The ICC continues our Bealtaine celebration on Thursday, May 7. This evening features a special talk from 5–5:30 pm by Michaela Burke, this year’s Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant for the ICC and Elms College. Michaela will speak about the significance of this ancient Celtic festival of renewal, exploring its history and cultural significance, as well as an overview of paganism in Ireland.

Please register online for this free presentation >

Doors open at 4 pm. You are welcome to come early and get settled with a drink at our Trinity Pub.

The restaurant will open for serving dinner at 6 pm. Those attending the presentation who would like to stay and have dinner will be able to place their orders beforehand. If you plan on staying for dinner, please call ahead to make a reservation: 413-342-4358.

Our Gardening Club’s May 9 Spring Clean-Up has been postponed as we work to choose a better date for everyone.

The good news…Spring isn’t going anywhere, and neither are the weeds!

Please stay tuned for our rescheduled date. If you’d still like to lend a hand when the time comes, please email Caroline ([email protected]) to let us know of your interest.

Thank you for your understanding, and we look forward to getting our hands in the soil with you soon!

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, May 14 from 5:30–6:30 pm at the ICC.

We are reading The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue. 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. 

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

In addition to our regular dinner menu, we offer a specially priced Book Club Buffet at $16.50 per person, plus tax and tip. Guests of Book Club attendees are also welcome to partake in the buffet. Choose this option at registration.

About the Book
In an Ireland doubly ravaged by war and disease, Nurse Julia Power works at an understaffed hospital in the city center, where expectant mothers who have come down with the terrible new Flu are quarantined together. Into Julia’s regimented world step two outsiders—Doctor Kathleen Lynn, a rumoured Rebel on the run from the police, and a young volunteer helper, Bridie Sweeney.

In the darkness and intensity of this tiny ward, over three days, these women change each other’s lives in unexpected ways. They lose patients to this baffling pandemic, but they also shepherd new life into a fearful world. With tireless tenderness and humanity, carers and mothers alike somehow do their impossible work.

In The Pull of the Stars, Emma Donoghue once again finds the light in the darkness in this new classic of hope and survival against all odds.

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

Upcoming Meetings
• June 11, 2026: How the Irish Won the American Revolution: The Forgotten Heroes of America’s War of Independence by Phillip Thomas Tucker
• July: Summer Hiatus
• August 20, 2026: Holding: A Novel by Graham Norton (note date change)
• September 10, 2026: The Boy from the Sea by Garrett Carr
• October 7, 2026: book TBD (note date change)

The Irish Cultural Center of Western New England presents our first annual Bealtaine Festival on Saturday, May 2. Join us all afternoon for family-friendly fun with traditional and popular Irish music, kids activities, and an evening fire lighting.

The festivities take place on the ICC grounds with a large outdoor tent, patio, and in the Trinity Pub, located at 429 Morgan Road in West Springfield, MA. Free admission.

There will be lots of fun for kids, with crafts and activities including making flower crowns, learning the tin whistle, coloring, and face painting.

In the evening, we will light a fire to celebrate the ancient festival of Bealtaine, as the Celtic community would have done to mark the beginning of summer in the Celtic calendar.

Schedule:
• 12 pm: Springfield Rifles Rugby match
• 2–5 pm: Live music with Jimmy McArdle and Jerry Murphy (patio)
• 2–5 pm: Kids crafts & activities (outdoor tent)
• 3 pm: Kids tin whistle lesson (minimum age 7, outdoor tent)
• 5–6 pm: Fire lighting
• 6–9 pm: Live music with New Leaf (inside the pub)

The grounds and the Trinity Pub bar open at 12 pm. The Boricua Bites food truck will be here from 12–5 pm, offering delicious snacks with a Puerto Rican flair. The Irish House Restaurant serves a special limited dinner menu inside from 5–9 pm.

Guests are welcome to bring chairs or blankets for additional seating on the grass.

Learn More About Bealtaine
(pronounced ‘byal-tin-uh’)
This ancient fire festival marked the beginning of summer in the Celtic calendar. It is one of the Cross Quarter Days, halfway between the Spring Equinox and the Summer Solstice. This time of the year celebrated the joy of light and abundance returning to the land. The ancient Celts would come together as a community to light bonfires signifying purification and transition. Hearth fires would be extinguished and a new fire lit. They would also move their animals to summer pastures, and the season was welcomed with the hopes of a prosperous harvest later in the year.

Presenting Business Sponsor: Westfield Bank. Thanks to all our Sponsors > 

The Springfield Rifles Rugby Club has announced their 2026 spring season. Home matches at the Balise Field at the ICC are listed below.

Saturday, April 4 at the ICC
Women’s Match vs. Amoskeag: kickoff at 11 am

Saturday, April 18 
(Note location change to Van Horn Park in Springfield. Pub will open at its normal time.)
Women’s Match vs. South Shore: kickoff at 11 am
Men’s Match vs Amoskeag: kickoff at 1 pm

Saturday, May 2 at the ICC
Men’s Match vs Saratoga: kickoff at 12 pm

Saturday, May 16 at the ICC
Women’s Match vs. North Shore: this match has been canceled
Men’s Alumni Match: kickoff at 1 pm

For all home matches, the Trinity Pub bar opens at 12 pm for drinks. The kitchen opens at 1 pm with a specialty menu. We hope to see you here to cheer on your local team on their home field!

