Irish Massachusetts

Irish actor Barry Keoghan has been named the 2024 Man of the Year by Harvard's Hasty Pudding Theatricals . The ceremony takes place on Friday, February 2, when Hasty Pudding holds its celebratory roast for Mr. Keoghan at 7 p.m. and presents him with his Pudding Pot at Farkas Hall in Harvard Square.  After the roast and  Pudding Pot presentation, Keoghan will stay for the premiere of Hasty Pudding’s annual student-written musical, titled “Heist Heist Baby.” The Dublin-born actor was cited by Hasty Pudding for his work in movies ranging from Dunkirk, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Eternals to The Banshees of Inisherin and Saltburn, calling Keoghan "a truly unique and impactful presence in the world of entertainment." Keoghan joins a host of other award winners including Clint Eastwood, Tom Hanks, Robert De Niro, Harrison Ford, Samuel L. Jackson and Ryan Reynolds, part of a zany tradition dating back to 1967 when comedian Bob Hope won.   Barry Keoghan is an Academy Award®

  US Ambassador Claire Cronin opens the US Pavilion at  The Holiday World Show Dublin Photo courtesy of Holiday World Show Dublin.   Today, US Ambassador to Ireland Claire Cronin officially opened the US Pavilion at the at The Holiday World Show Dublin at the RDS Simmonscourt in Ballsbridge. The gathering of 1,000+ travel professionals from 50 countries is held each year to help Irish consumers plan dream holidays around the world. The annual show runs through Sunday, January 28.  Ambassador Cronin was joined by Clare Dunne, chief executive of the Irish Travel Agents Association (ITAA), Maureen Ledwith, sales director at the Holiday World Show , Tony Lane, president of Woodstock Communications , and representatives from numerous American states, cities and destinations, including several New England representatives.  “You can make all your travel plans to visit the United States at the show. Flights are easier than ever before, and we have more direct flights from both Dublin a

  Irish singer and guitarist Dave Try performs at the Irish Cultural Centre in Canton on Friday, January 26, from 6-9 p.m.  He'll be playing in the ICC Pub, which offers a terrific menu of Irish and American food, a full bar, and plenty of good vibes.   A graduate of Berklee College of Music, the Irish-born musician plays a full repertoire of Irish songs and other genres too.   He returns to the ICC next Saturday, February 3. Check out Dave Try's version of Rocky Road to Dublin, written in the 19th century with lyrics by D.K. Gaven, the Galway poet.  The Irish Cultural Centre is a year-round facility founded in 1989 to serve as a headquarters for Irish culture, theater, language, sports and education.  The 46 acre grounds includes athletic fields, walking paths, an authentic Irish cottage, and a state-of-the-art building with a library, banquet room, class rooms, pub and dining area for large groups.  

An exciting new program of culture, creativity and nature exploration is being launched by the City of Belfast in Northern Ireland this year.   Belfast 2024  is a year-long celebrate of the city's distinctive culture and vibrancy, built around the themes Our People, Our Place and Our Planet. Among the offerings in 2024: Art installations.   Multiple art installations include Power Plants by Oliver Jeffers this July, a forest of sculptural chimneys topped with flowers. This Belfast City Hall exhibit explore the issue of sustainability.  Then in autumn, the Titanic dry dock welcomes an art display called Shadow Dock, an immersive installation using light, shadow, color and sound. Musical celebrations .  As a UNESCO City of Music , Belfast continues to develop and strengthen its musical credentials.  In August, Belfast celebrates its black culture in a musical journey that spans the  1845 to 2024, performed by So Lab Collective in the city centre. Later in the year the Ulster Orchestr

Robert Burns Statue in The Fens, Boston   Robert Burns (1759-1796) was a prolific Scottish poet and larger than life figure.  In 1801, a few years after his death,  friends of Burns gathered on his birthday, January 25, to celebrate the poet's extraordinary life and contribution to literature. The tradition has continued ever since.  New England has a vibrant community of Scots-Americans who are always ready to enjoy authentic Scottish fare and fashion, to sing songs and recite poetry, to dance dance and offer good cheer to everyone.  Read our story about the journey of the Burns statue from downtown Boston to The Fens in Boston, and check out these celebrations taking place in 2024.  January 20 Robert Burns Night Deerfield Inn 81 Old Main Street Deerfield, MA All of the traditional Scottish foods are on this year's menu, including haggis and clapshot, beef, lamb and venison, sticky toffee pudding and cheddar and oak cakes, followed by a toast of Kilchoman Single Malt Scotch w

