Based at Elms College in Chicopee, the center preserves the legacy of Irish who settled here through programs, trips and its monthly newsletter.
CHICOPEE—The Irish Cultural Center at Elms College is celebrating its 15th anniversary, of keeping the "Irish arts alive."
“Our members desire to connect with their roots be it through music, art or language, travel,” said Ellen L. Dziura, executive director. “Members love learning and sharing their family history, and the center facilitates that; it is core to what we are all about. In turn, this creates a demand for more/higher quality events.”
Sister of St. Joseph of Springfield Judith E. Kappenman became a member of the center when it opened in 1999, joined the board in 2002, became director in 2003, and since her retirement in 2012, she has continued to volunteer.
“The Irish Cultural Center is housed at the Elms College where an academic setting offers advantages in promoting our culture. The administration and staff have offered us a warm and generous hospitality,” said Kappenman, author of "To Dakota and Back, the Story of an Orphan Train Rider," about her Irish grandfather.
She is also co-editor, with former director Anne-Gerard Flynn, of The Republican's "The Irish Legacy: A History of the Irish in Western Massachusetts."
The center has served as a way for people to learn about the Irish culture, including the Irish language, its history, arts, music and literature. It has hosted speakers, musicians and peacemakers from Ireland. It has hosted artists’ displays and bands’ concerts.
“We have offered a Celtic Camp for Kids to ensure that the young are introduced to the culture,” Kappenman said.
Irish language classes have been continuous at the Elms for years, even before the establishment of the center.
“Five years ago a committee of members of the Irish Cultural Center made a proposal to the Elms College to apply for a Fulbright teacher from Ireland, and since that time four young people have taught the classes (in Irish) at the Elms, as well as becoming involved in the local community in various ways depending on their talent and interests,” she added.
The center was the work of then Elms President Sister of St. Joseph Kathleen Keating, Elms professor of history Thomas F. Moriarty, the first director and an Irish speaker, and Sean F. Cahillane, current board president whose mother came to Western Massachusetts from the Great Blasket Island off Ireland’s West Coast. Attendance at a film about the Blaskets helped spur the establishment of a center to promote the Irish language, culture and those who settled here from their once impoverished and oppressed country.
The center offers an Irish film series each year and an annual ceilidh (social gathering with music and dancing). There is also a monthly newsletter.
Other activities have included exhibits in Borgia Gallery at Elms College, and every May the center hosts La Gaeilge, a day of immersion in the Irish language. This year the language day will take place May 3, and Breandán Ó Caollaí, the new consul general from Boston, will participate.
In summer, the center hosts the Celtic camp; this year it will take place the week of July 28. It offers Irish language, dance, music, crafts and storytelling/literature to children. “The program is designed to give youngsters in the second through eighth grades an introduction to the richness of the Irish culture,” Dziura said.
Other center activities include guest speakers and musicians and “Christmas with an Irish Touch,” which includes a Mass partly celebrated in Irish and a holiday event afterward.
The center sponsors an annual trip to Ireland and trips to concerts in Amherst and to Ireland's Great Hunger Museum at Quinnipiac University.
Genealogy support and reference material are also available.
The center has collaborated on projects with local Irish organizations, Boston College and with The Republican on the Irish immigration book and related exhibit at the Springfield Museums.
On May 3, the center will hold its 14th Lá na Gaéilge (Irish Language Day) on the Elms campus. The day is presented as an "opportunity for those with an interest in the language - beginners and those with varying levels of competence - to deepen their knowledge. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m, and concludes with entertainment around 5 p.m.
Kathleen E. Doe, a board member, works on its marketing and strategic plans; she established and maintains the its Facebook page and YouTube channel.
“Facebook has made it easier for us to get the word out about events to people who may not be members of the center, and then they can easily share events and photos with their friends,” Doe noted.
The center’s subscriber base has been steadily growing now with more than 400 “likes.”
“The center's mission is to allow people to engage in activities that promote the Irish arts and culture, and Facebook is all about engaging and sharing,” she said.
The center also participates in the annual Holyoke St. Patrick's Parade.
“History is being lost. We are keeping it alive,” board member Francis Hennessey said.
Membership in the center for a single person is $35, for a family $60, for a patron $250 (if received four consecutive years, the donor becomes a lifetime member), and for a lifetime membership $1,000.
For more information on the upcoming language day and other events, call (413) 265-2537 or go online at www.elmsirishcenter.org.