GreenLight: Irish Cultural Events in the New York Consular Region

Current & Upcoming Irish Cultural Events

*Supported by Culture Ireland.

ON GOING

September 2026

Sept 10: Hosted by critically acclaimed Irish songwriter Niall Connolly, Big City Folk Song Club at Irish Arts Center is “a safe space for new songs.” This month's show features Jo Kroger, presented with generous support from the Emigrant Support Programme.

Sept 11: A new season of Blarney Star traditional Irish concerts kicks off at New York Irish Center with Will Woodson and Caitlin Finley, who recently released a brand-new album celebrating the rich tradition of early 20th-century Irish-American music.

Sept 11: Glucksman Ireland House NYU hosts a 'Middle Irish Workshop' introducing Middle Irish, the language of Ireland from the 10th to 12th centuries and the primary language of medieval Irish literature. Designed for both beginners and those familiar with Old Irish, it will showcase a new learning website, explore available resources, and provide guidance for students interested in reading Middle Irish texts.

Sept 11-12: The Syracuse Irish Festival returns with loads of music and dance, all presented for free in downtown Syracuse, NY.

Sept 11-13: Celebrating 35 years, The Pittsburgh Irish Festival celebrates and promotes Irish history, heritage, and culture through year-round educational programming and community events. This weekend is the flagship event, which attracts more than 25,000 visitors and features internationally renowned Irish musicians, dancers, storytellers, and artisans.

Sept 13: Freedom Rhythms at Commodore Barry Arts & Cultural Center brings artists and audiences together through dance and music to celebrate the many cultural traditions that have shaped Philadelphia. The event will feature performances by distinguished Irish, African, and Native American artists.

Sept 14: Join 92NY for Muldoon’s Picnic: an evening of music, literature, and everything in between, hosted by Pulitzer Prize winner Paul Muldoon and house band Rogue Oliphant. Featuring legendary musician and storyteller Laurie Anderson, acclaimed novelist A.M. Homes, and celebrated poet Sophie Cabot Black.

Sept 14: American Irish Historical Society presents 'The Irish and the Erie Canal: Building the Empire State, Binding the Nation,' a talk exploring the vital role of Irish immigrants in constructing the Erie Canal. Through hard labor and dangerous conditions, these workers helped create the engineering marvel that transformed New York and the nation.

Sept 16-20: Stoney Road Press will exhibit at the Affordable Art Fair New York, Fall Edition, at the Starrett-Lehigh Building in Chelsea. Bringing a fresh slice of Dublin’s creative energy, they will display an eclectic mix of limited edition handmade prints, and unique collaborations.

Sept 16-27: Tony Award-winning choreographer and director Sonya Tayeh brings her singular vision to The Joyce Theater with a new creation, The Surge: An Ode to Sinéad O'Connor. Fierce, unflinching, and tender, Tayeh draws on Sinéad O’Connor’s uncompromising voice and spirit to create a powerful meditation on voice, protest, and the courage to live a life that defies the norm.

Sept 17: Author and historian Forest Issac Jones joins Professor John P. Waters of NYU in conversation at Irish Arts Center. In his latest book, 'Good Trouble,' Jones explores the strong connection between the Black Civil Rights Movement in the U.S. and the Catholic Civil Rights Movement in Northern Ireland—specifically the influence of the Selma-to-Montgomery march in 1965 on the People’s Democracy march, from Belfast to Derry, in 1969.

Sept 17: Café Concert Series returns to Irish Arts Center. Celtic and American music duo Rakish—two-time U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Champion Maura Shawn Scanlin and D.C.-based guitarist Conor Hearn—perform an intimate show in the Devlin Café.

Sept 17: Booker Prize-nominated Irish novelist Sebastian Barry, “one of the best writers in the English language” (The Washington Post), joins Irish journalist Fintan O’Toole onstage for the launch of his new novel, The Newer World. This program will be held at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan as part of the Unterberg Poetry Center.

