >

About “The Ninth Hour”
From National Book Award-winner and Pulitzer Prize Finalist Alice McDermott, “The Ninth Hour” is the critically-acclaimed “haunting and vivid portrait of an Irish Catholic clan in early twentieth century America” (The Associated Press).

On a dim winter afternoon, a young Irish immigrant opens a gas tap in his Brooklyn tenement. He is determined to prove―to the subway bosses who have recently fired him, to his pregnant wife―that “the hours of his life . . . belonged to himself alone.” In the aftermath of the fire that follows, Sister St. Saviour, an aging nun, a Little Nursing Sister of the Sick Poor, appears, unbidden, to direct the way forward for his widow and his unborn child.

In Catholic Brooklyn in the early part of the twentieth century, decorum, superstition, and shame collude to erase the man’s brief existence, and yet his suicide, though never spoken of, reverberates through many lives―testing the limits and the demands of love and sacrifice, of forgiveness and forgetfulness, even through multiple generations. Rendered with remarkable delicacy, heart, and intelligence, Alice McDermott’s “The Ninth Hour” is a crowning achievement of one of the finest American writers at work today. (text from Amazon.com)

Available from several vendors online or your favorite local book shop. Or, check your local library. 
• Amazon.com (new)
• Better Worlds Books (used)

The twenty-second Lá na Gaeilge, the ICC’s annual language day, took place on May 6, 2023 at Elms College. After a two-year hiatus caused by the pandemic, it was great to deliver the program in person so that Irish language enthusiasts could renew old friendships and new students could have the opportunity to develop an appreciation for the language. Based on the feedback for the day, everyone was pleased with our format at the college.

At the start of the event, we remembered Kathleen Gilhooly and acknowledged her contributions over the years to the language day and to the Irish language program. The veterans at the day remembered Kathleen as an extremely friendly and knowledgeable teacher as well as an accomplished musician. She inspired many people to learn and improve their Irish at past events and as a classroom instructor. Her contribution of time and energy was essential in establishing and growing the language day and Irish language course offerings.

Emer Maguire, the Fulbright Irish Language Teaching Assistant, and her committee organized the day. Their challenge was to restart the program in person by creating an attractive schedule that included three different levels of Irish classes. Workshops including set dancing, calligraphy and language games were provided to appeal to various interests. Finally, they assembled a staff that included the FLTA from UCONN and instructor from the Albany Conradh na Gaeilge. Erin Mulvaugh, Kathleen Joss and Emer facilitated the workshops.

The highlight of the day was a lecture offered by Emer on her native County Louth. Although it is Ireland’s smallest county, we learned there were numerous layers of history, culture and geography that helped us get a better understanding of the area. In addition, all had an opportunity to hear and appreciate some of the unique features of the Ulster dialect.

At the end of the day, participants had a rewarding day. It is clear that language learning is a social event, and that learning is easier when there is a positive environment. This language journey is best done with others and encouraged by enthusiastic teachers. Thanks for your help on the day and the whole year, Emer.

– written by Irish language instructor Gerald Costello

We would like to welcome Conor Driscoll as our new ICC Events Coordinator. Conor is responsible for planning and promoting our own ICC cultural events and coordinating private events booked at the Irish House Restaurant and Trinity Pub.  

Conor initially became involved with the ICC as Vice President of the Springfield Rifles Rugby Club, who practice and play their home games here. Conor serves as ambassador for the rugby organization to the ICC and jumped at the chance to start working as Events Coordinator.

“I fell in love with the ICC almost instantly. It has always felt like a second home to me so when I got the opportunity to come on in an official capacity, I couldn’t say no to something that felt so natural to me.”

Born and raised in East Longmeadow, Conor currently lives in Springfield, MA. He embraced his Irish Heritage at a young age by going on multiple trips to Ireland for the O’Driscoll Clan family gathering every June in Baltimore, County Cork. He also worked in his family’s restaurant, O’Driscoll’s Irish Pub, in Wilbraham, MA.

After completing his service in the United States Air Force at Moody AFB in Valdosta, GA, he moved back to western MA and worked a variety of jobs from the food service industry to landscape construction. In his time off he enjoys playing rugby, golfing, skiing and traveling.

The Irish Cultural Center is linking up with Irish historian, Sean Murphy, to introduce our community to live, weekly online Irish history courses. Sean presents monthly topics divided into four-week modules. Courses are presented on Zoom. Each student will receive an electronic copy of each presentation.

This summer, Sean offers one topic, continuing the general history of each of the thirty two counties in Ireland. Featured in June 2023 is County Tipperary. Takes place on Thursdays, June 15, 22, 29 and July 6 from 6:00–7:30 pm. Download course flyer.

To Enroll
The enrollment fee is $90 for each four-week course. Please contact Sean directly for information or to enroll in his course(s) – send an email to [email protected].

