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ITMA, with support from the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade, and the Department of Culture, Communications & Sport, and the Irish Consulate teams in Boston and New York, have successfully delivered the first phase of the Government’s America250 project, marking the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in the United States of America.
The framework of this project has three strands: The development of a major America250 Digital Atlas mapping Irish traditional music, song and dance connections across the United States; Large-scale milestone concerts and cultural presentations designed to create visibility and impact around the initiative; and smaller mobile chamber-style cultural diplomacy engagements embedded within diplomatic, academic and community settings throughout the U.S.
All three strands are now actively underway and beginning to reinforce one another in meaningful ways.
Drawing from the Well Boston Concerts
ITMA staged two Drawing from the Well: America250 Live concerts in Boston, delivering the most significant public-facing milestone to date. Both performances sold out, received standing ovations, and generated an extremely positive response from audiences, artists, institutional partners, and local stakeholders.
The Irish Echo, in its review of Drawing from the Well, described the events as “truly outstanding” and suggested they carried a “watershed moment” feeling, noting that the concerts celebrated “the musical relationship between Ireland and America” while showcasing “a living tradition on both sides of the Atlantic.”
We were especially pleased to acknowledge the support of DFAT, D/CCS and the Government of Ireland throughout the concerts and associated presentations, with logos embedded across materials and acknowledgements made from stage and through two short films screened during the events.
We were delighted that Paul Rooney, Vice Consul General of Ireland in Boston, and Nik Quaife attended the concerts in Boston, and we appreciated the support of the Consulate team through attendance, public promotion of the events across social media channels, and ticket distribution to key contacts and stakeholders.
The concerts also significantly strengthened the broader partnership ecosystem around the project. We received very positive engagement from Boston College, Tunes from the Charles, the Irish American Partnership, The Ireland Funds, and many others involved in the wider traditional music festival activity that followed the concerts.
In addition to the headline performances, the programme generated substantial added value through recitals, talks, workshops, sessions, screenings, and artist engagements across Boston over several days.
Artist fees and administrative costs for the Boston concert series were supported by an anonymous philanthropic foundation who donated a significant sum towards the project.
New York Consulate Engagement and Digital Content Creation
Following Boston, ITMA undertook further field recording work in New York at the Irish Arts Center, conducting several key interviews for the forthcoming America250 Digital Atlas.
In parallel, Seán Potts and Liam O’Brien from ITMA delivered a special First Friday event at the Consulate General in New York in collaboration with Nik Quaife, Marissa Laughran, and the Consulate team, together with artists Matt Molloy of The Chieftains and Cormac Begley. Here the America250 Digital Atlas was formally announced to the Consulate guests.
The event created a cultural diplomacy opportunity and was very well received.
Marissa kindly shared some unsolicited audience feedback afterwards, including:
“Congratulations on a phenomenal event.”
“Thank you for such a wonderful event this morning. It made my whole week…maybe even month… or year.”
“Thank you all at the Consulate for this morning’s breakfast meeting – it transported me back home to Ireland to hear Matt and Cormac.”
“Thank you for the magical and inspiring morning.”
These kinds of responses reinforce the value for the Archive of smaller-scale cultural diplomacy engagements operating alongside the larger flagship events and are something we can continue building upon in other venues later this year.
One of the additional efficiencies of having ITMA staff embedded within these events is that many members of the team can independently film, edit and produce high-quality audiovisual content without incurring significant additional third-party production costs. For example, ITMA’s Liam O’Brien filmed and produced the video linked above from the New York Consulate event.
It is also worth noting that ITMA staff filmed both Drawing from the Well: America250 Live concerts in Boston, while the Library of Congress recorded the lecture and interview sessions in Washington DC. While these recordings represent only a small portion of the much broader body of material that will populate the America250 Digital Atlas, they nonetheless provide valuable documentation and legacy assets that can support future public presentation, interpretation, and digital engagement around the project.
Library of Congress Presentation
At the invitation of the American Folklife Center, ITMA Director Liam O’Connor delivered a presentation to the Library of Congress in Washington on the work of the Archive and the broader America250 initiative.
The event was introduced by Stephen O’Shea, attended by Kate Byrne from the Embassy team, and coordinated with Ahmed Baky and colleagues at the Library of Congress.
Its Director, Nicola Saylor, Professor Steve Winick, Professor Nancy Groce and the wider American Folklife Center team were extraordinarily generous throughout the visit, recording both the public presentation and a related interview, facilitating meetings and tours within the Library, and opening important conversations around future collaboration.
The engagement was received extremely positively. Following the presentation, Nancy Groce wrote:
“Thank you again for your excellent presentation last week. My colleagues and I are totally delighted with the way it went and with the enthusiastic turn out. We look forward to working with you and your ITMA colleagues on future projects.”
These engagements have opened meaningful institutional conversations around future collaboration between ITMA and the Library of Congress, particularly in the areas of digitisation expertise, digital presentation of sound and audiovisual collections, reciprocal research access, and potential future staff exchanges and residencies linked to the Shared Island Mews development at Merrion Square.
Digital Atlas Research Progress
On the Digital Atlas mapping project itself, excellent work is continuing on the research front.
We have now engaged specialist researchers across the United States who are feeding material directly into the team at ITMA, led by Rónán Galvin and supported by many staff across our team in Merrion Square.
Over 20 researchers are now committed to specialist entries, while we are simultaneously commissioning bespoke video features to highlight particularly impactful stories and themes emerging from the research.
Some of the states where we might initially have expected limited Irish traditional music activity have revealed remarkable material and deeply compelling stories. We are increasingly confident that the project will ensure that every state is represented meaningfully on the map.
