Ireland announces America250 Commemorative Program in 2026

(April 1, 2026)- Ireland’s Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport, Patrick O’Donovan T.D., today announced details of America250 commemorative program marking the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and highlighting key Irish connection to this historic moment.

Minister O’Donovan called the initiative “a partnership between national bodies, creative communities, historians, educators and local authorities. I encourage everyone to use this program as an opportunity to acknowledge and remember the transformative events of 250 years ago and explore the remarkable influence of our ancestors, north and south, on the formation of the United States.” 

Themes of the America 250 program includes historical exploration, artistic and creative expression and community-led commemoration.   Numerous activities are being scheduled, including music events, exhibitions, documentaries, publications, lectures, plus an academic conference and initiatives for young people. 

John Dunlap commemorative stamp, Courtesy of An Post

A postage stamp marking the contribution of John Dunlap from Co, Tyrone, who oversaw the printing of the Declaration of Independence, was also jointly launched by Minister O’Donovan and the US Ambassador to Ireland.

America250 is coordinated by the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport and delivered using a partnership approach including the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Department for Communities in Northern Ireland, the Irish Traditional Music Archives, the National Library of Ireland, local authority network and the Clinton Institute, UCD. Support will also be provided by the Department of the Taoiseach through the Shared Island Initiative.

Across the States: An Irish Cultural Atlas of America and Drawing from the Well: America250 Live, the Irish Traditional Music Archive (ITMA)

This flagship project, developed by the ITMA with support from the Department Culture, Communications and Sport and Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, is creating a state-by-state interactive digital map of Irish traditional music and migration in the United States. The searchable online resource will be promoted in the United States by our diplomatic network and will be launched in November of this year.

Drawing from the Well: America250 Live is scheduled for Boston on Thursday, 30 April and Friday, 01 May. The performances will be curated drawing artistic inspiration from the mapping project. Several satellite events in the U.S. or on the island of Ireland are also under consideration.

America250 Publications

The Department of Culture, Communications and Sport and the Department for Communities Northern Ireland are issuing two publications that profile each of the 23 United States Presidents with ancestral roots on the island of Ireland.  One version is aimed at a general audience and the second at young readers.  They are designed to increase awareness of Ireland’s links with the US Presidency over the centuries and across all regions of the island. These publications will be free to the public. 

The American Presidents’ Trail

US Presidents with Irish Ancestry, Courtesy of EPIC Museum

In partnership with the Department for Communities, Northern Ireland and the local authority network, the American Presidents’ Trail will identify, mark and highlight locations across the island that claim ancestral connections to former U.S. Presidents.  A native tree and an interpretive information panel will be at each site, with a coordinated all-island tree-planting ceremony also proposed.

Academic Conference on Irish Diasporas and the Making of America 

In June, the Clinton Institute at University College Dublin is hosting a conference focusing on the roles of Ireland and Northern Ireland and their peoples in the making of America.  Speakers from the island of Ireland and from international universities will participate.

The conference will examine how peoples from the island of Ireland took an outsized stake in the American national story and were instrumental in its development, with notable impact in its political and popular cultures. Another theme addresses the formation of Irish American and Ulster Scots cultures and identities as the ethnic passage from emigrant to American shadowed the growth of the young nation.

Documentary and Exhibition: US250 The Irish Connection and Ireland and the Making of America, 

A short documentary titled US250 The Irish Connection and an exhibition, Ireland and the Making of America, have been commissioned by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in collaboration with EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum.

The documentary and exhibition will be made available to local authorities to be displayed in their respective public facing facilities including the library network during 2026.

Digitization Project, National Library of Ireland

The National Library of Ireland is organizing a conservation and digitization project as part of the America250 program. It will make available online for public access various holdings relevant to the area of America250.  The project is being promoted via website, online catalogue and social media.

County and Local Initiatives

Several local authorities are planning America250 Commemorative events with support through the Local Authority Commemoration Grants administered through the Commemorations Unit in the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport.

The Unfinished Broadside, Monaghan County Council

The Unfinished Broadside, a drama, music, and dance performance, is created by the Bready & District Ulster Scots Development Association. It explores the story of John Dunlap of Strabane , County Tyrone, the printer of the American Declaration of Independence. The production examines the beginning of the great experiment that became the United States of America, highlighting the significant Ulster-Scots connection. The  multi-sensory performance  will appear at the Peace Campus in Monaghan later in 2026, complimenting the Ulster Scots story explored in the museum’s major new exhibition Bordering Realities – Monaghan People and Stories.

America250 workshops,  Donegal County Council

As part of Wainfest Children’s Arts and Book Festival, a series of educational children’s events will commemorate the American Semi quincentennial by exploring the historical and cultural connections between Ireland and the United States in an engaging, age-appropriate way.

The workshops will introduce young participants to key moments, stories and themes from 250 years of American history, highlighting the shared experiences, migration stories, and cultural influences that link the USA and this island.

Hindsight- History Festival, Meath County Council

There will be an American focus for the two-day history Hinterland Festival of Literature. The history of the US and of the Irish-America diaspora will be covered in a ten-lecture series programmed by Dr Myles Dungan, RTÉ History Show and curator of the Hinterland Festival. The lectures will include Dr Dungan and leading local, national and international speakers.

President John F. Kennedy Visits John Barry Statue in Wexford, Courtesy of JFK Library

America at 250, Wexford County Council

The Kennedy Homestead and the Dunbrody Famine Ship in New Ross are creating a commemorative program, to include a series of lectures focusing on the emigrant experience, as well as a review of American culture through music and song. There will be a film screening in St Michael’s Theatre and an exploration of American transport and food.

Across the Atlantic: A Youth Music Commemoration, Clare County Council

Clare Arts Office, in conjunction with Music Generation Clare is partnering with St. Louis Irish Arts (SLIA) to deliver a major transatlantic youth music commission.This initiative aims to reflect on the historic and cultural connections between Clare and the United States during the early years of the Irish State. The connection also developed from the famous aviator from St. Louis, Charles Lindbergh, the first aviator to succeed in a solo, nonstop transatlantic flight in his famous for aeroplane, Spirit of St. Louis.

Teenagers from Clare and from St Louis will take part in two performances of an original commission in St Louis in June, and in Ennis in July. The work, which was informed by archival resources, is by Music Generation Clare musicians (led by composer Pádraig Rynne) and will explore themes of emigration, identity, belonging, democracy and cultural exchange between Clare and St. Louis.

The America250 webpage can be found here

Visit Ireland.com for more information on Celebrating America 250.

Top Photo, Ulster American Folk Park, Courtesy of Tourism Ireland