Eoin McKiernan Library

09/10/2026

Poster from Eoin McKiernan’s collection for The Pavees, an early performance group of the great piper Paddy Keenan who passed away this week.

RIP Mr. Keenan.

08/07/2026

The McKiernan library is at Twin Cities Irish Fest this weekend! Come check out our brand new exhibit on the life and Music of Minneapolis uilleann piper Patrick Linehan. It’s in the pavilion. I’ll be giving a talk on Linehan at 5 PM on Saturday as well.

(and thanks to Henry and Izzy for the set up help)

07/16/2026

A glimpse of our upcoming digital archive of photos by Danny Diamond!

Working today on photos from my personal collection and found this gem: the great Dublin singer Luke Cheevers in full flow at a session in Hughes' Pub, Sean-nós Cois Life, 2010.

Thanks to the Eoin McKiernan Library & Celtic Junction Arts Center for supporting our ongoing archival work on the photo collection, which will be publically available online later this year.

06/22/2026

Great find here by friend-of-the-library Jack Kennelly down in Burnsville. Newspaper photo from March 1961 at one of the early "Night with the Irish" events held in the Burnsville/Savage area. This is the first photo we've seen featuring musician Mike McGivney holding his flute!

Front row appears to be: Emmett McCarthy (saxophone), Mike McGivney (flute), Mike Nash (fiddle), unknown, Martin McHugh (accordion), unknown.

Thanks Jack!

06/05/2026

Tomorrow 12-1 on The Shamrock Shore on Jazz88 we'll listen to the amazing lineup coming for this year's Minnesota Irish Music Weekend put on by The Center for Irish Music: June McCormack, Michael Rooney, Dáithí Sproule, Victoria Adiiye, Louise Mulcahy, Macdara Ó Faoláin, Diarmuid Ó Meachair, Shane Mulchrone and Laura Feddersen.

05/15/2026

With music from Seán Keegan & Macdara Ó Faoláin, June McCormick & Michael Rooney, Diarmuid Ó Meachair, Laura Feddersen & Nathan Gourley, John Doyle, Victoria Adiiye, Jean-Michel Veillon and Charlie Harris.

05/01/2026

Saturday at noon on The Shamrock Shore on Jazz88: an interview with Grainne Hunt who performs at Celtic Junction Arts Center Sunday and music from The Castle Ceili Band, Will Woodson & Caitlin Finley, Pat Fleming, Steve Cooney, Timmy O'Conner, Adrienne O'Shea, The Harbor, Frankie Gavin, Four Winds, Seán Keane, Skipper's Alley, Brett Lipshutz & Randy Gosa and Laoise Kelly.

04/20/2026

Check out this 1915 newspaper photo of Minneapolis uilleann piper Patrick J. Linehan! I'll be speaking about Linehan's life and music at the Celtic Junction Arts Center this Saturday, April 25th at 2pm where I'll be joined by Tom Dahill -- current owner of Linehan's pipes! Info on the Celtic Junction talk (which is free and available to livestream) here: https://celticjunction.org/event/patrick-linehan-minnesotas-first-uilleann-piper

This photo ran in the Irish Standard newspaper on June 26, 1915 with an article about the Ancient Order of Hibernians Picnic and Home Coming at Erin, Wisconsin held on Wednesday, June 16th that summer.

(Our friends at the Ward Irish Music Archives might be interested in the Wisconsin connection!)

04/11/2026

Minneapolis newspapers once described Patrick J. Linehan as “the only known player of Irish bagpipes in the Twin Cities”—and the owner of the only set of Irish pipes in the Northwest.

As part of Irish Arts Week, join us in just two weeks, on April 25, from 2:00–3:30 pm for Patrick Linehan: Minnesota’s First Uilleann Piper.

Born in New York City to a piper from north County Cork, Linehan came to Minnesota as an infant and lived a remarkable life—breaking log jams, surviving the Great Hinckley Fire, and later performing with silent film and on Twin Cities radio in the 1920s.

Eoin McKiernan Library Director Brian Miller shares new findings on Linehan’s life, music, and the legacy of his uilleann pipes—still played in the Twin Cities today.

Attend in person (reserve your spot) or via Zoom (registration required). Both options are free. Get those links at https://celticjunction.org/event/patrick-linehan-minnesotas-first-uilleann-piper/