Archives of Irish America County Societies Collection

Call Number

AIA.003

Dates

1902-2017, inclusive

; 1970-2001, bulk

Creator

Archives of Irish America

Kearns, Martin (Role: Donor)

Forde, Michael (Role: Donor)

Smyth, Treasa Goodwin (Role: Donor)

Extent

35.17 Linear Feet

in 17 record cartons, 16 manuscript boxes, 2 half manuscript boxes, 8 oversize flat boxes, and 4 artifact boxes.

Extent

132 Megabytes

in 1 recording

Language of Materials

Materials are in English. Some materials in Irish.

Abstract

This collection documents the activities of Irish county societies in New York City. The organizations were first established in the late 1840s as social organizations, although later some groups began to intercede on behalf of evicted Irish tenants and offer benefits for sickness and death. Sports teams, especially hurling and Gaelic football, eventually became an important aspect of the societies. This collection consists of printed materials such as photographs, correspondence, circular letters, dinner journals, program flyers, meeting minutes, financial records, and other printed ephemera related to these societies' activities.

Historical Note

Irish county organizations were first organized in New York City in the late 1840s. The early societies were for the most part purely social organizations, but in the 1870s some started to offer benefits for sickness and death. Sports teams eventually became an important component of county organizations, especially hurling and Gaelic football clubs. In the 1880s, inspired by the land reform movement in Ireland, many additional county societies were organized. Evictions and high rents were often fought on a local basis in Ireland, and in New York a county society rather than one of the broader Irish fraternal or social organizations could often respond better or faster to sudden developments in the old country. In the early 1890s the first attempt was made to establish a central body to coordinate the Irish county societies; such an organization was set up in Manhattan and at the same time a similar coordinating body was formed in Brooklyn, where many county societies existed independently. Both of these overseeing bodies were similar in design to the present-day United Irish Counties Association (UICA), but after only a few years of work the early umbrella organizations went out of existence.

A detailed and informative history of county societies in New York by John T. Ridge, Mary McMullan and Mae O'Driscoll(from which the text above was excerpted and adapted) can be found on the UICA web site, at:

http://www.uicany.org/United_Irish_Counties/History.html

Arrangement

The collection is organized in 32 series, listed alphabetically by county name. Files are arranged alphabetically within each series. Individual series have been created for each Irish county, even if there is no representative material in the collection.

Scope and Contents

The collection consists primarily of printed materials such as circular letters, dinner journals and flyers related to the activities of Irish county societies based in New York City, dating mostly from the twentieth century. Dinner-dances, balls and events in conjunction with St. Patrick's Day, and activities of hurling and Gaelic football clubs are extensively documented in the collection.

All of the series contain journals and programs from dances and banquets. Of special note in the collection are Series XI: Fermanagh, XV: Kilkenny, and Series XXV: Roscommon. In addition to programs and journals, these series also contain financial records, correspondence, membership logs and information, and minutes. Photographs of social events, most unidentified, can be found in the Clare, Fermanagh and Roscommon series. Series XXVI: Sligo contains a published history of the County Sligo assocation in New York. Series VI: Cork contains a County Cork Flag filed with an obituary in remembrance of Dr. Maire Bradshaw, sister of the Mayor of Limerick and a Ph.D. in zoology and botany. Dr. Bradshaw held the position of Assistant Director of Scientific Research for the Helena Rubenstein Comsmetics Corporation in New York and later worked for New York City's Department of Health in the Bureau of Radiation Control.

Individual series exist for every county, even though the collection does not contain material representing each county.

Subjects

Genres

Correspondence.; Clippings (information artifacts); Souvenir programs.; Financial records; Minutes (administrative records); Ledgers (account books); Black-and-white photographs.

People

Gilroy, John G.; Kearns, Martin (Role: Donor); Forde, Michael (Role: Donor); Smyth, Treasa Goodwin (Role: Donor)

Topics

Hurling (Game); Gaelic football.; Irish Americans -- Social life and customs.; Irish Americans -- Societies, etc.; Irish Americans -- Ethnic identity.

Donors

Forde, Michael; Kearns, Martin; Smyth, Treasa Goodwin

Conditions Governing Access

Open for research without restrictions.

Conditions Governing Use

Because of the assembled nature of this collection, copyright status varies across the collection.

In 1999, Kathleen Mulvey transferred any copyright she held in Series III of this collection. In 2017, the County Cork B. P. & P. Association of New York transferred any copyright that they held in the constitutions and minute books in Series VI of this collection. In 1999, the County Roscommon Society of New York transferred any copyright that they held in Series XXV of this collection. Permission to publish or reproduce materials in these series must be secured from the Tamiment Library.

