MUSEUM OF NEWPORT IRISH HISTORY
ANNUAL LECTURE SERIES

Thank you for your interest in our Annual Lecture Series.  For information about each talk, including videotapes of many of the lectures, please scroll down. To access information for the 19th Annual and prior series, click on the green labeled bars.

For the talk overview and guest speaker bio please click the “Description” button. Click the “Video” button to play the recording of a past lecture. Reservations are required for all of our talks and a modest fee/donation may apply. Unless otherwise stated, all talks begin at 6:00 p.m. and are live-streamed via Zoom.

After our usual December-January hiatus, the 22nd Annual Lecture Series continues on Monday, February 26, 2024 with a talk by author and journalist, Christopher Klein, to be presented virtually, via Zoom.  The 2023-24 Series will close on Wednesday, March 20 with a talk by Steve Marino, to be held in person at the Wyndham Newport Hotel (Middletown, R.I.), and live streamed via Zoom.

An invitation to all talks will be U.S. mailed and e-mailed to all Museum members of record, and posted on this page, below. Links to reserve for the talks will be published shortly on this page.

Please consider becoming a member and supporting our popular lecture series.

To reach the Lecture Series Coordinator, Ann Arnold, please write to NewportIrishHistory@gmail.com

  • 2023 -2024 Series (22nd Annual)

    Steve Marino, “The Great Cutter Race of 1905: An Irish Tale of Newport’s Gilded Age”

    March 20, 2024 at 6:00 p.m. in person at the Wyndham Newport Hotel and via Zoom.
    Lecture made possible by a generous gift from Frank Furtado, in memory of Barbara Carr Furtado

    To register, select an option below.
    If you will be joining us in person, a $5 donation, payable at the door via cash or check to “MNIH,” is requested. No fee to participate via Zoom.

    NOTE: If you’d like to attend the lecture and reception to follow in person, and are not currently a member of the Museum of Newport Irish History, please consider joining by visiting the “Membership” page on this website. Those who join to attend the lecture will have the $5 per-person lecture fee waived.

    To Register to participate via Zoom (no fee):

    Questions about this lecture?  Click below to email Ann Arnold, Lecture Series Coordinator.

    Christopher Klein, “John L. Sullivan, ‘The Boston Strong Boy’: America’s First Irish American Hero”

    February 26, 2024 at 6:00 p.m. via Zoom.
    Lecture made possible by a generous gift from Margaret Armstrong Murray, given in memory of her husband, Vincent J. Murray

    Maureen D. Brady, “The Surprising U.S. Roots of Ireland’s Tourism Industry, 1950s-1960s”

    November 13, 2023 @ 6:00 pm. In person at the Wyndham Newport Hotel and via Zoom.
    Lecture made possible by a generous gift from Valarie and Dana Gelb

    Dr. Mark A. Stickney, “The Irish Musicians of Newport”

    October 16, 2023 @ 6:00 pm. In person at the Wyndham Newport Hotel and via Zoom.
    Lecture made possible by a generous gift from Larry Bartley, given in honor of Patrick F. Murphy, Museum Board Member Emeritus

    Dr. Christine Kinealy, “Forgotten Heroes of Ireland’s Great Hunger”

    September 26, 2023 @ 6:00 pm. In person at the Wyndham Newport Hotel and via Zoom.
    Lecture made possible by a generous gift from Virginia Pittsley in memory of Dr. Cheryl A. McCarthy

  • 2022 -2023 Series (21st Annual)

    Mike Slein, “A Virtual Tour of Irish Newport: Connecting the Dots”

    March 29, 2023 @ 6:00 pm. In person at the Wyndham Newport Hotel and via Zoom.
    Lecture made possible by a generous gift from Frank Furtado in memory of Barbara Carr Furtado

    Note: Do to a technical issue, the videotape of Mike Slein’s talk presented on March 29, 2023 at the Wyndham Newport Hotel and live-streamed via Zoom, was not captured. Mike graciously agreed to re-present his lecture on the campus of Salve Regina University, which is the recording you may now access.”

    Maureen D. Brady, “Sarah Parker Remond: A Black Abolitionist in Ireland, 1859”

    February 21, 2023 @ 6:00 pm via Zoom
    Lecture made possible by a generous gift from Virginia Pittsley, given in memory of her husband, Bill Pittsley, and their son, Jay Pittsley

    Dr. Kurt C. Schlichting, “Ethnic Enclaves: Newport’s Kerry Hill Irish in 19th & Early 20th Century”

    November 14, 2022 @ 6:00 pm In person at the Wyndham Newport Hotel and via Zoom.
    Lecture made possible by a generous gift from The Fastnet Irish Pub.
    Fastnet Pub Newport

    Raymond J. McKenna, “From Emyvale to Providence: A Deep Dive Into a 19th Century Chain Migration”

    October 18, 2022 @ 6:00 pm In person at the Wyndham Newport Hotel and via Zoom.
    Lecture made possible by a generous gift from Margaret Armstrong Murray, given in memory of her husband, Vincent J. Murray

    Dr. Elizabeth Stack, “Immigrant Activists: Irish Americans who Built a Better Society”

    September 19, 2022 @ 6:00 pm In person at the Wyndham Newport Hotel (NEW venue) and via Zoom.
    Lecture made possible by a generous gift from Virginia Pittsley, given in memory of her husband, Bill Pittsley, and their son, Jay Pittsley