Founded in December 1996, the Irish Canadian Society is a voluntary membership organisation that arranges/supports events -- from picnics - to hockey games - to a black tie charity Ball -- to provide opportunities for individual and family fellowship for the Irish Canadian community in Ireland and Northern Ireland. Through such events and this Web site, ICS also promotes awareness of the Irish and Canadian cultures and Irish-Canadian connections, and provides information to help Canadians planning to visit or move to Ireland or Northern Ireland.

ICS members hail from diverse parts of Canada, Ireland and Northern Ireland. The Canadians include students, retirees and everything in between. The Irish members have lived in Canada and/or have relatives there or other Canadian connections.

In addition to an Annual Calendar of Events, ICS also sponsors one-off projects. A particular source of pride was an ICS colour party, including two Mounties, which appeared in the 2004 Dublin St Patrick's Day parade.

ICS's 2005 special project was the refurbishment of the Canada Room at the Glencree Centre for Reconciliation which is being carried out through a very generous refurnishing donation ICS obtained from the Belfast-based Bombardier Aerospace (Northern Ireland) Foundation. Poetically, the Canada Room's Grand Reopening took place on Canadian Thanksgiving Day, 2005. For more on Canada's involvement with Glencree see Footprints.

In 2006, ICS shared in a number of farewell tributes to Ambassador Mark Moher and ambassador-in-her-own-right Jean Moher, Mark's wife, as they came to the end of their four-year posting. At the event held at Glencree (see above), ICS presented a teak bench for Glencree's central 'green' with a plaque inscribed "Presented by the Irish Canadian Society in proud celebration of the outstanding contribution made by CANADIAN AMBASSADOR MARK and MRS. JEAN MOHER to Irish-Canadian relations and especially their support of the work of Glencree during their 2002 - 2006 term of service."

ICS also supports activities and events of the Canadian Embassy and Irish-Canadian academic, business, cultural and other groups, including providing on this Web site links to their Web sites. Also provided are links to comprehensive sources of entertainment and other events that might be of interest to both visitors and those resident in Ireland and Northern Ireland.