Came here for St Patrick's Day celebrations. Dance performance & fish & chips buffet. Fun ambience. When the fish is freshly fried, it's really good, so since it's buffet style, try the batch and have more when it's a better batch. They should not cover the fish or at least poke holes so it doesn't get steamed & soggy. Dance performance was really cute with the little kids. This isn't the Trinity dance company dance level but a fun experience. read more

See all

Sláinte! Always good craic. I love the produce in the store from the homeland. The party around the holiday doesn't get any bigger or better. read more

Been here a few times now for a top secret computer security event :-) great location right off the interstate so fairly easy to get to here in Chicagoland. Good parking areas and multiple larger venue areas inside. Multiple levels make the auditorium very nice with a balcony area. read more

this was the first time we ever visited the Irish American Heritage Center and it was for a baby shower. It is a pretty nice place to have a baby shower because they have rooms that are catered and perfect to host. what I heard they also utilize some of the rooms for teaching Irish dance classes. There are four floors of rooms to be utilized. There are also ample parking on both sides of the building. It is conveniently located next to that I 94 Expressway What's very interesting about this place as they also have a bar like restaurant on the first floor. read more

How did I not know about this place? I went to a charity event and was impressed by the space, big room for an event, adjacent full bar with additional seating, parking lot and literally 2 minutes off Kennedy expressway. I will definitely keep this neighborhood gem in mind for future events. read more

This is a wonderful place to get a bit and a beer at the pub. They often have live music. The staff is always really nice, and so are the other patrons. The gift shop is really nice, too. read more

We hadn't been to this location since before COVID so I was looking forward to seeing any changes, or the friendly faces and music/dancing. This was the HALFWAY to ST. PATRICK'S day celebration, so it was much more scaled down than the Irish Fest. The only rooms open were the Fifth Province bar and the showroom with the stage. The upstairs area was closed off, as well as the parking lot, which usually featured booths for food and merchandise. I only indulged in a Black Velvet (half Guinness/half cider) but it tasted awesome! They had few non-red meat options, fried fish/chips and salad, so I passed, as this was my beef-free time. I may suggest some non-meat proteins, but it's about supply-demand in this market. The music and dancing were good as usual, but there was tv on near the bar for breaks, and the gift shop with food and merch was a plus. I bought some Irish soda bread to take home, it's usu SO good. A friend mentioned Sunday Teas upcoming with an actress portraying Emily Dickenson and Oscar Wilde's mother Jane! I may consider one of these events, when the place does not seem SO far away. read more

See all

Our group of six recently visited the Irish American Heritage Center for an easygoing evening after a beer tasting experience in the 'hood. The IAHC is housed in a former school, very reminiscent in size and style of my old grade school. My love and I felt sort of cool, as she has been to a concert at this venue before, and I had attended two massive Yelp events held here back in the day (Yelp Summerfest 2009 and 2010 - yes, I am an old timer on Yelp). The Fifth Province is the pub at the IAHC that is open Fridays and Saturdays. We nodded to some tunes from a singer-guitarist and watched some sports on the TV's as we enjoyed some pub grub. We continued our drinking of adult beverages from the bar, and several of us had to have a Guinness. My Paddy Melt with fries was tasty and filling. Other items enjoyed by our group included fish sandwich, potato skins, and even chili dogs (listed as the Friday special on the menu). The Irish American Heritage Center has a gift shop and free parking. It is also a fairly short walk from the newly scrubbed Montrose Blue Line station. read more

I was here to deliver some items for an event. Never knew this was a historic place. The lady told me this was an irish heritage place. Full of historical items inside the building. Wish they have a tour i would definitely come and visit. read more

See all

Always such fun events here!!! Love joining my friend for different benefits and concerts throughout year. Very nice people, bartenders work really hard. Love that I can buy Crunchies at the Gift store! Older building so can get hot in places but highly recommend! Drinks are great!!!! Food every time I've eaten at an event is very good also! Great opportunities to hear Irish music and dance!! read more

Irish American Heritage Center - Gaelic Storm was incredible! - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Beautiful community/heritage center. I came here for a convention and had previously seen shows here with my Polish school of all things. Lovely staff, clean space, and a cute gift shop! I bought some great soda bread here! read more

See all

Friendly, warm and inviting. Great beer choices. Good pub food. Great music. Great neighborhood gem! read more

Irish American Heritage Center - Irish dancers - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

