Utica's Own Bard:
"The Life of Patrick Condon" 

Dates: Continuous throughout June 2025

Time: During regular hours of operation

Cost: FREE!

Location: "The Gallery" at the H.A.R.P. Museum located on the second floor of the Irish Cultural Center of the Mohawk Valley at 623 Columbia St., Utica

Contact: Chris Hoke at (315) 733-4228 Ext. 6 or irishccmv@gmail.com

The H.A.R.P. Museum at the Irish Cultural Center of the Mohawk Valley will be hosting a month-long exhibit on the life of the Irish poet Patrick Condon (Padraig Cundun, in Irish).  

Who is Patrick Condon?

Patrick Condon was a tenant farmer in Ballymacoda, County Cork, Ireland in the late 1700s-early 1800s.  Times were tough for Patrick as his farm was in an area that often flooded.  Seeking a better life for himself and his family, he emigrated from County Cork Ireland to Deerfield, NY in 1826 with his wife Margaret and their six children.  

Once settled, Condon, who never learned to speak or write in English, wrote letters, stories and poems back to family and friends in Ireland; all in the Irish language.  Long after his death in 1857, his writings gained recognition as a significant body of work, mainly for the content and style of his writing.

Hot on his trail? 200 years later, America welcomes another Irish visitor

In 2022, our Program Committee received an email asking “Are you aware that you have a pre-eminent Irish poet buried in a Utica cemetery?” In fact, we were not.  Hearing that, Tony O’Floinn, a professor of Irish Language and Literature at Mary Immaculate College in Limerick who had been working on his doctoral thesis on Condon’s writing, made a Zoom presentation at the Irish Cultural Center.  With their interest obviously piqued, the Program Committee assembled a team to assist him with research into Patrick Condon’s life in America; ultimately resulting in the discovery and identification  of several local descendants - many of whom knew nothing about their famous forebear!

Dr. O’Floinn, following the footsteps of Patrick Condon, will also be making his first trip to America this June, where he’ll be meeting his co-researchers and some of Patrick Condon’s living descendants!  

Want to learn more? It’s all on display during the month of June!

The museum’s Program Committee and the Condon Research Team have assembled a multi-panel exhibit tracing the life and writings of Utica’s own bard, and the public is welcome to view it anytime the 5 Points Pub is open.  Who knows, maybe you will be inspired to research your own family’s roots! ☘️

See all of our upcoming cultural events!