The ICC presents a Beginner Kids Irish Language Workshop on Saturday, April 4 from 3–4:30 pm with Fulbright Irish language instructor Michaela Burke. Michaela will introduce kids to Irish vocabulary, and practice with some simple songs and activities. We might even learn a rugby haka in Irish!

A parent or guardian MUST remain on site at the ICC, either in the workshop or in the Trinity Pub. This event is free and open to all. We ask that you please register so we can plan ahead.

Register here >

This introductory workshop is aimed at school age children – no prior experience with the Irish language is necessary. This is a great opportunity to for kids to get excited about experiencing a new language and Irish culture.

Please contact Michaela at [email protected] with any questions. 

The Irish House Restaurant and Trinity Pub bar will be open, with the kitchen offering a limited afternoon menu. Dinner is served from 5–9 pm. If you would like to join us for dinner, we encourage you to make a reservation– please call 413-342-4358.

March 28, 2026 is Irish Heritage Day at the Boston Legacy Football Club, the new regional professional women’s soccer team. ICC Patrons can purchase discounted tickets for the match at Gillette Stadium! 

Use this link for more information and to purchase tickets >

West Springfield, MA – The Irish Cultural Center of Western New England announces the hiring of Ashley Menard as General Manager of the Irish House Restaurant and Trinity Pub.

Menard has been working in restaurants since 2002 and most recently in the beverage distribution industry. She is excited to share her passion and knowledge within this new role.

“I am thrilled to join the Irish House Restaurant and Trinity Pub as it has built a strong reputation for quality and hospitality. I appreciate the opportunity to work alongside this team as we continue to grow and successfully meet the needs of our guests,” Menard said.

Executive Director Caroline Morrissey is excited for the future of the Irish House Restaurant. “Ashley joins the ICC at an exciting time, and we are delighted to welcome her as General Manager. Her experience, leadership, and genuine commitment to hospitality will be a wonderful addition as we continue to grow our programs and enhance the experience for our community.”

Menard brings a wealth of ideas and knowledge to the Irish House Restaurant. She also stays busy in her free time, enjoying cooking, gardening, and spending time with family and friends.

Happy St. Patrick’s Season! This time of year, people around the world celebrate all things Irish. It’s also the perfect time to give a special monetary gift to the Irish Cultural Center.

As a Patron of the Irish Cultural Center of Western New England, you know how important it is to preserve and promote Irish culture. As spring approaches, the ICCWNE looks forward to hosting events and educational programs to share Irish culture with our community.

To celebrate this season, we ask that you consider making a special St. Patrick’s donation to the ICCWNE. This donation is over and above your annual Patron contribution. Your gift allows us to continue to build our Irish gathering place, including our soon-to-be completed Community Performance Center, where we can offer cultural programming and good times with friends and family.

St. Patrick’s Day is about appreciating culture, family, friends, and those who came before. This is the perfect time to honor or remember a loved one with a donation in their name >

Click to easily donate online, set a gift in any amount, and include the name of a loved one you wish to honor. We are so thankful for your support of the Irish Cultural Center.

On behalf of our staff, board members and volunteers, we hope you have a happy and healthy St. Patrick’s Day.

This is also the perfect time to renew your Annual Patron Donor status if you haven’t already. Learn more >

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, April 9 from 5:30–6:30 pm at the ICC.

We are reading Ring of Salt by Betsy Cornwell. 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. 

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

In addition to our regular dinner menu, we offer a specially priced Book Club Buffet at $16.50 per person, plus tax and tip. Guests of Book Club attendees are also welcome to partake in the buffet. Choose this option at registration.

About the Book
At twenty-four, Betsy Cornwell runs away to Ireland for a fresh start. Leaving behind a painful past, she chases her dream of becoming a novelist to the misty shores of the Aran Islands. Five years later, Betsy is trapped in an abusive marriage, isolated and afraid with a newborn baby. On her son’s first birthday, she must flee home again, this time turning to the women around her—her local survivor support group, a trusted family friend, and an online Smith College alumnae network—for help she’d never known she could ask for.

When she discovers a historic knitting factory and former cinema on Ireland’s rugged Connemara coastline, left empty and crumbling for years, that precarious dream becomes her lifeline.

Ring of Salt combines a powerful and relatable narrative of survivorship and healing with lush writing about the windswept landscapes and rich mythology of rural Ireland to craft a real-world fairy tale about the ordinary, but no less life-changing, forms of magic we can all access: vulnerability, community, and the power of telling your own story.

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

Books for Upcoming Meetings
• May 14, 2026: The Pull of the Stars: A Novel by Emma Donoghue
• June 11, 2026: How the Irish Won the American Revolution: The Forgotten Heroes of America’s War of Independence by Phillip Thomas Tucker