The all you can eat fish fry was not good. For $18 per person! Fish was tasteless, cold fries, bland cole slaw & giant peas. Never did get anything to drink (long lines). Sat in the hallway under fluorescent lights with people goiing by trying to find seats. There was 6 of us and the place was packed! Seems they could do a better job with the food for the cost & crowds. Too many other places in the city for fish fries to ever go back here. read more

Went for Friday night fish fry. Was really looking forward to it. Unfortunately the staff at every level was rude and downright nasty. Bartenders, servers, and even the people who took your money for wristbands. News flash: you're in the hospitality industry. First time and last time there. read more

This is a fabulous place to visit if you're Irish or not. I am Irish, so I found everything to be very fascinating. I learned so much during my visit. Our group of about 15 were guided throughout the IAHC by Joy, Bill & Jack. We spent about 1 hour 30 minutes browsing the various parts of the building including the library, "5th Province" and looking at artifacts in the museum. Would call ahead to find out when certain portions of the building are open to the public. The gift shop was a fun way to end the tour as well. Free parking lot parking. Highly recommend. read more

See all

Irish Heritage Center is a gem. I've been to dozens of events here in the last decade- private, community. I've thrown three of my own celebrations here. They always do an amazing job. The people and space and wonderful. We need places like this! But their current event coordinator is horrendous. I've worked with two different event coordinators at IAHC over the years and they have been responsive, substantive and reliable. Truly a pleasure to work with. Last year, I tried to book a combined 100th birthday with for my husband and me and the experience was frustrating. Responses to simple questions ("Is Fifth Province Hall available on these dates?") took a week to get a response about. Emails were unread or ignored. The event coordinator would respond to emails sent weeks before, ignoring more recent emails. I called, thinking it would be easier to hash things out on the phone. I never got my calls returned. After booking somewhere else out of desperation and frustration, I detailed my concerns to the board in a letter and never heard back. That's a shame. IAHC is an important place. I'll continue to wish it well, but won't be seeking it out as an event space unless some changes are made. read more

Came for Friday night fish fry, this place is wonderful, family friendly, great entertainment, friendly people everywhere!! Will come back as often as I can and would recommend it to anyone!! Free parking!! read more

Great place to visit with family for music and activities. Fun gift shop with lots of treats. Take some soda bread home!

Filthy building and dangerous parking lots. I have come here for many years for many events and I have never seen it as run down as it is now. This cannot be attributed to Covid because there have been events here since Chicago and the rest of the world opened up. The interior (floors, bathrooms, et al) have not seen a mop since St. Patrick's Day when I was here last, and the parking lots have large holes that are dangerous to cars and more so to pedestrians! I brought an out of town guest who twisted her ankle there. I heard they are interested in putting money toward A/C. No one ever sued because they were hot!! I'm sure the founders of the Irish American Heritage Center are turning over in their graves! read more

We went to contradance there this week and we're thoroughly impressed with their masking measures and the beauty of the building. But even more importantly everyone there was welcoming, funny and the music was awesome. read more

Phenomenal fresh fish and chips and live music on a chilly November night at the Fifth Province... so perfect!!! Also the Fifth Province Ale by Lake Effect is fantastic read more

Came here for Yelp Summerfest and liked the building/grounds a lot. This building is big, but it's layout is great for a summer shindig with warm wood tones, big bar, and large lawn space. One suggestion: Perhaps add more seating outside so attendees can enjoy the great Chicago summer weather! read more

Great, affordable drinks and food. Wonderful service with a calm, chill vibe. Unlike other noisy bars, you can actually hear when other people talk to you. read more

A very good experience this is a wonderful place and they were so nice to host the redhead festival this year read more

Irish American Heritage Center - Here to talk on Irish Radio about the upcoming Redhead Days in Partnership with the Irish American Heritage Festival! - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

See all

This spot is a great spot for the Irish American Heritage Fest! The building is lovely and has some great rooms, bar area, decor, etc. The bathrooms are a bit outdated (though, considering the age of the building, they're in pretty good shape). Friendly staff and a great outdoor area make this a good spot! I hear they do private events as well and have a local watering hole open regularly. Worth a visit! read more

I love this place. There is a pub inside with great people and a huge open space. Decent prices. Super clean and nice bartenders We attended the Irish Festival and man oh man did we have a blast! The prices inside were also reasonable and the bands were awesome!! Even better the people were so fun!! Great crowd!! A few years back my friend rented one of the classrooms for a birthday party and it turned out great. They seem to do a lot there I'm sure there's more that I don't know about. All in all a great place with great people! read more

Love their pub! from the outside you can't tell its super cozy inside. looks like a cabin in the woods.

it is great to see my heritage being introduce to chicago and it rich history in irish culture. i am irish decent also.

