Waterford Historical Society (CT)

The Dirty Blue Shirts living historians will relate Irish history and perform live Irish music on the Green.

One historian will exhibit cotton/linen crochet lace work with examples of bobbin lace for comparison and have large gauge yarn and hooks for visitors to try. She will speak about lace crochet as a means of income for women during the Great Hunger and the subsequent American fascination with the art, as well as touch on the linen trade.

Another historian who has studied Irish language for 15 years and teaches bimonthly Irish language classes for the Irish Coastal Club in Westerly will offer Irish language and history lessons in the Jordan District Schoolhouse.

There will be fresh loaves of Irish Soda Bread and Caraway Rye available for sale, contributed by local cottage bakery Dove Hill Farm. Tours of the historic buildings on Jordan Green will also be offered.

The Waterford Historical Society’s event, “Portraits of the Irish in Waterford,” on Saturday, June 14, 2025, on Jordan Green from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., will look at the impact that Irish immigrants and their ancestors have had on the Town of Waterford. The event and the exhibit of family portraits and photos on the Waterford Public Library art wall in June were inspired by one family in particular – the Perkins family – whose forebear James Sherry emigrated from Ireland during the potato famine around 1858 and settled in Waterford. The event and exhibit are free and open to the public.

Members of the Perkins Family of Waterford, CT. 
​A. J. was the son of James Sherry, who emigrated from Ireland around 1858-1860. From top left: Ruth Perkins, A.J. Perkins, Mary Perkins. Bottom row: Sherry Perkins, Rose Theresa Perkins, Jimmy Perkins.

"Portraits of the Irish in Waterford"
​June 14 event, Library exhibit through June

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