In the remainder of the collection, copyright is assumed to be held by the original creator of individual items in the collection; these items are expected to pass into the public domain 120 years after their creation. The Tamiment Library is not authorized to grant permission to publish or reproduce materials from this collection other than Series III, VI, and XXV.

Preferred Citation

Published citations should take the following form:

Identification of item, date; Archives of Irish America County Societies Collection; AIA 003; box number; folder number;
Archives of Irish America, Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.

Location of Materials

Materials stored offsite and advance notice is required for use. Please request materials at least two business days prior to research visit.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Material in this collection was acquired from individual officers and members of particular county societies, was collected by archives staff, or came to the Archives as part of a larger collection. The accession numbers associated with this collection include 1997.008, 2010.036, 2012.028, 2017.025, 2018.116, 2019.103, and 2021.081.

In March 2025, Marion Casey donated an accretion; the accession number associated with this transfer is 2025.034.

Custodial History

The Kerrymen's Patriotic and Benevolent Association minute book was lent to New York University in 2017 for digitization as part of a project to digitize minute books belonging to Irish county societies in New York City. The minute book was returned to the Kerrymen's Patriotic and Benevolent Association in 2019.

Audiovisual Access Policies and Procedures

Audiovisual materials have not been preserved and may not be available to researchers. Materials not yet digitized will need to have access copies made before they can be used. To request an access copy, or if you are unsure if an item has been digitized, please contact tamiment.wagner@nyu.edu with the collection name, collection number, and a description of the item(s) requested. A staff member will respond to you with further information.

Born-Digital Access Policies and Procedures

Advance notice is required for the use of computer records. Original physical digital media is restricted.

Some born-digital materials have not been transferred and may not be available to researchers. Researchers may request access copies. To request that material be transferred, or if you are unsure if material has been transferred, please contact tamiment.wagner@nyu.edu with the collection name, collection number, and a description of the item(s) requested. A staff member will respond to you with further information.

Appraisal

The following materials County Antrim from accession 2025.034 deaccessioned: a donation to County Antrim with checking account information; documentation of immigration legal case including information about circumstances of immigration and A-file#.

Related Material at the Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives

Archives of Irish America Vertical File Collection (AIA 013) Gaelic Athletic Association (AIA 028) Ancient Order of Hibernians (AIA 046) United Irish Counties Association of New York (AIA 056) Emerald Societies of New York (AIA 057)

Collection processed by

Rebecca Altermatt

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2025-04-22 20:08:17 UTC.

Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Language: Description is in English.

Processing Information

Decisions concerning the arrangement, description, and physical interventions taken on this collection prior to 2017 have not yet been recorded. In April 2017, an accretion of minute books from County Cork was intellectually incorporated into Series VI in accordance with the existing arrangement scheme.

In August 2017, two items were prepared to be moved to offsite art storage in September 2017.

Until February 2018, boxes 28 and 29 were labeled as "Unprocessed" and housed material separated for use in the exhibit The Fifth Province: County Societies in Irish America at Glucksman Ireland House in 2011. In February 2018, this material was incorporated into appropriate series in this collection, the Archives of Irish America Vertical Files (AIA 013), the Margaret Callaghan Papers (AIA.059), and the Archives of Irish America United Irish Counties Association Collection (AIA.056).

In April 2025, an accretion was rehoused in archival boxes and folders and intellectually incorporated into the collection's existing arrangement (physically housed in Boxes 59-65). One optical disc was imaged, forensically analyzed, and inventoried. New York University Libraries follow professional standards and best practices when imaging, ingesting, and processing born-digital material in order to maintain the integrity of the content.

Revisions to this Guide

April 2017: Record edited by Rachel Searcy to reflect incorporation of 2017 accretion

August 2017: Updated by Megan O'Shea to prepare artwork being sent to offsite art storage in September 2017

February 2018: Updated by Megan O’Shea to reflect the incorporation of items separated for use in the exhibit The Fifth Province: County Societies in Irish America at Glucksman Ireland House in 2011

September 2018: Updated by Megan O'Shea to reflect the incorporation of material from accession number 2018.116

September 2019: Updated by Rachel Searcy to reflect 2019 accretion

December 2021: Updated by Rachel Searcy to reflect 2021 accretion

December 2021: Updated by Aki Snyder to include Ladies Cavan Uniform

March 2022: Updated by Aki Snyder to include two boxes added to Armagh series

April 2025: Updated by Rachel Searcy to reflect 2025 accretion

Repository

Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives