Our Local Community
The All-Ireland Cultural Society strives to cultivate Irish culture in Oregon, which includes supporting and encouraging our local Irish businesses, groups, and events. Below find links to all things Irish in our area! Know another local Irish site? Contact us to let us know so we can add it to the list!
Upcoming Local Events
We share tons of local events on our Facebook page, and we try to include reminders about upcoming local events in our monthly newsletter, too. Click here to see our most recent newsletters.
Annual Local Irish Events
- AICS St. Patrick’s Day Celebration (usually in-person in Portland on 3/17)
- The Shamrock Cruise (always held the Sunday before St. Patrick’s Day)
- N/NE Portland St. Patrick’s Day Parade (usually a Sunday around 3/17)
- The Shamrock Run (usually a Sunday around 3/17)
- St. Agatha’s St. Patrick’s Day Festival (usually a weekend around 3/17)
- Celtic Fantasy Faire (usually at Shute Park in Hillsboro in August)
Local Scheduled Live Irish Music
- We are so lucky to have a thriving session scene in our area! Check out this page of fellow local non-profit organization MÓD Branch CCE Oregon, where they maintain an updated list of all the local sessions of Irish music.
- Celtic Music Hour: The Celtic Music Hour presents music from the seven Celtic nations from musicians throughout the world. Hosts Ann and Beth, members of our local Ceili of the Valley Society, create weekly themes from Celtic music, culture, and history. The show airs live on KMUZ Tuesday mornings from 10 to 11 am on 100.7 and 88.5 FM. The show rebroadcasts Friday evenings at 7 pm. For information about online listening, options go to kmuz.org. Didn’t catch Celtic Music Hour? KMUZ reinstated the 2-week archive. To access the Celtic Music Hour two-week archive, go to kmuz.org. Look for the “On Demand” link. Once open, locate the Celtic Music Hour on either the Tuesday or Friday show time. Open the link and click on the arrow in the gray-shaded area in the upper left-hand corner of the page. To keep updated on the Celtic Music Hour shows and themes look to the Facebook page.
- 2nd Saturday Community Concerts: Monthly concerts, all the info is at irishpdx.com.
Local Irish Bars & Restaurants
- Celtic Axe Throwers
- The Dullahan Pub
- Highland Stillhouse
- Kells
- McMenamins
- Nana’s Irish Pub in Newport
- Paddy’s
- T.C. O’Leary’s
- Whelan’s
Local Irish Sessions
Local Monthly Ceili Events
- Ceili of the Valley 2nd Friday Ceili: 2nd Friday of the month, featuring live Irish music! Salem, Oregon. More info at ceiliofthevalley.org.
- 1st Friday Ceili Mor in Tualatin: First Friday of the month October through May, featuring live Irish music! Winona Grange, 8340 SW Seneca St, Tualatin. More info at irishpdx.com.
- Quarterly Ceili from Arnold Street Irish Dancers in Portland: The Arnold Street Irish Dancers put on a quarterly ceili with live music and called sets. Please contact Betty Woerner for more information: 503-244-1593 or 971-254-5962.
Local Irish Set/Ceili Dancing Classes
- Our local CCE MOD Branch facilitates multiple set dancing options throughout the year. Check out their website to stay in the know!
- Frolicking Meese Ceili Class in Eugene, more info at https://frolickingmeese.weebly.com.
- Salem Ceili of the Valley Weekly Ceili Classes. VFW Hall in Salem. Info at ceiliofthevalley.org.
- Thursday Winds of Donegal Ceili Classes in Tualatin. Winona Grange, 8340 SW Seneca St., Tualatin. More info at irishpdx.com.
Local Sean-nós Dancing Classes
- Sean-nós Dancing Taught by Maldon Meehan: Classes are available on Zoom and will cover a variety of themes such as: dancing to the tune; triplets; signature moves; improvisation and the body. Beginner and more advanced classes are available. For more information and/or registration, please visit maldonmeehan.com.
Local Irish Step Dancing Classes
- An Daire Academy of Irish Dance
- Brimhall Academy of Irish Dance
- Murray School of Irish Dance
- Oregon Irish Dance Academy
- Yeates Academy of Irish Dance
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Has your little one seen Riverdance: The Animated Adventure yet? Released in May of 2021, it was added to US Netflix in January of 2022, and since then has been inspiring kids of all ages to start Irish dancing classes! It features the voices of A-list Irish actors like Pierce Brosnan and the timeless Riverdance music of Bill Whelan. It’s sure to get your feet tapping and have your little one begging you to sign them up for Irish dance lessons! Check out the trailer here. Enjoy!
Local & Virtual Irish Language
- Brian Ó hAirt (local to Portland)
- Philo-Celtic Society (free Irish language classes by Zoom for beginner to advanced)
- Duolingo (free online learning tool)
Local Irish Realtors
Local Hurling
Local Genealogy Resources
- Don Anderson: dndanderson@comcast.net
- Genealogical Forum of Oregon
Local Irish Musicians and Groups
- The Ballybogs
- Biddy on the Bench
- Brian Ó hAirt
- Brigid’s Crossing
- Cary Novotny
- Castletown
- Celtic Light Orchestra
- Celtic Music Hour
- Chris Sepic: Wood and Silver Music
- Dan Compton & Fran Slefer
- Elizabeth Nicholson
- Faroe Rum
- Geraldine Murray
- Joseph Linahon
- Katie Jane Band
- Kells Pipes and Drum Band
- Ken Larson
- The Lads: Mondays at T.C. O’Leary’s Pub
- Na Rósaí
- New Shilling
- Night of Song by CCE Oregon at T.C. O’Leary’s Pub
- Peter Yeates
- Portland Fire Fighters Pipes and Drums
- Preston Wilde & Conor O’Bryan: Sundays at T.C. O’Leary’s Pub
- Sam Vogt – Vogt’s Whistlery on Instagram
- S&A Irish Entertainment
- Sean Daly & The Shams
- St. James’s Gate
- Tualatin Valley Firefighters Pipes & Drums
Irish Cruises
- Portland Shamrock Cruise: https://shamrockcruise.com
- Joanie Madden Cruise: For those of you who’d like to venture a little further from home, international Irish musician Joanie Madden runs a cruise. For more information email info@joaniemaddencruise.com.
- Andy Cooney’s Cruise: This cruise has been very popular with some of our AICS members! Click here to learn more.
Local Cultural Organizations
- CCE Oregon
- Ceili of the Valley
- Celtic Heritage Alliance
- Irish Network Portland
- Portland Hibernian Society
- Welsh Society of Oregon
Our Official Political Connections to Ireland
Micheál Smith, Consulate General of Ireland
100 Pine Street, San Francisco, CA 94111
415-392-4214 or SanFranConGen@dfa.ie
Website: Click here.
John F. Keane was Honorary Consul of Ireland, located in Washington, but he retired in April 2024. Bernard J. Hensey is nominated to replace him. Contact Micheál Smith with the info above until Bernard is confirmed.