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 FurtadoTo 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. MurrayMaureen 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 GelbDr. 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 EmeritusDr. 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 FurtadoNote: 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 PittsleyRaymond 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. MurrayDr. 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
2021 -2022 Series (20th Annual)
Steve Marino, “The Life and Times of Patrick J. Boyle, Newport’s First Irish Mayor”
March 23, 2022 @ 6:00 pm In person at the Wayfinder Hotel and via Zoom
Lecture made possible by a generous gift from BankNewport
Dr. Elizabeth Stack, “Irish Women in the American Labor Movement”
February 22, 2022 @ 6:00 pm via Zoom
Dr. Debra A. Mulligan, “Cheers to Eire: The Political Life of J. Howard McGrath”
Lecture made possible by a generous gift from Francis “Frank” Furtado, given in memory of his wife, Barbara Carr Furtado
November 15, 2021 @ 6:00 pm in person at the Wayfinder Hotel and via ZoomDr. Margaret Lynch-Brennan and Ms. Leslie B. Jones, “The Irish Bridget: Irish Immigrant Women in Domestic Service in America, 1840-1930, With Spotlight on Irish Servants of the Newport Mansions”
Lecture made possible by a generous gift from an anonymous donor.
October 25, 2021 @ 6:00 pm. In person at the Wayfinder Hotel and via ZoomDr. John Quinn and Mr. Keith Stokes, “Shared Spaces: The Irish and African Heritage Experience in Gilded Age Newport”
Lecture made possible by a generous gift from Virginia Pittsley, given in memory of her husband, Bill Pittsley, and their son, Jay Pittsley
September 13, 2021 @ 6:00 pm. In person at the Wayfinder Hotel and via ZoomIn person at the Wayfinder Hotel and via Zoom
2020-2021 Series (19th Annual)
Janet Nolan, PhD, “When Harry Met Mary Ann: An Irish Family in an American City”
April 21, 2021 @ 6:00 pm via Zoom
Chuck Arning, Public Historian, ” How Hard Would It Be to Dig a Ditch Anyhow? – How the Irish Saved The Blackstone Canal”
March 16, 2021 @ 6:00 pm via Zoom
Erik J. Chaput, PhD, “Politics, Bigotry and Nativism: Rhode Island’s Catholic Irish in the 1842 Dorr Rebellion”
February 10, 2021 @ 6:00 pm via Zoom
Joseph Lennon, PhD, “Famine Memories: Terence MacSwiney’s 1920 Hunger Strike”
November 6, 2020 @ 6:00 pm via Zoom
2019-2020 Series (18th Annual)
Shai Afsai, Sean O’Callaghan, Ph.D., & John Quinn, Ph.D., “Ireland’s Jewish Community and Newport’s Irish Rabbi”
November 4, 2019 @ 6:00 pm at the Mainstay Hotel & Conference Center
Rev. Robert W. Hayman, Ph.D., “The Early and Mostly Forgotten History of the Ancient Order of Hibernians and Ladies Auxiliary in Rhode Island From 1849 to 1920”
October 21, 2019 @ 6:00 pm at the Mainstay Hotel & Conference Center
Christopher Klein, “When the Irish Invaded Canada: The Incredible True Story of the Civil War Veterans Who Fought for Ireland’s Freedom”
September 26, 2019 @ 6:00 pm at the Mainstay Hotel & Conference Center
2018-2019 Series (17th Annual)
Cormac L.H. O’Malley, J.D., “Ernie O’Malley (1897-1957): Irish Patriot and Author: A Life Fighting the Pale”
April 26, 2019 @ 6:00 pm at the Mainstay Hotel & Conference Center
Dr. Lucy Salyer, author of “Under the Starry Flag: How a Band of Irish Americans Joined the Fenian Revolt and Sparked a Crisis over Citizenship”
March 25, 2019 @ 6:00 pm at the Mainstay Hotel & Conference Center
Brendan O’Malley, Ph.D. Newbury College, “How the Irish Shaped Immigrant Politics in Nineteenth-Century New York”
February 11, 2019 @ 6:00 pm at the Mainstay Hotel & Conference Center (NEW venue)
Tom Foley, M.A. Candidate, University of Rhode Island, “The Emmet Guards of Worcester, Mass.”
November 28, 2018 @ 6:00 pm at the International Tennis Hall of Fame
Christine Kinealy, Ph.D., “Frederick Douglass and Ireland”
September 26, 2018 @ 6:00 pm at the International Tennis Hall of Fame
2017-2018 Series (16th Annual)
Kurt C. Schlichting, Ph.D., “The Irish in Newport – Building a Community: The St. Mary’s Church ‘Great Collection of 1881′”
April 24, 2018 @ 6:00 pm at the International Tennis Hall of Fame
Steve Marino, “The Newport Pre-Famine Irish Community in Transition: 1836-1846”
March 20, 2018 @ 6:00 pm at the International Tennis Hall of Fame
Ray McKenna, MA, “Providence’s ‘Little Ulster’: Urban Industrial Life and the Famine Irish Generation”
November 13, 2017 @ 6:00 pm at the International Tennis Hall of Fame
John F. Quinn, Ph.D., “The French Effect: How Rochambeau’s Occupation Benefited the Irish in Newport”
October 16, 2017 @ 6:00 pm at the International Tennis Hall of Fame
Janet Nolan, Ph.D., “Weathering the Storm: A Fish Story of Ireland and Irish-America”
September 27, 2017 @ 6:00 pm at the International Tennis Hall of Fame
2016-2017 Series (15th Annual)
Kurt C. Schlichting, Ph.D., “Manhattan’s Irish Immigrant Neighborhoods: From the Famine to the Movie Classic – On the Waterfront”
April 10, 2017 @ 6:00 pm at the International Tennis Hall of Fame
Rebecca L. Abbott. MFA., Prof. of Communications, Dept. of Film, TV & Media at Quinnipiac U. and Christine Kinealy, Ph.D, founding Dir. of “Ireland’s Great Hunger Institute” at Quinnipiac, will host the documentary film: “Ireland’s Great Hunger and the Irish Diaspora”
March 28, 2017 @ 6:00 pm at the International Tennis Hall of Fame
Scott Molloy, Ph.D. – “George W. Potter and the Providence Journal’s 1950 Irish Pilgrimage”
November 30, 2016 @ 6:00 pm at the International Tennis Hall of Fame
Steve Marino: – “Fort Adams and the Irish”
October 25, 2016 @ 4:00 pm & 6:00 pm at the International Tennis Hall of Fame
Margaret Lynch-Brennan, Ph.D., Public Scholar for New York Council for the Humanities: “The Irish Bridget: Irish Immigrant Women in Domestic Service in America, 1840-1930”
September 20, 2016 @ 6:00 pm at the International Tennis Hall of Fame
2015-2016 Series (14th Annual)
Dean Robinson and Donald D. Deignan, Ph.D., of Ireland’s Easter Rising of 1916 Centennial Remembrance Committee of R.I. and John Quinn, Ph.D., of Salve Regina University: ” A Doomed Rebellion? The 1916 Easter Rising and Its Impact on the Irish Newporters.”
April 12, 2016 @ 6:00 pm at the International Tennis Hall of Fame
Edward H. Furey, founder, The Keely Society: “Patrick C. Keely’s Legacy to the Catholic Church in America and St. Mary’s Church in Newport, R.I.”
March 22, 2016 @ 6:00 pm at St. Mary’s Church, Newport
Edward T. McCarron, Ph.D. – “Facing the Atlantic: Ireland, Newfoundland and Outmigration to New England, 1790-1860”
November 12, 2015 @ 6:00 pm at the International Tennis Hall of Fame
Tom Riley – “The Great Hunger and Its Impact On The Orphan Train Era in America, 1853-1929”
October 15, 2015 @ 6:00 pm at the International Tennis Hall of Fame
Barbara (Lepley) Roy – “How to Obtain Your Irish Citizenship”
September 9, 2015 @ 6:00 pm at the International Tennis Hall of Fame
2014-2015 Series (13th Annual)
Michael Feldberg, Ph.D., Exec. Dir. George Washington Institute for Religious Freedom, (www.gwirf.org.) “When Irish-American Catholic Churches Burned: The Philadelphia Bible Riots of 1844.”
