‘Irish Heart, Coventry Home’ Oral History Exhibition Relaunches this June
May 30, 2023

Coventry Irish Society is relaunching its Oral History Project ‘Irish Heart, Coventry Home’ on Friday 16 June 2023

‘Irish Heart, Coventry Home’ focuses on Irish migrants that arrived in the city between 1940 and 1970. The project includes filmed interviews, photographs, and written materials. Originally exhibited at the Herbert Art Gallery in 2018, the exhibition had more than 6000 visitors and 700 people on the opening night.

Coventry Irish Society is especially delighted to announce that Dr Kieran McCarthy the incoming Lord Mayor of Cork will be one of the main speakers at the event. Dr McCarthy was part of the steering group for the oral history project, and he was instrumental in the hosting of the exhibition in Cork City Hall for 1 month in September 2018.
Other speakers include Coventry Irish Society’s Honorary President, David Cairns, who was the first Irish Lord Mayor of Coventry, David will be 90 years old this June and Ciaran Davis, the Project Officer.

The evening will be a celebratory event and include Irish traditional music, The McHale School of Irish Dancing, food, and refreshments.

Rory Ryan, CIS Chair said “The history project allows present and future generations to learn about the Irish community’s contribution to Coventry and to celebrate that as part of the city’s diverse communities. This year is Coventry Irish Society’s 30th anniversary and the evening will be a double celebration for us as we reflect on the support the charity has given to the local Irish community”.

The Exhibition will be permanently held at Coventry Irish Society 2nd Floor Eaton House after the Launch event and people are invited to visit us to between 2pm and 4pm Monday to Friday for a viewing.


Anyone that has photographs, articles, documents, or items of interest that they feel would enhance the exhibition please contact the charity or bring them in to Coventry Irish Society offices Monday to Friday between 2pm-4pm as soon as possible
May 7, 2025
Meet new people, connect with other individuals and organisations in the community, or host your own exhibition stand! Join us on Wednesday 4 June 2025 from 3.00 – 6.00 pm. This is a drop-in event; feel free to stay for three hours or just pop-in for ten minutes any time between 3.00 – 6.00 pm. Location: Coventry Irish Society, 2nd Floor, Eaton House, 1 Eaton Road, Coventry CV1 2FJ Entry: All welcome! - No admission fee If you are interested, please book a free stand in advance by emailing caroline.brogan@covirishsoc.org.uk or by speaking to a member of staff in the office. For anyone wishing to have an exhibition stand, please arrive by 2.30 pm to set-up.
April 6, 2025
There are over 13,000 survivors of Ireland’s mother & baby homes living in Britain. “Philomena’s Law” seeks to remove a barrier to many survivors seeking the redress that they are entitled to by protecting redress scheme payments from being calculated within means-tested benefits & social care arrangements. Our Midlands Irish Survivors Service supports former residents of institutional abuse in Ireland. As part of this work, we are involved with Philomena’s Law, which will hopefully be passed in the coming months. Many of you may be familiar with Philomena Lee, who this law is named after. The story of Philomena’s search for her son Anthony (who she gave birth to in a Mother and Baby Home in County Tipperary) was the basis of the Oscar-nominated film Philomena, which stars Judi Dench and Steve Coogan. Labour MP Liam Conlon has introduced this draft legislation in the House of Commons in an effort to get a fairer deal for Survivors of institutions. The current redress scheme for Survivors enables former residents to receive financial compensation from the Irish government for the time they spent in Mother and Baby Homes. As it stands, any Survivor who is receiving means-tested benefits when they receive a compensation payment from the scheme is in danger of losing these benefits. This has a huge impact on Survivors who are yet again being denied the justice and kindness they deserve. If this legislation is passed, it will stop these benefits from being affected, and some cases, ceased altogether. Getting this law passed would change the lives of so many. As a charity, we are aware of many Survivors who have prolonged accepting the redress payment, or who have simply felt unable to accept it at all due to a fear of being penalised for using these funds. We have been working with Liam Conlon, and with other organisations supporting Survivors to try to raise awareness and to promote support for this law, so that it has the best possible chance of being implemented. The most effective and important way to support this law is to write to your local MP and ask them to publicly back Philomena’s Law. We would urge you to use the below email addresses to contact your local MP in Coventry: Zarah Sultana, Labour MP for Coventry South: zarah.sultana.mp@parliament.uk Mary Creagh, Labour MP for Coventry East: mary@marycreagh.co.uk Taiwo Owatemi, Labour MP for Coventry North West: taiwo.owatemi.mp@parliament.uk To get the best chance of your MP seeing your email, you should add ‘Constitutent Request’ in the subject of this email. We hope you will lend us the support we need to get justice for Irish Survivors. If you have any questions, do get in touch with Manisha O’Malley (Survivors Co-ordinator) at manisha.omalley@covirishsoc.org.uk or call us on 02476256629. You can follow the link below to download a free letter template, which you can send to your local MP in support of Philomena's Law.
April 2, 2025
Mental Health Support Worker (Post is for a one year contract - further funding might be available after one year subject to additional grant aid). Salary: £10,000 per year – 15 hours per-week 10-4pm Monday, Wednesday and Thursday (excluding lunch). Location: Eaton House, 1, Eaton Road Near Coventry City Centre. Established in 1993, Coventry Irish Society (CIS) is a Charity providing a wide range of community health and support services to the Irish community in Coventry.  The Coventry Irish Society requires a Mental Health Support Worker to set up, organise and run a half day per-week Dementia Support Group and a half day per- week Walking Group for the local Irish Community.  The role includes working with Carers and increasing mental health awareness to support the local Irish community.  The charity predominantly supports older Irish but also supports Second and Third Generation Irish, Irish Survivors and Irish Travellers. . Please email your up to date CV with a cover letter clearly detailing your relevant experience in line with requirements of the role. A CV without an accompanying cover letter will not be accepted. simon.mccarthy@covirishsoc.org.uk or email Simon for further information. Actively interviewing. We reserve the right to close this vacancy early. We are obliged to ask all successful applicants to complete a DBS Disclosure form
Show More Posts