October 9, 2026

Dear Members,

We hope your fall is off to a great start!

It was a delight to see so many of you at Dr. Scott Spencer's informative and engaging kick-off to our 25th Annual Lecture Series at the Wyndham Newport Hotel on September 23. For those who joined us virtually via Zoom, we apologize for the technical difficulties and hope to have a link to the lecture recording available to share soon.

Below you’ll find reminders about our other fall happenings, including the second talk in our 25th Annual Lecture Series. On October 20, we’ll be joined by guest speaker Loretto Horrigan Leary, who will address a lesser-known aspect of Ireland’s Great Hunger and the experiences of Famine-era immigrants to our shores. Please make your reservation now if you plan to join us in person or via Zoom.


Be sure to “save the date” for our final fall talk before the winter hiatus, featuring historian and award-winning author Stephen Puleo, on November 17.

Please note that our fall tour of the historic Barney Street Cemetery, established circa 1828, will be held THIS Saturday, October 10, having been rescheduled from Sept. 26 due to the Nor'easter. Especially for our new members, this is a not-to-be-missed tour, as you'll learn so much about Newport's early Irish immigrant community from Steve Marino, a board member and researcher—and a particularly engaging educator and storyteller.

Newport's 10th annual Broadway Street Fair, a popular community event, will be held a short stroll from the cemetery. If you plan to stop by the Fair, please consider carving out 30 minutes or so to take the cemetery tour while you are in the Lower Broadway/Washington Square neighborhood.

Don't forget, our Interpretive Center is open for the 2026 Season through Sunday, October 25. This June marked the 15th anniversary of the Center's opening, and if you've not visited in recent years, we encourage you to stop in and see how much has changed, as noted below.


👉 Be sure to scroll all the way down for all our news, including what two of our past guest speakers have been up to.

Second Program of 2026-27 Series

~ Our 25th Annual ~

The Irish Famine Immigrant Experience in 
North American Quarantines

 Guest Speaker:

Loretto Horrigan Leary

Tuesday, October 20, 6:00 p.m.

Wyndham Newport Hotel

240 Aquidneck Ave, Middletown, R.I.

and Live-Streamed via Zoom

Irish Famine immigrants did not simply arrive in North America; many first endured quarantine on islands, fever hospitals, and medical inspections, with some never leaving. They died on site and remain in the burial grounds associated with the quarantines.

This presentation examines the human experience of Famine migration through sites such as Staten Island,Grosse Île, and Deer Island, where hunger, disease, survival, public fear, and memory shaped the immigrant journey. From overcrowded ships to quarantine wards and mass graves, these sites reveal how the Great Hunger, a hunger to survive on foreign shores, persisted across the Atlantic

• Doors open at 5:30 p.m.
• Complimentary light hors d'oeuvres & cash bar
• In-person admission: $10 per person fee payable by cash or check to MNIH
• Zoom participation: Free

Click a link below to sign up.

Event Graphic
Top illustration: “Inspection at Quarantine,” from William H. Rideing, “The Immigrant’s Progress,” Scribner’s Monthly. Sept. 1877. Bottom illustration: View of the Marine Hospital and Quarantine Grounds, Staten Island, New York, lithograph, Brown & Quinlan, 1854.

Our 25th Annual Series is made possible

by generous gifts from those listed below:

Sponsors as of Oct, 6, 2026

Tour guide, Steve Marino, at the cemetery in Oct. 2024 (photo by Colleen McGrath)

Our popular tour of St. Joseph’s Cemetery, established circa 1828 and known locally as the Barney Street Cemetery—the final resting place of many of Newport’s early Irish immigrants—returns this fall. Learn the fascinating story of this site, central to the history of Newport's early Irish community.

The 30-minute tour will be given on Saturday, October 10, at 1:00 p.m. by local researcher and guide Steve Marino, weather permitting. No fee, but reservations are requested. 

The cemetery was restored by the Museum in 1998-99 and continues to be maintained by the organization, thanks to our dedicated volunteers (see list below) and the financial support of you, our members.

To reserve, click the button below to visit the "Historic Cemetery Tours" page on our website. There, you will find a link to reserve a spot on the tour, along with interesting historical information about the cemetery site, including links to videos. You can sign up for Steve's circa 1852 St. Mary's Cemetery tour on October 24 at the same time, if you like.



  Questions or Assistance with Reservations?

Contact Ann Arnold at (401) 841-5493 or tpm1@earthlink.net

We are grateful to all those who volunteered for one or more

Barney Street Cemetery work sessions so far this season, 
under the direction of Cemetery Committee Chair Jack McCormack:

• Larry Bartley • Steve Marino

• Mary Ellen Bronson • John Quinn

• John Carroll • Ann Arnold • Mark Thompson

• Joan Galvin • Rick O'Neill • Barbara O'Neill

• Deanna Conheeny • Jack McCormack • Larry Davis

• Ben Smith • Bill Shea • Tim Shea


If you would like to be added to the e-mail list of those who receive notice of upcoming cemetery work sessions, please write: NewportIrishHistory@gmail.com

If you haven’t visited lately, don’t forget to stop by the Museum’s Interpretive Center at 648 Thames Street, just south of Narragansett Avenue, before we close for the 2026 season.


