Museum of Newport Irish History Interpretive Center opens for 2019 season on Friday

The Museum of Newport Irish History Interpretive Center has announced that they will open for the 2019 Season on Friday, May 24 at 12 pm.

Regular seasonal hours will be Thursday through Sunday, noon to 5:00 pm, through Sunday, October 27. Group and private visits at other times may be arranged by appointment.

The Center is located at 648 Lower Thames Street, just south of Narragansett Avenue. Admission is free for members of the Museum of Newport Irish History and by donation for others. Free parking is available in a small lot behind the building, accessed via Narragansett Avenue or on-street.

Visitors to the Center will learn about Irish immigration to Newport County from the 1600s to the present and of the many contributions made to our community by individuals of Irish descent. The exhibits include maps, photographs, models, video, and artifacts, including some from the construction of nearby Fort Adams, which was built with Irish immigrant labor.

The Museum of Newport Irish History, a volunteer-driven, non-profit organization, was founded in 1996 and now boasts 800 members. In addition to operating the Interpretive Center, the organization sponsors numerous educational, cultural, social and fundraising events throughout the year, including the popular Michael F. Crowley lecture series, which commences in the fall. The organization also restored and maintains the historic Barney Street Cemetery at the corner of Barney and Mt. Vernon Street, steps from Washington Square. It is the final resting place of many of Newport’s earliest Irish residents and was the cemetery established to support Rhode Island’s first Roman Catholic parish, the forerunner of the current St. Mary’s Church at the corner of Spring Street and Memorial Boulevard.

To learn more or to join the Museum, visit www.NewportIrishHistory.org, stop by the Interpretive Center or phone (860) 995-7367 or (401) 855-5097.