Sept. 12, 2025

Dear Members,

All members have now received an invitation in the mail to our much-anticipated fall musical-comedy FUNdraiser,"Blarney, Bologna and Beyond," to be presented Friday, October 10, in the St. Augustin's Church Hall, and starring "local celebrity"

Fr. Mark A. Sauriol, pastor of St. Augustin's and St. Mary's sister parishes, and Life Member of the Museum of Newport Irish History.

Fr. Mark has assembled a fabulous,"cross-cultural" cast for this fun-filled farce, and we anticipate a most memorable night. The show will not be live-streamed and space is limited, so reserve your tickets now!

Click the button below to reserve tickets for Oct. 10 or to make a donation to support the fundraiser's success if you are unable to join us in person.

Please scroll down for reminders of our other Fall happenings, including Dr. Scott Molloy's much-anticipated lecture on September 22, in person and via Zoom, and our historic Irish cemetery tours.

Finally, be sure to "Save these Dates" for our next two lectures:


Mon. Oct. 20: Dr. Timothy J. Meagher

 Sponsored by Larry Bartley


Wed. Nov. 19: Cormac K.H. O'Malley

Sponsored by Frank Furtado, In Memory of Barbara Carr Furtado

As always, lecture details will be share with our members via U.S. mail and e-newsletter, and links to reserve will be posted on the "Lectures" page of our website.


Newport’s own Fr. Mark Sauriol stars as “Father Enrico Antonio Tagliatelle,“ pastor emeritus of the International Culinary Institute, Bologna.

When the Irish Museum’s guest

speaker falls ill, he is pressed into service to give a lecture.

Join us as Fr. Tagliatelle takes to the stage to recount the noble journey of the Irish from the Emerald Isle to Newport… and almost gets it right.

The lecture is saved by talented Irish

musicians and singers — and a Portuguese announcer.

We are in for a memorable night!

Friday, October 10, 2025

St. Augustin's Church Hall 
2 Eastnor Road, Newport, RI 02840

DOORS OPEN: 6:30 pm

PERFORMANCE BEGINS: 7:00 pm

Tickets: $20

Desserts – Wine & Beer – 50/50 Raffle

Click logo to visit store website

with thanks to our Oct. 10

Wine & Beer Sponsor:

Jason Gold and

Gold's Wine and Spirits

48 Valley Road, Middletown, R.I.

near intersection with E. Main Road

First Program of the 2025-26 Series

~ Our 24th Annual ~

 Guest Speaker:

Dr. Scott Molloy

Monday, September 22, 6:00 p.m.

Wyndham Newport Hotel

240 Aquidneck Ave, Middletown, R.I.

and Live-Streamed via Zoom

Made possible by a generous gift from

Virginia Pittsley

Given in memory of her husband, Bill Pittsley

and their son, Jay Pittsley

For the talk overview, click HERE

• Doors open at 5:30 p.m.
• Light hors d'oeuvres & cash bar available
• 
  

Click a link below to sign up


In-person: $5 fee at the door

(cash or check to MNIH)

Zoom registrants: No fee

SCOTT MOLLOY is Professor Emeritus at the University of R.I., where he was an award-winning professor at the Schmidt Labor Research Center. He previously drove a RIPTA bus, was a union activist, and was chief of staff to a U.S. Congresswoman. He earned his doctorate in American History from Providence College in 1991.

A prolific writer, Molloy wrote, Trolley Wars: Streetcar Workers on the Line (U. of N.H., 2007), Irish Titan, Irish Toilers: Joseph Banigan and Nineteenth-Century New England Labor (U. Press of N.E., 2008), and his latest book, From the Front of the Bus to the Front of the Class: Growing Up a Baby Boomer in Rhode Island (2022).

Dr. Molloy was inducted into the Labor History Society Hall of Fame and the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame. The Molloy Labor and Transit Collections wing at the U.R.I. library houses Dr. Molloy’s donated archive related to labor and transit in the Ocean State. The Smithsonian Institution in Washington is home to a 10,000-piece collection of labor memorabilia donated by Dr. Molloy and named in his honor.

Scott Molloy holds dual U.S.-Irish Citizenship and served as Grand Marshal of the 2018 Providence St. Patrick’s Day Parade. We welcome him for this, his sixth speaking engagement with the Museum.