(January 17, 2024) - A brand new semester for learning the Irish language gets underway today at the Irish Cultural Centre of Greater Boston , with two courses being offered for beginning and intermediate learners.  The classes are being organized by Cumann na Gaeilge I mBoston , a notable local organization dedicated to the preservation and promotion of the Irish language. Both courses are taught by Pádraig Clifford. The classes run for 10 weeks on Wednesdays, from 7 to 9:30 p.m., with open enrollment through January. Tuition is $60 for ICC members and $120 for the general public. In addition to the classes, ICC is hosting a Pop Up Gaeltacht social event (Oíche Sóisialta) taking place the second Saturday of each month at the ICC Pub. Irish language enthusiasts have had a strong presence in greater Boston's Irish community, dating back at least to 1873 when the Philo-Celtic Society was formed as part of the Gaelic revival taking place in Ireland. The Society flourished for nearl

 Happy 28th anniversary to the Burren Pub and its owners, Tommy McCarthy and Louise Costello!  Since opening its doors on January 12, 1996, the Burren Pub  in Davis Square, Somerville, Massachusetts has been one of the top traditional Irish music pubs in the world for well over a quarter century!  From the start, the pub nestled between Tufts University and Harvard has been a sought-after destination for music lovers who play music, aspire to play, or simply appreciate top shelf traditional Irish music.  Over the years, Ireland's major bands such as the Chieftains, Altan, Lunasa, Da Dannan, Bono and U-2 have made a pilgrimage to the Burren to sample some of the best Irish music in North America, and to bask in an ambiance that is always welcoming, interesting and chill. The Burren is owned by two fine traditional musicians: fiddler Tommy McCarthy and his wife Louise Costello, a champion on the banjo and accordion. The couple met in Boston in 1986, moved back to Ireland and got marr

Alice Mansergh, Chief Executive Designate of Tourism Ireland; and Tourism Minister Catherine Martin, at the launch of Tourism Ireland’s 2024 marketing plan in Dublin. (January 9, 2024) --  Tourism Ireland  today presented details of its marketing strategy to promote the island of Ireland overseas in 2024,  attended by Tourism Minister Catherine Martin and 550 tourism industry leaders from around the country. Ireland's marketing strategy calls for increasing tourism revenue by 5.6% for the next six years leading to 2030 and boosting the off-season revenue by 6.5%, while also integrating the tenets of sustainability across the entire tourism sector.  To achieve these revenue goals, Tourism Ireland has budgeted €70 million for an extensive and targeted marketing program. Part of that budget, said Tourism Minister Catherine Martin , includes an " additional funding of €10 million for overseas marketing of Ireland as a leading holiday destination." Minister Martin added that c

Aer Lingus, Ireland's national airline carrier, has a special New Year Sale for traveling from Boston Logan International Airport to Dublin International Airport and Shannon International Airport in Ireland.    Travelers who make reservations between now and January 18, 2024, get the following discounts:  For travel between February 1 and March 31, 2024, round-trip air fares start at $369, including taxes. For travel between April 1 and May 31, 2004, round-trip air fares start at $469, including taxes. Use this link for the discount .  Please note certain restrictions apply.  Aer Lingus has been flying to and from Boston since October 5, 1958.  Read about the historic first flight . 

Looking for an excuse to hop over to Ireland this winter? Then check out the 19th annual  TradFest  in Dublin, on January 24-28, 2024, where the world’s best traditional musicians and singers converge for an amazing display of live performance.  This year’s lineup includes singers Janis Ian, Mary Black and Aoife O'Donovan, banjo maestros Gerry O'Connor and Alison Brown, Galician piper Carlos Nuñez and uilleann pipers Paddy Keenan, Louise Mulcahy and Tara Howley and more. In all, 100+ Irish artists and international performers at dozens of events in cultural venues across the city. Festival Director Kieran Hanrahan calls TradFest “a glorious celebration of our culture and traditions. It is an expression of new development and innovation in the music and song of Ireland. It’s a platform for the established and the abundant emerging talent in some of Dublin’s most iconic and historic settings, where both the artist and the listener are very much at ease." Since its modest be