IRISH CULTURAL SOCIETY
of the Garden City Area
The Irish Cultural Society is a group of your friends and neighbors who want to know more about their Irish heritage. The group, non-political by its charter, endeavors to bring together people with the common goal of learning about our roots and supporting Irish culture and study.
We welcome new members at any time. Please download our membership application and bring it with you to any meeting, or mail it to us!
MONTHLY MEETING
March 9, 2022
7:30pm
Garden City Casino
Our Next Meeting:
Archbishop John Hughes and the Making of Irish America
In the 1820s, Irish immigrants to the United States were a not unwelcome addition to a rapidly expanding nation. They were often Protestant, middle-class, and employable. By the 1830s and 1840s, a new dynamic was in play, and the Irish Catholics who crossed the Atlantic in staggering numbers were anything but welcome. Nativist violence against Irish Catholics assumed frightening proportions in the years before the Civil War, and America’s most famous Irish Catholic, John Hughes, saw it as his mission to fight Protestant bigotry head-on and help “his people” find acceptance in their new homeland.
John Loughery, the author of Dagger John: Archbishop John Hughes and the Making of Irish America (Cornell University Press, 2018), will discuss the fiercely combative Hughes and the role played in American politics by the Catholic prelate who built St. Patrick’s Cathedral, founded Fordham University, and preached the value of a hyphenated cultural identity long before the twentieth century. Loughery is the author of five books, most recently Dorothy Day: Dissenting Voice of the American Century (2020), a biography of the radical Catholic activist and pacifist and America’s most determined advocate for the homeless.
Join us on Wednesday, March 9th at the Garden City Casino - please note the venue change. The meeting begins at 7:30pm, and is free and open to the public.
Maximum attendance is 40, so arrive early to make sure you get a spot!
HEDGEMASTER ARCHIVES
The Hedgemaster Archives is our link to our heritage. Please browse our rich collection of Irish culture and history to learn some more of our lineage. We have significantly added to our collection, so take a look at the new additions!
MARTIN J. KELLY ANNUAL WRITING CONTEST
Contest Details
The Annual Writing Contest is named in honor of Martin J. Kelly, a founding member of the society and its past president for 23 years until his passing on July 2, 2015.
To learn more about Martin, please click here.
"Men at Work"
2022 Writing Contest
Now Underway!
The members of the Irish Cultural Society and the members of the H.W. Wilson Foundation are pleased to announce the launch of the 2022 Martin J. Kelly Writing Contest.
This year, our contest will challenge students to write a creative description of each of the eleven iron workers on a beam as shown in the iconic photograph, “Men at Lunch.” (See photo at left)
Contest entrants will choose one of the eleven men in the photograph to be the one who describes each of the other men. The narrator must be an Irish immigrant and at least one of the other men must be an Irish immigrant. The narrator will tell the reader about himself and about the other men. The narrator’s personality will come through in his description of the other men.
We express our appreciation to our sponsor, The H.W. Wilson Foundation.
CONTACT
Irish Cultural Society
of the Garden City Area
OUR ADDRESS
For any general inquiries, please fill in the following contact form:
