NY Irish Center's to Launch 20th Anniversary Season in September Featuring Music, Theater & More

The NY Irish Center will celebrate 20 years as a hub for culture and community enrichment serving diverse constituencies in Long Island City, with an ambitious season of new programming initiatives starting in September.

Joining NYIC for the first time will be Ireland's national broadcaster TG4, introducing the first Irish language film festival in the US, in May 2025 (exact dates TBA).  Also unspooling at the Center will be a Saturday Cartoon Series of international cartoons curated by Ireland's celebrated animation studio Cartoon Saloon (starts Feb 2025).  A season-long literary deep-dive, “The National Endowment for the Arts ‘Big Read,'” runs from Oct 1 to June 30 with 18 events in partnership with Flushing Town Hall, Hunters Point Library, India Home and Irish American Writers and Artists.

Also among the highlights, NYIC premieres “Crossroads Concerts,” an exciting new music series that will blend and juxtapose Irish folk traditions with music from many other cultures (starts Thur Sept 19 at 7pm).

“In addition to the US and world premieres of plays and films we regularly present,” NYIC executive director George C. Heslin explains, “we want the 20th season to be full of new discoveries.  We also are happy to open our doors even wider than before to share Irish culture with more and more of our incredible neighbors.”

The season's kick-off event is a Blarney Star concert on Friday September 13 at 7pm. Headlining our resident trad music series on its first night of the season are the husband and wife duo of Siobhán and Willie Kelly (two stars of the Irish folk firmament in America).

And for two nights – September 25 and 26 – NYIC presents the NY premiere of Jay Sefton's explosive new one-man play, “Unreconciled,” brought to us straight from Belfast by the director Geraldine Hughes.

NYIC'S community-wide 20th Anniversary Celebration, on Saturday September 28, from 2pm to 5pm, brings together all of NYIC's constituent groups for a season sampler staged by Heslin, who has been the Center's executive director since 2020.  This is a free event with entertainment, but registering in advance is requested at www.newyorkirishcenter.org

“Our 20th Anniversary Celebration is an open-house style party,” says Heslin.  “It's something we love to do at the Center… you can show up and when you do, you can be sure there will be something on stage, and merriment will prevail in all corners of the Center. ”

 SEASON HIGHLIGHTS1/ The world music concert series, “Crossroads Concerts,” kicks off on Thursday September 19 at 7pm. Curated by the ethnomusicologist and educator Colin Harte, the 8-concert series blends and juxtaposes Irish folk traditions and instrumentation with music from many other cultures.  Running monthly from September to June (skipping November and January), Harte brings together a stunning line-up of virtuoso folk musicians, many of whom are renowned in nearby Queens neighborhoods.

The dates are Sept 19 (Irish with Plena from Puerto Rico); Oct 24 (Irish and jazz with Josh Marcum); Dec 5 (Irish Mummers with Puerto Rican Parranda); Feb 27 (Irish and Indian); Mar 27 (Irish and Ghanaian West African); Apr 24 (Irish and Arab) May 29 (Irish and African American jazz); Jun 12 (Irish and Shinnecock Nation).

“We do hope to see many of our Queens neighbors at these concerts as we explore the similarities and differences of our traditions,” says Heslin about the series. 

2/ In theater, acclaimed Broadway actor and director Geraldine Hughes brings us the NY premiere of “Unreconciled” hot off its recent highly praised European premiere in her native Belfast, for an exclusive two-night run at NYIC.  The deeply moving new drama about a boy abused by the parish priest who casts him to play Jesus in a school play, stars co-author Jay Sefton and plays on Wed/Thur Sept 25 and 26, both at 7pm. (Tickets now on sale at www.newyorkirishcenter.org )

3/ Now in its 31st year, the mega-popular trad concert series, Blarney Star, curated by Don Meade continues its crowd-pleasing run at NYIC. Scheduled so far are concerts on Sept 13, Oct 18, and Nov 22.  But more dates will follow as new, featured artists from both here and Ireland are confirmed.

4/ The National Endowment for the Arts Big Read program kicks off at the NY Irish Center on Tue Oct 1 Among the highlights are a screening of the Mira Nair-directed film “Namesake” based on the novel by Jhumpa Lahiri (Dec 11); creative writing workshops with, among others, journalist and writer Sadhbh Walshe (Jan 11, Feb 25, Mar 25, Apr 25), and a reading by Irish playwright and screenwriter Ursala Rani Sarma (April 24).

5/ In a new partnership with broadcaster TG4 in Ireland, NYIC will present a soon-to-be announced Irish Language Film Festival – the first of its kind in America -- beginning in May 2025.

MORE ON NYICFounded in 2002 by the late Father Colm Campbell and Paddy Reilly, NYIC opened its doors in 2004, to serve primarily as an Irish immigrant service organization and community center.  Over time the NY Irish Center became a showcase for local Irish cultural groups, and in recent years has begun to produce ambitious cultural programs of its own.  Now NYIC presents and produces more than 100 cultural and community events a year, serving a rapidly evolving Irish diaspora, while also eagerly welcoming other cultural communities from Queens to join us and collaborate.

6/ Notable among the on-going cultural attractions are the annual St Patrick's Day 6-hour cultural marathon, “40 Shades of Green” (4th annual on Mon Mar 17, 2025); the long-running Blarney Star traditional music concert series; the beloved Christmas concert, “NY Croons for Christmas with Colm Reilly & Friends” (this year Fri Dec 13) and two new major events added last season -- an annual free-outdoor family event, the Queens Irish Heritage Festival, sponsored by Tourism Ireland (planned for June '25), and the Women of Ireland Annual Celebration coinciding with St. Brigid's Day, Ireland's newest national holiday commemorating Ireland's matron saint.

7/ NYIC is also a host venue of the Origin 1st Irish Theater Festival (the 16th edition of which took place this past April).

8/ Among its community enrichment programs are the Wednesday Lunch Club -- one of the most popular active retirement gatherings in New York City; “The Story Continues” -- NYIC's quarterly LGBTQ+ networking event; and a gleeful family holiday event, the annual Toy Drive with special appearances by a different celebrity Santa every year. NYIC also houses Solace House, a provider of free, confidential suicide prevention counseling and mental health support available for anyone seeking help.

9/ All of NYIC's constituent groups gather for a Community Open House celebrating the 20th anniversary on Saturday September 28 from 2pm to 5pm.  Attendees will find out about season highlights and the Center's on-going events and activities: Irish language instruction; Saturday Computer class; Pop-Up Gaeltacht (Oct 3); the annual Woody Guthrie Folk Hoot (Oct 10); the Victorian Tea Party (Oct 27); and the annual Mercy Center Fundraiser Concert (Nov 16).  This is a free event with entertainment; registration is requested.

Through a mixture of social enrichment and cultural programs -- most taking place In its storefront theater, The Reilly Room -- the NY Irish Center actively supports an ever-changing Irish diaspora in New York.  It is a beloved showcase for local talent in comedy, music, theater, film, books and literacy while also serving as a favorite gateway into the busy New York cultural scene for numerous performers from the island of Ireland.

The New York Irish Center, 1040 Jackson Avenue in Long Island City, is just seven minutes, and one stop, on the 7 Train from Grand Central Station.

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