April 16, 2015 @ 6:00 pm at the Young Building, Salve Regina University
Scott Molloy, Ph.D. ” Rhode Island Irish Socio-Economic Progress: From “Shanty” to “Lace Curtain” during the Gilded Age”
March 26, 2015 @ 6:00 pm at the Young Building, Salve Regina University
Kurt C. Schlichting, Ph.D. ” The Irish Immigrants in Newport: A Question of Upward Mobility”
November 17, 2014 @ 6:00 pm at the International Tennis Hall of Fame
Cahal Dunne, Irish singer/songwriter on his new semi-autobiographical book, “Put Yer Rosary Beads Away Ma”
October 27, 2014 @ 6:00 pm at the International Tennis Hall of Fame
Edward T. O’Donnell, Ph.D. “Streets of Fire: The Irish and the Civil War Draft Riots of July 1863”
October 6, 2014 @ 6:00 pm at the International Tennis Hall of Fame
Rev. Robert W. Hayman, Ph.D. ” Rhode Island’s Struggle to Redeem Its Promise to Its Irish Civil War Volunteers”
September 10, 2014 @ 6:00 pm at the International Tennis Hall of Fame
2013-2014 Series (12th Annual)
2012-2013 Series (11th Annual)
Scott Molloy, Ph.D., “Revisiting “Our Own Kind”: An ‘Angela’s Ashes’ Tale set in Rhode Island”
March 25, 2013 @ 6:00 pm
Karen A. Holland, Ph.D., “Hero of the Siege of Londonderry, 1689?”
February 25, 2013 @ 6:00 pm
Kurt C. Schlichting, Ph.D., “Exploring the Historical Record of Irish Immigration: To American and Newport”
January 17, 2013 @ 6:00 pm
John F. Quinn, Ph.D., “The Rise and Fall of Charles Stewart Parnell, Ireland’s ‘Uncrowned King’”
October 15, 2012 @ 6:00 pm
Donald D. Deignan, Ph.D., “The Rhode Island Irish Famine Memorial: Its Past, Present and Future”
September 17, 2012 @ 6:00 pm
2011-2012 Series (10th Annual)
Roxanne O’Connell, Ph.D., “Your Granny’s Gramophone: The Cultural Impact of early recording technology on Irish Music”
March 22, 2012 @ 6:00 pm at the International Tennis Hall of Fame
Marian Mathison Desrosiers, Ph.D., “Remembering the Famine: The McGlinchey of Inishowen and Cambridge, MA”
January 18, 2012 @ 6:00 pm at the International Tennis Hall of Fame (NEW venue)
With gratitude to Dr. Desrosiers for graciously sharing these documents with the Museum and allowing their public posting.
Kurt C. Schlichting, Ph.D. “The Irish in Newport: A Detailed Examination of the 1880 Census”
November 8, 2011 @ 6:00 pm at the La Forge Casino Restaurant
John F. Quinn, Ph.D., “The Irish in Gilded Age Newport”
October 13, 2011 @ 6:00 pm at the La Forge Casino Restaurant
William J. Matthews, Ph.D., “A History of the IRA: Oglaigh na Heireann”
September 15, 2011 @ 6:00 pm at the La Forge Casino Restaurant
2010-2011 Series (9th Annual)
Kenneth R. Dooley, playwright & author, “The Murder Trial of John Gordon”
January 6, 2011 @ 6:00 pm
Marian Mathison Desrosiers, Ph.D., “Island Girl”: Justice Florence Kerins Murray (1916-2004)”
November 4, 2010 @ 6:00 pm
Oral History: Interview of Justice Murray in 2001
Transcript of the interview of Justice Florence K. Murray by Museum of Newport Irish History board member in 2001.