About Sean Murphy
Sean Murphy was born in Dublin and came to live on Cape Cod in 2005. He has a passion for his homeland and loves to share his knowledge and interest about his heritage through classes, workshops and conversation. He is a teacher of Irish history, music, and dance.

www.irishhistory.online

We would like to welcome Peter Stewart as our new chef here at the ICC’s Irish House Restaurant and Trinity Pub. Chef Peter is the 3rd generation of restaurant workers in his family. He grew up on Mulberry Street in Springfield then moved to Southwick as a youngster. Peter and his family often visited NYC to sample all different types of food during the seventies and eighties, as the city’s fine restaurants flourished then.

Peter’s career unofficially began at the age of 8 when his mother managed Page One in Westfield and she would occasionally bring him with her to work. He would watch the chefs work in the kitchen, so eventually he was put to work peeling potatoes. That was all it took to foster his love of the kitchen excitement as well as the challenges. Peter has great plans, as he says, “My focus here at the Irish House Restaurant is to evolve the restaurant into an Irish Gastro Pub, like you find in Europe.”

Peter has worked in multiple restaurants for over 40 years, and his main goal is to “seriously up the game here at the ICC.” He has already started adding new, innovative additions to our menu with the focus of evolving into to an “all scratch kitchen.” Peter has known and worked alongside our new General Manager Michael Ratte for decades. Together Michael and Peter with their decades of experience have the vision to make the dining experience at the Irish House Restaurant top notch!

ICC President Sean Cahillane praised the new menu additions. “The Fish Fry Friday special is delicious, outstanding. My go to place on Fridays will now be the Irish House for Peter’s fish and chips.” Board member Will Carey believes Peter is driven, focused on delivering quality and constant food.  

One of Peter’s goals is to feature traditional homemade desserts, like your mom our auntie used to make, all prepared exclusively in house by our new sous-chef, Carina. Look for her upcoming feature! Homemade desserts are a special treat these days, as most restaurants offer premade products.

Our tempting new dessert items:

• “Personal Size” Cheesecake with choice of raspberry or caramel sauce
• Apple Crisp with vanilla bean ice cream, caramel sauce, and whipped cream
• Puff Pastry Éclair filled with vanilla ice cream, smothered in fudge sauce, and topped with a cherry
• Coming soon – Strawberry Angel Food Bundt Cake served “Shortcake Style”

Our Fish Fry Special is available every Friday! Choose lightly breaded or beer battered fish with chips.

The ICC held our 2nd annual Celtic Music Festival on Sunday, May 21, 2023. This free afternoon festival showcased traditional and popular Irish music along with Irish dancing, in our Trinity Pub and on the outdoor patio. Thank you to the over 400 people who visited the festival throughout the day!

Entertainment included a traditional Irish music session featuring the weekly Trinity Pub session players, Boston-based band Boxty, Trinity Pub favorites The Stout Porters, the Black Rose Academy of Irish Dance, and the Cassin Academy of Irish Dance. Caravan Kitchen Food Truck provided delicious sandwiches and paninis.

We’d like to extend a huge thank you to all the volunteers who helped set up and run the festival, to our Events Committee, and restaurant staff.

Thanks to our festival sponsor, the Mass Cultural Council, plus our Presenting Business Sponsors, Westfield Bank, Freedom Credit Union, and PeoplesBank.

See more photos in our Facebook gallery >

We would like to welcome Michael Ratte as our new General Manager here at the ICC’s Irish House Restaurant and Trinity Pub. Michael comes with over four decades of restaurant experience from the ground up, starting as a busboy at Springfield Country Club and moving up to managing, consulting, designing, and owning restaurants in the area. He brings a wealth of ideas and knowledge to the table here at the ICC and we look forward to working with him as we begin our new direction with construction of the Community Performance Center and new kitchen.

Michael and his staff are preparing an ever-expanding menu, all crafted on site with house-made desserts as well. According to Fred Haska, a new Irish House customer, “This is the best Guinness Beef Stew I have ever had!”

Board member Will Carey says, “The changing of the guard at the Irish House Restaurant has been remarkably smooth. Mike is a professional, pleasant, and engaging with our customers, so please stop by and say hello to him.”

And if you are looking for Michael in October, you will have to do some traveling as he spends the month in upstate NY teaching clients how to fly fish, tie flies and find salmon. He is looking forward to joining us on an Ireland trip to try his luck in Castleconnell on the Shannon River. Fishing is one of Michael’s passions and has been since his grandfather began taking him at the age of five. When you see him at the ICC, ask him to show you a picture or two.

ICC President Sean Cahillane is excited for the future of the Irish House Restaurant. “Mike has really stepped up, taken control and turned around the kitchen remarkably fast. The chefs that Mike has brought in have kicked up the quality and consistency of our food. I extend an offer to all our Patrons and friends to come on in soon and try out our new menu.”