*Sept 17: Noisy, Irish alt-rock rabble-rousers Gurriers return to North America following their March trip selling out rooms in NYC, Philly, and Chicago. Celebrating the release of their upcoming second album 'Nobody's Coming To Save You,' they play Spirit Hall in Pittsburgh, PA one night only.

Sept 17: Join interim director of Glucksman Ireland House NYU, Kelly E. Sullivan, in conversation with Abby Bender, on her latest novella, The Moose Lottery. Kelly is the author of the novella, Winter Bayou (Lilliput Press, Dublin) and two poetry chapbooks, Fell Year (Green Bottle) and Toledo Blade (Danging Girl Press). Her poems and short fiction have appeared in Salmagundi, The Hopkins Review, Southword, Poetry Ireland Review, and elsewhere.

*Sept 17-Nov 19: Oliver Sears Gallery presents 'Castlemorris Woods' by acclaimed Irish artist Donald Teskey at 92NY Art Center. The exhibition comprises a series of ‘woodscapes’ in oil, works on paper and charcoal. It is accompanied by a catalogue with an essay by renowned Irish poet Paula Meehan.

Sept 18: George Murphy, formerly of the world-renowned group, The High Kings, comes to New York Irish Center for a one-night-only performance. Now back with his own solo show, he returns to his old stomping grounds in Queens where he lived and played for many years all around Woodside, Sunnyside, and Astoria.

Sept 18-Oct 4: Irish Classical Theatre Company’s production of Emma, by Kate Hamill, is a spirited re-imagining of Jane Austen’s classic novel, where a confident matchmaker’s meddling spirals into comic chaos. The production was originally commissioned and produced by Guthrie Theater and is presented through special arrangement with Theatrical Rights Worldwide.

Sept 18-Jan 13: "Array Collective: In the Round" will show at Irish Arts Center in partnership with Rua Red South Dublin Arts Center. Curated by Maolíosa Boyle and Jonathan Cummins, the Belfast-based Array Collective creates collaborative actions in response to socio-political issues affecting Northern Ireland, employing craic and collaboration as a means of resistance.

Sept 18-Jan 17: The exhibition 'Irish Literature: History & Myth Since 1798' at The New York Historical Society celebrates how Irish writing plays an integral role in the formation of ideas about Irish history, myth, nationhood, and cultural renewal.

Sept 19: Celebrate being halfway to St. Patrick's Day at the Hudson Valley Irish Festival in Peekskill, NY! The Hudson Valley Irish Center's annual event features live music, traditional dance, storytelling, cultural exhibits, Irish goods, local food, and family fun.

Sept 19: Array Collective will host a symposium at Irish Arts Center with a panel discussion and workshop centered around their protest karaoke songbook, followed by a cathartic night of resistance and Protest Karaoke.

Sept 24-25: Join New York Irish Center and Director Trisha Ziff for a screening of her new documentary "Gerry Adams: A Ballymurphy Man" and a moderated conversation and reception.

Sept 24-27: Achill Island, County Mayo-based artist book studio Redfoxpress will take part in the 20th-anniversary New York Art Book Fair at MoMA PS1. Founded by Francis Van Maele and Antic-Ham, Redfoxpress will present its latest handmade limited-edition artist books and prints, showcasing contemporary Irish art, literature, and international collaborations to an international audience.

Sept 25-Nov 15: On the 20th anniversary of Irish Repertory Theatre's acclaimed 2006 production, O'Neill's existentialist masterpiece returns to the Mainstage. The Hairy Ape is the journey of a dark-souled, brutish ship laborer known as Yank and the common man's search for belonging in a world controlled by the rich and powerful.

Sept 25: Traditional Irish Sessions in the Devlin Café at Irish Arts Center are back! Beginner players kick off the event at 6pm; advanced players jump in at 8pm. Audience members—join at any time.

