Promoting Irish-American Culture
and Preserving Local Histories
Through Year-Round Programs

The 2019 Irish-American Crossroads Festival

The Irish-American Crossroads Festival is a literary, musical, and cultural event that takes place every year in the San Francisco Bay Area during the month of March. It is a celebrated annual festival inviting the public to come together around inspired, creative, and relevant events regarding Irish and Irish-American history and culture.

Scheduled Festival events

Terence Clarke

Sunday, March 3rd. Irish-American Writing in the San Francisco Bay Area

Koret Auditorium, San Francisco Public Library, 100 Larkin Street, San Francisco. 1pm–3pm | Join in this exploration of the work that Irish-American writers are doing now in the San Francisco Bay Area. Terence Clarke (in photo) will read from his recent story collection, New York and his new novel, Splendid City. Tiffany Higgins will read from The Apparition at Fort Bragg. Linda Norton will read from her soon-to-be published Wite Out as well as from The Public Gardens: Poems and History.

Joey Abarta

Saturday, March 9th. Joey Abarta and Richard Mandel in Concert

Plough and the Stars, 116 Clement Street, San Francisco. 9pm. $20 at the door. | Come Hear All-Ireland champion uilleann piper, Joey Abarta (in photo), in concert with virtuoso guitar player, Richard Mandel, at the Plough and the Stars. A Los Angeles native, Abarta has toured with Mick Moloney and The Green Fields of America, and became the first American uilleann piper to win first prize at An tOireachtas. Local legend, Mandel, is a member of Three Mile Stone, and has played with a variety of Irish musicians such as Gerry O’Connor, Paddy Keenan, Paddy O’Brien and many others.

Eileen Ivers

Saturday, March 16th. Eileen Ivers in Concert

Raven Performing Arts Theater, 115 North Street, Healdsburg. 8pm (Doors open at 7pm). $60 front center  $40 general  Available at www.RavenTheater.org | Grammy-award winning fiddler Eileen Ivers continues to push fiddling tradition boundaries from a folk music staple to an intensely driving world stage experience. Ivers has performed with Sting, Patti Smith, The Chieftains, and was the groundbreaking musical star of Riverdance. Her most recent CD, Beyond the Bog Road, focuses on the influences of the Celtic tradition on Roots music. Come join us for a wonderful night of music at Healdsburg’s Raven Theater!

Chinese American Exclusion Inclusion

Saturday, March 23rd. Chinese American: Exclusion/Inclusion

Chinese Historical Society of America, 965 Clay Street, San Francisco. 11:15am | As we mark the 150th anniversary of the Golden Spike, which completed the Transcontinental Railroad, join us for a docent-led tour of the Chinese Historical Society’s Exhibition, Chinese-American: Exclusion: Inclusion. 

Saturday, March 30th. Tell Your Family’s Story: A Workshop for Bloggers, Writers and Family Historians

United Irish Cultural Center, San Francisco. 12pm-1:30pm | Writer and blogger Elizabeth Creely will show you how to tell your family’s story and map your family’s past using city directions, census data and digitized news sources.

Saturday, March 30th. Oral Histories of the Irish in San Francisco

United Irish Cultural Center, San Francisco. 2pm-4pm | Join us for this 9th annual event honoring the life histories of participants in The Irish Oral History Archive of the San Francisco Bay Area, a project of Irish-American Crossroads. Bring the whole family to this wonderful event!

Saturday, March 30th. Crossroads Salon

4pm-6pm. | Join us to share or enjoy creative work inspired by Irish-American life in a Salon experience. RSVP to margaret@irishamericancrossroads.org