I'm writing this review based on having my wedding there. This place is still ok for fests, etc. This review is mainly for brides out there looking to have their weddings here. While the Erin room is gorgeous for a wedding reception, the way the place is run is less than par. We booked the IAHC for our wedding 2 years prior to our wedding date. In that time the event staff that we were working with turned over three times! On the third time we met with Shelby. What was frustrating was that everything that we agreed to with the two previous event staff was MIA and we had to go over everything for a third time. Also, some of the things that were pre-negotiated were null and void even with a signed contract - such BS! Also, Shelby asked who our caterer is. We told her and she said "I'm not famililar with that one." It annoyed the heck out of me because I said that we got that vendor from your preferred list. Don't you think you'd get to learn who the vendors are on your preferred list instead of looking at the customer like we have eight heads??? Within three weeks prior to our wedding, I contacted Shelby for a face to face meeting to go over everything. During that meeting I met Natalie. Now this is person #4 that we have met during this process. It was confusing working with these two because I was told that Natalie would be the person who I work with for my wedding. Any questions I have can go to her. However, Shelby often responded to my questions. I wanted to make sure that whatever answers Shelby was giving to me was shared with Natalie so that nothing fell through the cracks. The day of the wedding, my "day of" person checked out the space about 90 min prior to our ceremony. Our ceremony was held in the Fifth Province across from the bar side. The riser, which is in green carpeting, was filthy. My day of person asked to have it vacuumed. Then she went up stairs and saw how filthy the floor was in the Erin room where our reception was to be held. She had to request that both the riser and the floor be swept and cleaned. If she hadn't seen that or said anything, it would have been a filthy mess. The brides room - ick! It's bascially a bathroom with two stalls and a sink. The sink had dead bugs all over it and a towel hanging with some questionable white gunk on it. Really? This is how you present this to brides the day of? So gross! Brides, this is a huge day in your life. If you have a wedding coordinator, then you might do ok having your wedding here. Otherwise, if you are on your own like I was, then consider going somewhere else to have your wedding. You will get very limited help from the event staff here. They can't even make sure the rooms you rented are clean. Just awful! They did meet our request to open the bar an hour earlier than normal and set-up a podium for our ceremony. If they are open about things they do and what you need to do as bride upfront, it might lesson your expectations of the term "event staff". read more

Are you 1/16 Irish? You can research your ancestors here at the Heritage center to reconfirm the best part of your lineage. Or maybe you want to learn Gaelic. This is your place. I have been going here years. I have attended the following events: -COUNTLESS St. Patrick's Day's -Dozens of christenings and baby/bridal showers -Watching my many cousin/neices step dance They have several private rooms. And the bar, The Fifth Province is the best Guinness pour outside Ireland. read more

I come here at least twice a year... 1. St. Patty's Day party... It's full of families, drunks, and drunk families. You can pretty much do anything and NOT get kicked out (except fight, that'll get ya kicked out for sure). Can you fall over a table and spill everyone else's beer at said table and not get kicked out? Yes, you can do that as my brother learned first hand. 2. The huge Irish Fest in July. This is fantastic! Irish boys, Irish music, Irish pours on the booze... Yeah, you'll find that all here. p.s., do yourself a favor, come here when the Mickey Finn's play, they are AWESOME! read more

Even though we had a bit of trouble navigating around here due to the expressway, it was worth it. Saw a play here last night - "Dancing at Lughnasa"., performed by the Seanachai Theater Company (reviewed separately). As an aside, this is a great play about 5 Irishwomen set in the fictional town of Ballybeg in 1936, and definitely worth seeing if you're into Irish history or just want to experience some really fine live theater. The building itself is cool, old, big, and full of history. Tons of stuff going on and plenty to do and see. A truly unique venue to see a play, take a class, or attend an event. Alas, the bar was closed on my visit, but I'll be sure and check it out on my next visit. read more

I have been to the Irish American Heritage Center for a few events and I'm a fan. Where else can you have a couple pints, watch some theater, dance to some oldies, and enjoy a friendly, spirited conversation with wonderful people? All this is available under one roof at the IAHC. read more