Sept 28: Historian and author Loretto Leary will present “The Irish Famine Immigrant Experience in the Staten Island Quarantine Station” at the Friendly Sons of the Shillelagh, Belmar, NJ. The presentation sheds light on the harrowing transatlantic crossings of Irish emigrants during one of the most devastating periods in Ireland’s history. Admission is free for members of Irish American Society of the Jersey Shore and FSOS Belmar.

Sept 28: Honorary Consul Mark Owens hosts the U.S. Premiere of 'The Day Innocence Died,' at John Carroll University in University Heights, Ohio. The free screening will be followed by panel discussion with special guests from Derry.

October 2026

Oct 1: Douglas Stuart is in conversation at Glucksman Ireland House NYU with Elaine Feeney to discuss his latest novel, John of John. Stuart’s work has sold over one million copies worldwide and been translated into over forty languages, and his short stories have appeared in the New Yorker. In addition to the Booker Prize, his novel 'Shuggie Bain' won the Sue Kaufman Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and was a finalist for the National Book Award and National Book Critics Circle, among others.

*Oct 4: Following a new album launch and international tour, Belfast singer-songwriter Joshua Burnside returns to Irish Arts Center with his band for a one-night-only engagement.

Oct 5: Join the champion Irish step dancers of Darrah Carr Dance for a whirlwind introduction to Irish dance including its history, costumes, and traditions at American Irish Historical Society. Enjoy lightning-fast demonstrations of both hard shoe and soft shoe styles, as well as live music on the accordion, fiddle and the spoons.

Oct 10: Oíche Shamhna celebrates the ancient Irish festival of Samhain at Irish Arts Center through music, dance, storytelling, and crafts. Recommended for ages 4–8, but kids of all ages are welcome.

*Oct 14: Gilla Band kick off their month long coast-to-coast North American tour this fall in Philadelphia. Their new album, Pugnello, is available for preorder now.

Oct 14: Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and former Poetry Editor of The New Yorker Paul Muldoon leads his “How to Read a Poem” discussion American Irish Historical Society. Participants meet to discuss poems published that week in literary journals and magazines, not just to glean their individual meanings, but to reflect on where poetry as an art form has been – and where it’s going.

Oct 16: New York Irish Center's Blarney Star traditional Irish music series rolls ahead with all-star trio: Eamon O’Leary, Jefferson Hamer, and Liz Hanely.

Oct 20: Irish American Writers & Artists (IAW&A) awards its annual Eugene O’Neill Lifetime Achievement Award at Joe's Pub, recognizing the contribution of an Irish American artist whose work places them among the great artists and entertainers of all time. This year's honoree is author, filmmaker, and historian Mary Pat Kelly.

*Oct 22: Sophie White, co-host of podcasts 'Mother of Pod' and 'The Creep Dive,' and author of the Shirley Jackson Award-winning, 'Where I End', discusses her work and horror in contemporary Irish writing at Irish Arts Center.

Oct 22: Hosted by critically acclaimed Irish songwriter Niall Connolly, Big City Folk Song Club at Irish Arts Center is “a safe space for new songs.” This month's show features Robert Bock (The Locksmiths), presented with generous support from the Emigrant Support Programme.

Oct 22: Join Kimberly Cowell-Meyers and Carolyn Gallaher as they discuss their book, 'Building a Green Wall: Irish American Resurgance Post-Brexit' at Glucksman Ireland House NYU. The book explores the aftermath of Britain’s 2016 decision to leave the EU, and the Irish-American ethnic lobby remobilized to defend the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement from the threats posed by Brexit.

Oct 23: Traditional Irish Sessions in the Devlin Café at Irish Arts Center are back! Beginner players kick off the event at 6pm; advanced players jump in at 8pm. Audience members—join at any time.

Oct 25-Nov 15: Choreographer, writer, and director Oona Doherty’s fantastical-biographical Specky Clark, merges dance with theatre to mine her great-great-grandfather’s Belfast story. Lifting the veil on a Halloween night, ten international performers breathe life into this powerful and darkly funny narrative.

