AOH Towson

02/01/2026

02/01/2026

02/01/2026

Mid-Century Baltimore Life

02/01/2026

What is Hurling? 🏑🇮🇪
Hurling is one of Ireland’s oldest and fastest field sports and is governed by the GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association). With a history stretching back over 3,000 years, it’s often described as the fastest field sport in the world.
🟢 The Basics
• Teams: 15 players per side
• Pitch: Large grass field with H-shaped goals
• Equipment:
– Hurley (camán): Wooden stick used to strike the ball
– Sliotar: Small leather ball with a raised seam
🟢 Scoring
• Goal (3 points): Sliotar hit into the net
• Point (1 point): Sliotar hit over the crossbar
Example: 2–8 = 14 points
🟢 How the Ball Can Be Played
Players can: • Strike the sliotar on the ground or in the air
• Catch it briefly in the hand
• Carry it for a maximum of four steps
• Balance it on the hurley while running
• Hand-pass (a slap — throwing is not allowed)
🟢 Physical Play
• Shoulder-to-shoulder contact is allowed
• Blocking the hurley or the sliotar is legal
• Pulling, holding or striking a player is a foul
🟢 Fouls & Discipline
• Free pucks awarded for fouls
• Yellow card: Caution
• Red card: Player sent off
🟢 Amateur Sport
Like Gaelic football, hurling is completely amateur, even at the highest level, with players representing their club and county for pride and tradition.
Hurling isn’t just a sport — it’s a living piece of Irish history and culture 🇮🇪🍀

02/01/2026

Since 1966, Shriver Hall Concert Series has presented solo and chamber classical music recitals in Baltimore.

“Baltimore’s finest importer of classical music talent.” -The Baltimore Sun

02/01/2026

Ancient Order of Hibernians Criticizes Game Publisher for Trivializing Ireland’s Great Hunger

The Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH), the largest Irish Catholic organization in the United States, today issued a statement
criticizing Compass Games for its planned release of The Great Hunger, a board game that trivializes Ireland’s Great Hunger (An Gorta Mór) by reducing a human catastrophe to a competitive exercise.

The AOH expressed both sadness and outrage at the announcement. While acknowledging that the game’s designer, Kevin McPartland, has suggested an intention to
educate Americans through the medium of a game, the organization questioned whether an event that resulted in the deaths of at least one million people by starvation and the forced emigration of another million should be gamified at all.
“We do not doubt that there may be a kernel of good intention here,” said Neil F. Cosgrove, National Anti-Defamation Chair of the Ancient Order of Hibernians. “But good intentions do not excuse poor judgment. Some human catastrophes—particularly those involving mass death through hunger and forced displacement—should never be reduced to a game.”

Mr. McPartland has publicly stated, “I do not expect a single Irish person to buy this game,” and has instead presented it as an educational tool for Americans. According to the AOH, the game’s own promotional materials reveal a troubling misunderstanding of the historical realities they claim to teach.

Promotional descriptions portray early 19th-century Ireland as a society of tenant farmers and field hands “thriving” on a “wonder crop,” the potato. The AOH strongly rejected this
framing as historically indefensible.

“The people of Ireland were not ‘thriving,’” Cosgrove said. “Centuries of dispossession, land confiscation, and discriminatory laws had forced the native population onto ever-smaller and more marginal plots of land. The potato was not a miracle of prosperity; it was the last fragile buffer against starvation.”

Ireland had already endured numerous subsistence crises and localized famines prior to 1845—clear warnings that the population was living on the edge of disaster. Only months before the arrival of the potato blight, the British Parliament’s own Devon Commission reported that it was “impossible adequately to describe” the “privations” of Irish labourers, noting that in many districts their only food was the potato, their only beverage water, and that even a bed or blanket was considered a luxury.

“Parliament had been warned,” Cosgrove said. “Its own commission
documented a society living with no margin for error. To suggest that Ireland’s Great Hunger suddenly emerged from a period of comfort or abundance is not education—it is distortion.”

While games can sometimes serve as a stimulus to learning, the AOH stated that education must begin with accuracy and moral seriousness. The decision to frame survival during the Great Hunger as a form of “winning” profoundly misunderstands the lived reality of those who endured it.

“Those who arrived in America aboard coffin ships did not feel they had ‘won,’” Cosgrove said. “Survival was not a victory. It was trauma carried across generations. The ability to exist is the most basic of human rights; it is not a prize to be awarded.

01/31/2026

Life is not about knowing the road ahead, but trusting your feet to find it. 💚

There’s something comforting about the quiet things. A warm fire, steady hands, and the patience to keep going stitch by stitch. Maybe that’s how life works too. We learn as we go, one small step at a time.

Hope this brings a bit of calm to your day 🤍

01/31/2026

☘️ Love this ☘️

01/31/2026

01/31/2026

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

𝐈𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐘𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐂𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞, 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐜

NEW YORK, N.Y., January 25, 2026 — Irish of New York City, a digital platform created to help visitors and the Irish diaspora discover the Irish heart of New York, is celebrating its first anniversary.

Launched in 2025, the platform has quickly become a go‑to guide for anyone visiting New York who wants to explore Irish pubs, restaurants, cultural institutions, theatre, music, and community events. Irish of New York City also spotlights performers from Ireland who tour in New York, making it easier for visitors to catch Irish artists on stage while they’re here.

In its second year, Irish of New York City will expand its editorial coverage to include articles for those planning a trip to New York — including Irish history, neighborhood guides, Irish‑run businesses, music and theatre recommendations, and seasonal tips for St. Patrick’s Day.

Irish of New York City also highlights activities of county associations, religious groups, benevolent organizations, and the unsung heroes who are the heartbeat of Irish life in New York. “Our goal is to help anyone arriving from Ireland or the wider Irish community feel at home in New York City,” a spokesperson for the team said. “Whether someone is here for an evening, a holiday, or a new chapter of their life, we want them to feel welcomed by the Irish New Yorkers who keep the culture alive today.”

Media Contact:
Irish of New York City
[email protected]
Instagram & Facebook:

Photo credit: Irish of New York City

07/16/2025

Well received Irish updates initiative.

05/21/2025

We're busy planning for another great festival on the grounds of the The Shrine of St. Anthony! We're so excited to have partnered with so many wineries and breweries (so far) for this years event, benefitting The Franciscan Center of Baltimore and Little Portion Farm.

Save the Date: October 11!

Loew Vineyards
The Wine Collective
Manor Hill Brewing
Elk Run Vineyards
Penn Oaks Winery
Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard
Guilford Hall Brewery
Six Wicket Vineyards
Farmacy Brewing
1623 Brewing Company
41wines
Riccos Wine Adventures

Early bird tickets will be available soon!