On Wednesday 17th March, York Irish Association will be taking over York Castle Museum’s Twitter account to highlight their work in the city and explore their heritage in our collection. 

The York Irish Association are a community organisation, established in May 2014, with the aims of bringing the Irish community and anyone with an interest in Irish culture together in York. The Association run various initiatives and events such as Irish music nights, talks, Irish language meet ups and social events.  

Some of the successes of the York Irish Association include organising York’s first ever St. Patrick’s Festival in 2015 (and four subsequent festivals), establishing Irish language lessons, bringing Tourism Ireland’s Global Greening Initiative to York, partnering up with York Civic Trust to have a plaque erected dedicated to York’s historical Irish community in Walmgate and hosting a York Irish culture night at York Barbican with the former Irish Ambassador to Britain. The Association is led by a dedicated committee of 11 volunteers. The Association have been successful in securing grants such as the Irish Government’s Emigrant Support Programme, Joseph Rowntree Foundation York Committee Funding, City of York Council Ward Funding and from the Lottery Awards for All programme. 

According to official statistics there were over 1500 Irish born people living in York in 2011 and in the past the Irish population made up over 7% of the population of the city. This all means that there is a substantial community of Irish born and descendants of Irish in the city today. York Irish has brought together an often isolated community in York to express its social and cultural identity while celebrating the unique connections between Ireland and the city. Everyone is welcome at York Irish events. Our logo represents how proud we are of both York and Ireland!  

http://www.yorkirish.co.uk/ 

@YorkIrish