What's better than drinking Guiness at a bar? Drinking it at an authentic Irish bar. The Irish American Heritage Center (IAHC) has a bar!!! I've never been to Ireland. But I imagine that a bar in Ireland would be just like this. I believe the folks in charge of IAHC went out of their way to make it as authentic as possible. They did a good job stacking the bar with a variety of alcoholic beverages. You'll also find a pretty cute gift shop. Anything green and Irish, you'll find here. It's been a long time I've had this much fun. If you're looking for something to do over the weekend, then definitely consider IAHC. It's not a night club - but it's still a ton of fun for those of you who like to find good company, get a good groove, and enjoy good drinks. read more

What a gem this place is! I had the opportunity to host a Drivers Survival Seminar here just last night, and I was really blown away by how cool this place was. A converted school, the center is now home to a tons of community events, irish dance classes, a library, a really cool bar that had live music playing, and a slew of random people just hanging out and enjoying themselves. Hanging out here for the night made me feel like I was back in high school, except without all the really attractive dressed up chicks. The nature of place was extremely outgoing and fun and I really don't have another comparison for it in the City of Chicago. Maybe I'm just weird, but I would love to come back here again and just hang out for the night. Maybe read a book, check out one of the events or just have a drink. I would highly suggest checking out this place if you are looking for something different to do in the city. All around good times. read more

My husband and I could not be happier with our choice to have our wedding at the Irish American Heritage Center. Natalie was our event coordinator throughout our planning with the IAHC. She made the whole planning process easy-going and hassle free for us. Natalie let us come in multiple times to see the space before we even booked. She would let us know when there was a wedding that day so we could come in and see the layouts and how it would look all decorated. She was very flexible with everything and was very reassuring every time I had questions or concerns. For a Chicago venue, the IAHC is priced very reasonably. They require you to use their bar packages but you can choose all other vendors/caterers of your choice. I had my ceremony and cocktail hour in the Fifth Province Room and my reception in the Erin Room. The space was just perfect for my wedding and all of my guests were awed by the uniqueness of the venue. There was a convenient bridal room that I took full advantage of when I needed to get my dress bustled or just to take a breather away from the crowd. Overall, I was a very happy bride and wouldn't change a thing about my wedding at the IAHC! read more

See all

My wife and I made the wise choice of choosing the IAHC for our Wedding. Originally, it was booked for the "classroom" on the first floor. However, about 5 days before Sept. 5th (our wedding date), Leslie called to inform us that no one had booked the East Hall (which is connected to their pub). Since no one had booked it, they offered to upgrade us for free. Of course, we obliged. Having never seen the East Hall prior to setting up for the wedding, we were in awe. The hall is connected to their pub, which is a gorgeous wooden bar with a fireplace and nice big windows. The hall itself was lined with the same huge windows, a stage in the center and a nice wooden floor and trim. Having been okay with the "classroom", the East Hall was a dream come true. Sheila and Leslie were friendly and genuinely cared about my wife, myself and our guests. They were extremely friendly and helpful. Sheila and the other bartender (I regretfully cannot remember her name) went the extra mile to help our caterers serve champagne and drinks. The security guard even helped us put together the arch. All in all, the IAHC went above and beyond our expectations. Without the IAHC and the wonderful people who help, our day would not have been nearly as special and memorable. Thank you again IAHC and staff. I cannot recommend you enough for events!!! read more

My sisters, son and I went to the fest,and had a great time.Got there aaround 5.00 after the rain(good timing),and got a table just outside the main tent. Saw the Larkin Moran Bros. and they were amazing. And of course the Tossers closed the evening and were even better than last year...at least Tony Duggins didn't forget the lyrics to some of the songs this year. The drinks were reasonable at 5 tickets a drink,plus we brought flasks to add a little nip to the weak drinks. Also,I have to mention the Pipe and Drums of the Emerald Society who sounded great. All in all just a great evening. read more

I attended the Irish American Heritage Festival here and it was one of the best times I'd had in ages. The building itself is old school...no...literally...it looks like a school. Only, ya know, with a bar. As you do. Everyone was friendly, the beer was plentiful (many thanks to our kindly bartenders that weekend...they earned their keep), the bathrooms well stocked, and the stands full of good eats and interesting treats. Can't wait to see if this place keeps it up for the Yelp Summerfest. Fingers crossed. read more

It's The Irish American Heritage Center..It's pretty self explanatory so don't go there looking for Corona and Chicken Wings. It's name alone may lead one to someone to jokingly ask how many bars were in the building...Not jokingly, the answer would be three. I have been here a few times...Sometimes for music once for a dart tournament...Good beer, good times all around. read more