Interview took place at the La Forge Casino Restaurant, Bellevue Avenue, Newport, R.I. Transcribed by Marian Mathison Desrosiers in 2010.With gratitude to Dr. Desrosiers for graciously sharing these documents with the Museum and allowing their public posting.
William J. Matthews, Ph.D., “Eamon De Valera: The Man Who Was 20th Century Ireland”
October 7, 2010 @ 6:00 pm
2009-2010 Series (8th Annual)
Denny Lynch, Photographer, MS, BS, “Maryland’s Irish Connections”
March 3, 2010 @ 6:00 pm
Joyce M. Botelho, M.A. – “Nora Mulloy’s Newport”
November 17, 2009 @ 6:00 pm
2008-2009 Series (7th Annual)
Denny Lynch, Photographer, MS, BS, “The Battle of Baltimore, September 1814”
March 3, 2009 @ 6:00 pm
William J. Matthews, Ph.D., “The Irish Famine (An Gorta Mor) 1845-1849”
February 19, 2009 @ 6:00 pm
2007-2008 Series (6th Annual)
Alen MacWeeney, Photographer, Author, “Irish Travelers, Tinkers No More” (New England College Press, 2007)
November 29, 2007 @ 6:00 pm
William J. Matthews, Ph.D., “The Life and Times of Michael Collins”
November 8, 2007 @ 6:00 pm
2006-2007 Series (5th Annual)
Denny Lynch, photographer, “Returning to Kerry: Photographic Sojourns in and Around Kerry.”
February 28, 2007 @ 6:00 pm
2005-2006 Series (4th Annual)
Paul O’Malley, Ph.D., “Ireland and the Spanish Civil War: A Foreign Policy Racy of Irish Soil”
December 1, 2005 @ 6:00 pm
- The term “Racy” has been used in the past as a way of commending the organization or policy as exhibiting the excellence of the Irish race, according to Dr. O’Malley
2004-2005 Series (3rd Annual)
Fr. Robert Hayman, “Irish immigrants in Rhode Island prior to 1860, with a special look at the Newport area”.
November 18, 2004 @ 6:00 pm
- He referred to the memoirs of Bishop Fenwick of Boston who noted that in 1827 there were about 150 Irish men working at Ft. Adams, and some 35 working in the Portsmouth coal mines.
- He also referenced the baptismal records of children born to parents working at Ft. Adams in the late 1820s and the obituary of James Cottrell who came to Newport from Ireland to work on the Fort in 1828.
2003-2004 Series (2nd Annual)
Denny Lynch, Photographer
March 26, 2004 @ 6:00 pm
Evelyn Sterne, Ph.D. – “Irish in Politics and the Catholic Church”
February 5, 2004 @ 6:00 pm
Charles Duff, Ph.D. – “Edwin O’Connor’s Boston”
December 2, 2003 @ 6:00 pm
Seamus Connolly, Boston College – “An Evening of Irish Traditional music, different languages and stories”
October 23, 2003 @ 6:00 pm
2002-2003 Series (1st Annual)
Earlier Lectures
- Dermot Ryan, Founder and Secretary of the Kinsale Historical Society –
“The Battle of Kinsale” October 30, 2001, La Forge Casino Restaurant. Click HERE for an overview of this lecture from our Fall 2001 Newsletter. - Patricia O’Mally, PhD, Bradford College. Sunday, October 31, 1999, Salve Regina University. Dr. O’Malley dicussed the early Irish in Massachusetts and shared her research methods. For an overview of her talk, click HERE for the article in our Winter 2000 newsletter.
- James Garman, PhD, Salve Regina University – “Some New Interpretations on the Establishment of Newport’s Irish Community, 1840-1870”
- Dermot Ryan, Founder and Secretary of the Kinsale Historical Society –