History & Personnel

Several years ago a group of Kansas Citians articulated a vision to create a place that would support, honor, preserve and celebrate the Irish and Celtic heritage of our community, families, and individuals year-round.

The Irish Center’s first home was in Union Station. It opened on St. Patrick’s Day 2007. Union Station and the Irish have a strong historical link. From the Irish immigrants who provided much of the workforce that built the railroads, to later immigrants coming through Union Station to start a new life in the Midwest, to the thousands of Irish-American soldiers who shipped out and came home through Union Station, to the Irish-American workers who dug the coal and butchered the livestock transported across the country from Union Station.

The Center’s programming and events have grown over the years to the point that a new, permanent home was needed. On September 1st, 2016 the Kansas City Irish Center purchased the historic Drexel Hall building at the corner of Linwood and Baltimore. This new home is in the heart of Kansas City’s historic Irish neighborhoods and is central to many of the Irish events in KC. Originally built in 1909 as a home for labor unions, with offices, three commercial storefronts and a large, high-ceilinged meeting hall with stage and upper balcony, Drexel has in recent decades hosted hundreds of wedding receptions, family and office parties, private concerts, fundraisers and Irish wakes.