About Us
“Cuala’s work brings consciousness that can transform a young woman’s life: she’s never been shown or asked to do anything like this before.”
Our Mission
We collaborate with communities to repair, recover and build social, economic and cultural power. We produce intergenerational projects and programs that celebrate land, community history, stories and wellbeing through a social justice lens; develop new resources and meaningful work; and protect affordable housing for the generations to come. Among the groups we collaborate with are public housing residents, migrants and indigenous communities.
Our Story
Founded by Grammy-winning Irish folk singer songwriter Susan McKeown, Cuala grew out of a citywide festival. In 2016 CualaNYC commemorated the 1916 Rising that ultimately freed Ireland from the British Empire, and celebrated its shared history with New York and how it inspired other independence movements.
What does Cuala (Koo-lah) mean?
Cuala is named for a road that led south from the Hill of Tara, ancient seat of Ireland’s High Kings and home of the bardic tradition. It was also the name of a woman-led printing press that published much of the literature of the Irish cultural revival that led to the 1916 Rising.
How to get involved
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OUR PROJECT AND PROGRAMS
We host EXHIBITIONS such as #IamIrish at New York Irish Center as part of CualaNYC in 2018 that broke new ground for visibility of Irish people who are also mixed race. Our festival SHEBEENS on Women, Teanga (language), and LGBTQ create belonging and identity with stories, songs, political conversations and poetry: a meeting space beyond the mainstream.
INCHICORE FAMILY PORTRAIT
For three years we collaborated with St. Michaels Family Resource Centre and Core Youth Service on the annual Family Fun Day on the Field in Inchicore for a day of wild fun, bouncy castles, sack races, music, dance, food and just great craic. We set up a Community Portrait Booth and invited people to take a portrait with someone from the community they did not know, as it they were family, because we all belong.
You can check out these and other videos on our YouTube channel.
Jacob Riis Celebration
In 2024 in response to NYCHA’s launch of a year-long campaign to try to convert Jacob Riis Houses to privatization, we produced a Community Celebration with world renowned street artist and former Riis resident Al Diaz. Through a series of workshops with youth, Al created a new sculpture that was installed in The Amphitheater where in 1966 Lady Bird Johnson had declared Riis Houses “the greatest public housing development in America.”
Bomba Loisaida