November 2026

Nov 4-22: Ann LeClaire with Parting Glass is proud to present the New York premiere of the Irish musical 'Parcel from America' at Theatre Row. Adapted from a tale by acclaimed Irish storyteller Tomáseen Foley, Parcel from America is the story of a young boy and a lonely widow in a remote parish in the west of Ireland, and the importance of one special Christmas parcel that changes the lives of the entire community.

Nov 4: The Dublin International Piano Competition presents its 2025 First Prize winner, pianist Carter Johnson, in his Weill Recital Hall debut at Carnegie Hall. His program interweaves Schumann’s gracious Arabeske and luminous “Ghost Variations” with the forces of Schnittke and Bartók, ultimately converging in Schumann’s Davidsbündlertänze, a work that explores every corner of the human emotional experience.

Nov 4: Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and former Poetry Editor of The New Yorker Paul Muldoon leads his “How to Read a Poem” discussion American Irish Historical Society. Participants meet to discuss poems published that week in literary journals and magazines, not just to glean their individual meanings, but to reflect on where poetry as an art form has been – and where it’s going.

Nov 5: Join Caldwell in conversation with Kelly Sullivan at Glucksman Ireland House NYU about her new collection 'Devotions.' Born in Belfast in 1981, Lucy Caldwell is the author of four novels, several stage plays and radio dramas, and three previous collections of short stories.

Nov 7-Dec 13: The Good Thief by Tony-Nominee Conor McPherson (Girl from the North Country), comes to Irish Repertory Theatre in association with Two River Theatter.  After a seemingly straightforward job spirals into betrayal and violence, a small-time Irish gangster is forced to face the consequences in this one-man play in the form of a confession.

*Nov 12-15: Dublin company Dead Centre comes to NYU Skirball with the North American premiere of Deaf Republic, its extraordinary adaptation of Ukrainian-American poet Ilya Kaminsky’s acclaimed work. Using spoken language, sign language, captioning, silence, puppetry and live cinema, it imagines a town responding to occupation through collective deafness, transforming silence into an act of resistance.

*Nov 20-22: The 17th Annual PoetryFest, Irish Arts Center's longstanding festival gathers writers from Ireland, Northern Ireland, and North America for a weekend of conversations and readings, starting with Friday evening’s much-loved Favorite Irish Poems launch event celebrating Irish poetry across the ages.

Nov 21-Jan 3: You are cordially invited to step into the heart of Edwardian Ireland for an evening at the Morkans’ annual holiday party. You’ll join the characters of James Joyce’s beloved story, The Dead, 1904, in a richly immersive and unique theatrical experience at the American Irish Historical Society. Produced by Dot Dot Productions in association with Irish Repertory Theatre.

December 2026

Dec 3: Hosted by critically acclaimed Irish songwriter Niall Connolly, Big City Folk Song Club at Irish Arts Center is “a safe space for new songs.” This month's show features Sean Kiely, presented with generous support from the Emigrant Support Programme.

Dec 4: Traditional Irish Sessions in the Devlin Café at Irish Arts Center are back! Beginner players kick off the event at 6pm; advanced players jump in at 8pm. Audience members—join at any time.

February 2027

Feb 5: Traditional Irish Sessions in the Devlin Café at Irish Arts Center are back! Beginner players kick off the event at 6pm; advanced players jump in at 8pm. Audience members—join at any time.

Feb 6-June 12: The Irish Arts Center spring exhibition features select works by Geraldine O’Neill and Sinéad Ní Mhaonaigh, two contemporary Irish painters. O’Neill has had work presented at the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) and the National Gallery of Ireland and Ní Mhaonaigh was elected president of the Royal Hibernian Academy in 2025 and to Aosdána in 2024. Both artists are represented in Ireland by Kevin Kavanagh Gallery.

