Gaelic Arts Society of Pittsburgh Records, AIS.1977.22, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System
Rev. Brother Dominic Reardon C.S.Sp., a member of Duquesne University's administrative staff and native of Dublin, Ireland, founded the Gaelic Arts Society of Pittsburgh in 1955, in response to an enquiry from the Women's Intercultural Group of the Oakland YMCA for someone able to write a prayer and menu in Irish-Gaelic. The society's goal is the promotion of the rich legacy of the history, literature, traditions, and crafts of the Irish people to all Western Pennsylvanians with an interest in Irish culture, with its membership not limited solely to Irish Americans or native Irish. It aims further to promote a consciousness of the influences of Irish thought and action on the advancement of American ideals.
Throughout its history, the society has been deeply involved within the Pittsburgh Irish community, holding various events including lectures on various aspects of Irish culture, banquets, St. Patrick's Day parades, as well as promoting the events of other organizations such as the Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theater and the Pittsburgh Irish Festival. Their banquets and programs on Irish culture have hosted eminent Irish historians as well as former Irish ambassadors and diplomats. In 1963, Rev. Brother Reardon and several other members of the society were received by the third President of the Republic of Ireland, Éamon de Valera, at Áras an Uachtarain in Dublin, as part of the society's annual "Tour to Ireland".
During the 1970's and early 1980's, the society sponsored and organized the "Pittsburgh Irish Fortnight", a program of Irish cultural lectures and events, in conjunction with the University of Pittsburgh and the Irish American Cultural Institute, a cultural organization directly affiliated with the President of Ireland. In addition to a concert presented by the Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, the Irish Fortnight hosted annually noted Irish artists, academics, and politicians as guest speakers.
Notable society members have included 37th Governor of Pennsylvania, David L. Lawrence, Henry X. O'Brien, a Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, and James W. Knox, former Allegheny County controller. The society held a peak membership of approximately 530 members by 1990. Despite a decline in membership, the society continues to function into the present day, organizing educational and celebratory functions related to Ireland as well as publishing a monthly newsletter, The Gazette. Its cultural programs have similarly come to encompass selective topics in the culture of the "Celtic nations" in general, including that of Scotland, Wales, Brittany, and the Isle of Man.
This collection contains the records of the Gaelic Arts Society of Pittsburgh from the period of 1955 to 2018. Its contents are generally related to the society's promotion of Irish culture through various programs and events, as well as the history of the society itself and its routine business.
It includes a wide array of materials related to the business of the society's Board of Governors, events and programs hosted or sponsored by the society and its finances, membership records, newsletters, and correspondences, as well as materials related to other cultural organizations and institutions. The collection also contains a digitized copy of the society's scrapbook, within which are materials related to the society's activities and members from the late 1950's to the late 1970's.
This collection is arranged into nine series:
Series I. Board of Governors, 1955-2018
Series II. Events & Programs, 1960-2017
Series III. Financial, 1957-2018
Series IV. Membership Records, 1962-2017
Series V. Newsletters, The Gazette, 2005-2018
Series VI. Other Organizations, 2002-2015
Series VII. Topical Folders, 1960-2018
Series VIII. Realia, undated
Series IX. Scrapbook, 1959-1977
No restrictions.
The scrapbook was originally microfilmed by the Archives of Industrial Society from originals in possession of the Gaelic Arts Society of Pittsburgh, June 1977.
Additional records were donated by The Gaelic Arts Society, through their President, Wilma Gaughan in 2018.
Original scrapbook retained by The Gaelic Arts Society of Pittsburgh.
Gaelic Arts Society of Pittsburgh Records, AIS.1977.22, Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh
This collection was processed by Archives Service Center Staff in June, 1977.
Revision and rearrangement for the encoded version of the finding aid provided by Dan Horvath in July, 2003. Information about the collection title and the controlled access terms was extracted from the MARC record in the University of Pittsburgh catalog Voyager ID number: 1374689
Additions were processed by Zach Braddock in January and February 2020.
Additional collections at the Archives Service Center pertaining to local Irish-American organizations include:
Irish Centre of Pittsburgh Records, AIS.1977.25, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System
Daughters of Erin Court #9 Records, AIS.1977.31, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System
The University of Pittsburgh holds the property rights to the material in this collection, but the copyright may still be held by the original creator/author. Researchers are therefore advised to follow the regulations set forth in the U.S. Copyright Code when publishing, quoting, or reproducing material from this collection without the consent of the creator/author or that go beyond what is allowed by fair use.
This series contains programs, committee reports, fliers, and brochures pertaining to some of the events sponsored by the society from 1960 to 2017. These events range from various celebratory functions honoring St. Patrick to guest lectures on both Irish and broadly Celtic culture.
This series contains documents related to the society's routine finances including various notes, correspondences, treasurer's reports, balances, expense reports, and budgets from the period of 1957 to 2018, with significant gaps in this timeline.
This series contains membership rosters, brochures, and application materials.
This series contains issues of the society's monthly newsletter from the period of 2005 to 2018, The Gazette. The newsletter contains messages from the society's president to its membership, program schedules, as well as articles on various topics related to Irish history and culture.
This series contains the brochures, financial correspondences, and publications of various organizations either sponsored by the society or centered around topics related to Irish or Celtic culture in general.
This series consists of topical folders which contain society correspondences (the bulk of which originate from various society presidents), business-related materials, graphic designs for varied uses, several undated photographs, and two CD's containing a 2015 recording of the WEDO radio show "Echoes of Erin". Other folders contain narrative texts, sheet music, and information about Irish culture.
2 cds
3 items
This series contains three medallions suspended by white ribbon, illustrated with a clover leaf, campfire, and crozier, and emblazoned with the word "TARA". These medals were most likely presented to recipients of the Tara Award, honoring certain members of the Daughters of Erin, Court #9, the women's auxiliary of the Knights of Equity, an Irish Catholic Fraternal organization.
1 microfilm_reel
This scrapbook contains photographs, newspaper clippings, correspondences, pamphlets and brochures pertaining to the Gaelic Arts Society of Pittsburgh's events and members from 1959 to 1977. A significant portion of the newspaper clippings within the scrapbook relate to profiles of the society by the press as well as Don McNamara's "The Irish in Pittsburgh" newspaper column. Programs represented within the scrapbook include the society's various Tours to Ireland, St. Patrick Day Parades, banquets, the 1968 "An Evening of Irish Fashions" show, the 1974 to 1977 occurrences of the "Pittsburgh Irish Fortnight", 1975 Memorial Mass for third President of the Republic of Ireland, Éamon de Valera, as well as other speaking events organized by the society, including those hosting several diplomats and ambassadors of the Republic of Ireland. It further includes a transcript of a speech given by former Minister for Foreign Affairs for the Republic of Ireland and Teachta Dála, Dr. Garret Fitzgerald, on October 1, 1975 regarding the connection between Ireland and America as well as the contemporary conflict in Northern Ireland. Other materials include a citation from the Pennsylvania House of Representatives congratulating the society's founder, Rev. Brother Dominic Reardon C.S.Sp, for being named 1976's "Man of the Year" by the Irish American Cultural Society of Bucks County, and related correspondence, photographs, and newspaper clippings.