Photo of Scott Molloy courtesy of the Providence Journal

Dr. John F. Quinn

Dr. Jolly's book, "Nuns of the Battlefield," published in 1927

The Newport Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians (LAOH) invites Museum members and friends to a history lecture to celebrate their division's 125th anniversary on Saturday, Sept. 13 at at the Great Friends Meeting House, corner Farewell and Marlborough Streets in Newport.

Salve Regina University professor, Museum of Newport Irish History board member, and popular lecture series guest speaker, Dr. John Quinn, will give a talk titled "Dr. Ellen Ryan Jolly, Hibernian Pioneer." 

Dr. Jolly was a Rhode Islander who served as president of the R.I. LAOH in 1906, and then in 1912 became the LAOH's second national president. She is best known for her efforts to commemorate the nursing work of hundreds of nuns during the Civil War. Dr. Quinn's 12:30 p.m. talk will be preceded by a 12:00 noon Irish step-dancing performance.

Following Dr. Quinn's talk, the LAOH Newport division will unveil their newly restored original charter from 1900.

Light refreshments will be served. 


All are welcome. There is no fee, but reservations are required.

To reserve, please email Newport LAOH president Kathryn Brady at Kathrynbrady84@gmail.com.  

Thanks to our wonderful volunteer docents, listed below, our Interpretive Center at 648 Lower Lower Thames Street is open Thursday through Sunday, from noon to 5:00 p.m. through, Sunday, October 26. Museum members enjoy free admission and admission is by donation for others.

If you've not visited lately, consider stopping in to see our newest exhibits including the history of the Newport-Kinsale, Ireland sister city relationship. Our most recent addition is an interactive digital display dubbed "Tracing the Tides." Read on for more information.

Steve Marino leads a tour of the Barney Street Cemetery in Oct. 2024. Photo by Colleen McGrath

One of the many family plots at the St. Mary's Cemetery. Photo by Jimmy Lappin

A tour of the circa 1828 Barney Street Cemetery, Rhode Island's oldest Irish cemetery, will be offered Sat, Sept. 20, at 1:00 p.m.

Led by Steve Marino, this tour of the final resting place of many of Newport's earliest Irish immigrants and the site of R.I.'s first Catholic church is approximately 30 minutes long. Learn the fascinating story and the mysteries surrounding this site, the center of Newport's Irish community life for several decades.

The story of Newport's growing Irish community, as told through its burying grounds, continues on Sat., Oct. 18 at 1:00 p.m. with a tour of the circa 1852 St. Mary's Cemetery. This cemetery was established to serve R.I.'s first Catholic parish, which constructed a new church to house its growing congregation, fueled by immigration from Ireland. That church, dedicated in 1852 to "The Holy Name of Mary, Our Lady of the Isle," stands today at Spring Street and Memorial Boulevard West. The St. Mary's Cemetery was in operation soon after the church was completed.

For details, including directions, please click the button below to access our website's

"Historic Cemetery Tours" page.

You will find links to reserve, interesting historical information about the Barney Street Cemetery site, and videos there.

  Questions/Assistance with Reservations?

Contact Ann Arnold at (401) 841-5493 (landline),

(917) 270-3372 (cell) or tpm1@earthlink.net

THANK YOU to all who have paid their dues for the

2025-26 Membership Cycle.

Those who have not yet renewed receive a reminder in the mail last month. 
CLICK HERE to see the letter

You can renew online NOW by clicking the below "Membership Renewal" button

Have questions about your membership status?

Please contact Ann at tpm1@earthlink.net or (401) 841-5493

before making a payment, and she'll get right back to you.

Please do not send payments or other correspondence to our seasonal Thames Street Interpretive Center address.

Established 1996

a 501c3 non-profit organization

Mailing Address:

PO Box 1378, Newport, RI 02840

Interpretive Center:

648 Lower Thames Street, Newport RI 02840

Email: NewportIrishHistory@gmail.com

Click Here for Museum Board of Directors Contact Info. and list of deceased board members, fondly remembered.

The MISSION of the Museum of Newport Irish History is to tell the story of the Irish immigrants and their descendants in Newport County and the surrounding area from the colonial era to the present. It also seeks to preserve artifacts and mementos relating to their experiences and facilitate

research on Irish history and heritage.