Troubled Irish Society To Stay On Upper East Side After AG Intervenes

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — The beloved but scandal-tarred American Irish Historical Society will stay in its historic Fifth Avenue home after the state stepped in to stop a controversial sale, authorities announced Monday.

Attorney General Letitia James said the society will no longer try to sell its townhouse at 991 Fifth Ave., near East 80th Street, after an outpouring of opposition to those plans prompted her office to start a review last year.

It has also agreed to a new governance structure, including an interim board and executive director, following reports of financial mismanagement that led to the planned sale, James said.

"For decades, the American Irish Historical Society has been a home for the Irish American community to celebrate and honor their culture and traditions," James said in a statement. "The new interim Executive Director and Board of Directors will bring critical oversight to help restore this important organization and ensure it thrives for generations to come."

Since purchasing the Gilded Age townhouse in 1940, the society has hosted heads of state, grand banquets and theater performances, and served as the terminus of the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade.

The six-story building is also home to ornate woodwork, marble fireplaces, a rooftop terrace and an enormous, 10,000-volume library, whose prized tomes include the first Bible printed in the Irish language and letters written by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

But its listing for sale was quickly followed by a New York Times report that detailed longstanding dysfunction within the society under the decades-long reign of its then-president, Dr. Kevin Cahill — whose "nepotistic ways" had driven out longtime members, according to the Times.

Cahill, a powerful and pioneering doctor, was credited with rescuing the society in the early 1970s. But he was later "accused of treating it more and more like his personal kingdom," the Times reported — and in recent years was accused of sexual assault by two women.

Cahill died in September at age 86.

The society had fallen into financial hardship by the spring of 2021, which was "exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic," according to James's office. The sale of the townhouse — first listed at $52 million and since lowered to $44 million — would have helped cover the society's costs, according to prosecutors.

The listing, by realtor Brown Harris Stevens, proclaimed that buying the building would be "like acquiring the Holy Grail."

But more than 40,000 people signed a petition sent to James's office opposing the building's sale, including actor Liam Neeson, the writers Malachy McCourt and Colum McCann, and the poet Paul Muldoon. Many signers cited "the townhouse’s central importance to both the organization and the community," James's office said.

Several members of the society's board resigned after the proposed sale, with the group's leaders seeking to move the institution to the small town of Otsego in upstate New York, Irish Central reported in March. At the time, the society's president-general was Michael Higgins Jr., son of the Irish President Michael Higgins.

The society's new interim executive director will be John Keefe, described by the attorney general's office as an expert in nonprofit rehabilitation. Under the oversight of James's office, the society will undergo a six-month "transition and revitalization period," with a transparent selection process to choose a permanent board tasked with stabilizing the group and protecting its assets.

The board will then help craft a strategic plan for the society's future, alongside stakeholders like the Consulate General of Ireland.

Related coverage: Sale Of UES Irish Society Building To Be Reviewed By State AG