Museum of Newport Irish History's Interpretive Center is Open for the Season

What’s great about Newport is you can have a fabulous meal, spend at local shops, enjoy the ocean — and soak up some fascinating history.

Especially now — the Museum of Newport Irish History’s Interpretive Center on Lower Thames Street is open for the 2015 season.

Located at 648 Lower Thames Street, the museum opened on Saturday and offers exhibits of photographs, video, artifacts and maps that tell the story of Irish immigration to Newport County in the 1600s.

The story continues on to modern times and the contributions of Irish people on the city, Aquidneck Island and beyond. One need not look far on the impact they made: Fort Adams was built with their labor.

The Interpretive Center was opened to the public in the spring of 2011, and 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 founded to support Rhode Island’s first Roman Catholic parish, the forerunner of the current St. Mary’s on Spring Street.

Hours are 12:00 noon – 5:00 p.m., Thursday through Sunday, through Sunday, November 1.

Group visits at other times may be arranged by appointment. Admission is FREE for members of the Museum and by donation for others.

Free parking is available in a small lot behind the building, accessed via Narragansett Avenue, or on-street.

Founded in 1996, the Museum of Newport Irish History is a non-profit organization with over 600 members. The organization sponsors numerous educational and social events throughout the year, including the popular Michael F. Crowley Lecture Series, which commences in the fall.

The Museum also welcome the public to its annual gala at Ochre Court, which benefits the Interpretive Center. Tickets to the Saturday, June 27 event, “Summer at the Steps,” featuring traditional Irish music by The Publicans, are now on sale on the Museum website “Events” page.

To learn more about the Museum of Newport Irish History, please visit www.NewportIrishHistory.org or write NewportIrishHistory@gmail.com