Feb 6: Celebrate St. Brigid's Day and Imbolc, the ancient Irish festival heralding spring and honoring the patron saint and goddess Brigid, with a concert and activities for all ages at Irish Arts Center.

Feb 11: St. Pat’s for All, one of the most inclusive celebrations of Irish culture and solidarity in the U.S., once again hosts its annual benefit event at Irish Arts Center. Its parade will be held Sunday March 7.

*Feb 18-March 21: Irish Arts Center presents 'Riders to the Sea and Macbeth,' a Druid double bill directed by Garry Hynes. 20 years on from the formative DruidSynge (2005), Tony Award winners Garry Hynes and Marie Mullen return to the work of one of Ireland’s greatest playwrights for this new production of J. M. Synge’s one-act masterpiece. Followed by The Scottish Play as you’ve never seen it before.

March 2027

March 16: Following the sold-out concert celebration on St. Patrick’s Day 2026, The Martin Hayes Quartet returns to Carnegie Hall for another transcendent musical experience for the ages.

March 16-17: Ireland’s beloved folk mischief-makers The Mary Wallopers return to New York City with a two-night stand at Irving Plaza. The run marks the band’s return to the city following their sold out show at Brooklyn Paramount earlier this year.

March 17: Irish Arts Center and the New York City Council will be handing out free books at the 15th Annual Book Day pop-up stations all across the city. Locations to be announced in March 2027!

March 27: Get a taste of Ireland’s rich cultural traditions at Irish Arts Center's annual St Patrick's Day Open Day! Guests of all ages can join in a céilí, sample educational offerings, make arts and crafts, and delight in the day’s free music and dance performances.

March 31: Symphony Space's public radio show and podcast, Selected Shorts, goes on the road with an evening of Irish fiction at Irish Arts Center.

April 2027

April 1: 'Our Steps Living Archive' presented by Jean Butler in association with Irish Arts Center and Jerome Robbins Dance Division is a multimedia homage to Irish dance. Including video and audio highlights from the collection and live demonstrations by traditional dance artist and archive participant Cara Butler plus special guests.

April 15-25: Choreographer Michael Keegan-Dolan and his Bessie Award-winning company, Teać Damsa, return to NYC with the North American premiere of 1975 / Naoi Déag Seachtó Cúig, following 2019’s Swan Lake / Loch na hEala at BAM and 2023’s How to Be a Dancer in 72,000 Easy Lessons at St. Ann’s Warehouse.

May 2027

May 1: Irish Arts Center hosts its first celebration of May Day and the Gaelic festival of Bealtaine. The surrounding neighborhood also joins in for a community party featuring music performances, a céilí, arts and crafts, and more. Admission is free.

*May 6-May 8: Villagers, the double Ivor Novello-winning project of indie-folk singer-songwriter Conor J. O'Brien, comes to Irish Arts Center for a weeklong residency and their first NYC performance since 2016.

*May 12: Fiction editor from 'The New Yorker' Deborah Treisman, joins Dublin Literary Award-winning author Kevin Barry in conversation at Irish Arts Center, celebrating the relationship between 'The New Yorker' and the generations of Irish and Irish American writers it has welcomed.

May 14: Traditional Irish Sessions in the Devlin Café at Irish Arts Center are back! Beginner players kick off the event at 6pm; advanced players jump in at 8pm. Audience members—join at any time.

May 22: Féile na Gaeilge is a bilingual event for speakers of all levels, including beginners and those simply curious about Irish cultural heritage. Come together for conversation circles, workshops, film screenings, and performances at Irish Arts Center's annual celebration of the Irish language.

June 2027:

June 8-12: Irish-French chanteuse Camille O'Sullivan and pianist Feargal Murray return to Irish Arts Center for their fifth engagement with an intimate evening of songs from across her wide-ranging interpretive catalog, including audience favorites.

*Supported by Culture Ireland.