We’re open noon to 5:00 p.m., Thursday through Sunday, until October 25.


We also welcome private and group tours at other times, by appointment.


Our knowledgeable and engaging volunteer docents and Salve Regina University intern help visitors learn about Irish immigration to the Newport area and the contributions of individuals of Irish descent to the community from the colonial era to the present. Exhibits include photographs, artifacts, and more. While you’re there, don’t miss our new interactive digital exhibit, Tracing the Tides, and its newest feature, "Notable Irish Newporters."


Parking and public transportation information, a map, and directions can be found midway down the Home page of our website: NewportIrishHistory.org

Admission to the Center is free for Museum members and by donation for non-members. For more information, please write NewportIrishHistory@gmail.com

THANK YOU, MUSEUM DOCENTS!
Our thanks to the following who have worked one or more shifts
 thus far this season at the Interpretive Center:

*Interpretive Center Manager #Salve Regina University intern

April 1, 2026, marked the start of the Museum's new Fiscal Year, 
so members with Annual Memberships were asked to submit their dues: $30 Individual / $40 Family/Household.
(Those with Life Memberships do not owe annual dues.)

THANK YOU to everyone who has already paid their dues for the current membership cycle!


If you have an Annual Membership and have not yet submitted your dues, you can renew online NOW by clicking the "Membership Renewal" button below.

You may also call Ann, who 
will be happy to help you 
renewby phone.

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.



Dr. Scott Molloy is an award-winning professor emeritus at the University of Rhode Island, an expert on labor history, and one of the most knowledgeable local resources on the history of the Irish in Rhode Island. Scott has been a guest speaker in our annual Lecture Series many times over the years, beginning in 2002, to the delight of our members and his many friends from throughout the state. His most recent talk for our group was in September, 2025: "Toil and Trouble: The Irish in the Rhode Island Labor Movement: 1830s-1930."


Recently, the Boston Globe published a profile of Scott Molloy by Carlos R. Muñoz that we know will be of interest to many of you. The article traces Scott's remarkable journey from third-generation Rhode Island bus driver and transit union president to distinguished U.R.I. professor and labor historian. It also highlights his nationally significant collection of labor and transit history, much of which is now preserved by the Smithsonian Institution, with its Rhode Island materials housed at the University of Rhode Island. CLICK HERE to read the article, which includes many photos. 
Congratulations, Scott!

(Photo of Scott Molloy courtesy of the Providence Journal)

We are so fortunate to have had Raymond J. McKenna speak to our membership several times in recent years, including his most recent lecture in March 2025, titled "The Old Stone Bank: A Window Into the Lives of Our 19th Century Ancestors.” 

A sixth-generation Providence native and descendant of Irish immigrants, Ray is a consummate expert on the Famine Irish experience in Rhode Island, with a particular focus on Providence. His long-anticipated new book, Embracing Hope: The Famine Irish Experience in Providence, Rhode Island, has earned high praise:

“Ray McKenna has provided us with a meticulously researched and innovative analysis of Rhode Island’s 19th-century Irish American community from a personal and family perspective—their struggles and success, problems and progress.”

—Patrick T. Conley, R.I.'s First Historian Laureate


Congratulations to Ray on his award-winning book, a publication of the Rhode Island Publications Society, which we are proud to have in our Interpretive Center Library. Stop in and take a look, or, better yet, consider acquiring a copy for your home library, HERE.


October 10, Sat., 1:00 p.m. - Barney Street Cemetery Tour#

October 20, Tues., 6:00 p.m. - Lecture*
The Irish Famine Immigrant Experience in North American Quarantines

Speaker: Loretto Harrigan Leary

Writer, educator, and historian pursuing a PhD at Trinity College Dublin, with research focused on Irish American Famine memories and memorials.

October 24, Sat., 1:00 p.m. - St. Mary's Cemetery Tour#

November 17,Tues., 6:00 p.m. - Lecture*
Voyage of Mercy: The USS Jamestown, the Irish Famine, and the 
Remarkable Story of America’s First Humanitarian Mission

Speaker: Stephen Puleo

Historian and award-winning author of eight narrative history books, including “Voyage of Mercy” (St. Martin’s Press, 2020)

Dec. 12, Sat., noon-4:30 p.m. - Annual Christmas Open House 
Details: NewportIrishHistory.org/events-calendar/Christmas-open-house/

# Details, reservation links: https://newportirishhistory.org/historic-cemetery-tours/
* Details and links to reserve for in-person or Zoom will be posted on the 'Lectures" page of our site closer to the event.


QUESTIONS? Write NewportIrishHistory@gmail.com

Museum of Newport Irish History
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.