The Irish American Heritage Museum is a permanently chartered 501(c)3 non-profit with an educational mission. The Irish American Heritage Museum explores the contributions, history, and culture of Irish people in America; and fosters dialogue and exchange between America and Ireland today. By sharing our stories, we strive to create connections and community between all Americans, as we appreciate and study the universality of the immigrant story in American history.
Through both a permanent collection and a series of changing exhibitions, the Museum displays artifacts, recounts first-person stories, and explores the history of a variety of Irish immigrants and individuals with Irish heritage, from U.S. presidents and cultural icons to nameless soldiers and factory workers. The collection includes artifacts belonging to Irish American organizations, historic costumes, devotional items, and music recordings. The IAHM is the repository for the National Board of the Ancient Order of Hibernians (an Irish fraternal order) records and collections. The permanent galleries of the Museum include full-size reconstructions of an Irish cottage and a tenement apartment, supported by an Emigrant Support Programme grant from the Department of Foreign Affairs, and a scale model of a workhouse. The IAHM Library has an extensive collection of books, archival materials, and records which is open to the public, and once a month a genealogist is on site to help visitors work on their family trees and trace any Irish heritage.
The IAHM’s robust series of programming includes lectures, musical performances, cooking demonstrations and tastings, film screenings, plays and staged readings, and more. Most programs are available both in-person and virtually, which allows them to reach viewers across the entire United States and in Ireland. Annual in-person events and celebrations include the Irish Soda Bread Competition, 5k Sweat-er Run, and St. Patrick’s Day Family Fest.
The Museum was an integral force in requiring instruction in New York State’s public schools about the Irish Famine of 1845-1853. Further, we are the first Museum of its kind here in America to have exhibited at the National Library in Dublin.
Within an educational and scholarly context, the IAHM sometimes uses still images that fall within the fair use doctrine under United States copyright law. Fair use provides the right to make certain uses of copyrighted materials without seeking permission from, or paying fees to, the copyright owners of those materials. This right is critical to the accomplishment of activities that are performed by museums for the public benefit. In the museum context, fair use may be employed in exhibitions and publications, and in a range of digital and educational projects.
Staff
- Michael C. Clarke- Executive Director
- Hayden-Grace Francis - Assistant Director
Executive Board
Liam McNabb- Board Chair
Margaret Lasch Carroll - Vice Chair
Pat Hale - Treasurer
Don Kelly - Secretary
Current Board of Trustees
- Margaret Lasch Carroll- Vice Chair
- Diane Conroy-LaCivita
- Pat Hale - Treasurer
- Don Kelly - Secretary
- Daniel F. Herring
- Christopher McCarthy
- Denise Murphy McGraw
- Liam McNabb - Board chair
- Peter O’Connell
- Christopher Shaw
- Dan Spicer
- David Foster
We are very grateful to all of our sponsors for their continued support of our education and cultural mission. We receive funding from The Government of Ireland's Emigrant Support Program; NY State Council of the Arts; the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area; the Institute of Museum and Library Services; Assembly Members John McDonald and Gabriella A. Romero and Senator Patricia Fahy.
