The American Committee [later Conference] for Irish Studies met in Tacoma in 1984, hosted by Audrey Eyler (Pacific Lutheran University) and Rob Garrett (University of Puget Sound). It was the first west coast meeting of ACIS, and was heavily attended by west coast Irish Studies enthusiasts. During the conference, a number of scholars from the west (Steve Arkin, Audrey Eyler, Rob Garrett, Vivian Mercier, Jim and Pat O'Brien, Timothy O'Keefe, Bill Potts, Marian Robinson, Robert and Becky Tracy, and others) began a discussion that ended with the forming of ACIS/West, which held its first meeting in October 1985, on the recently acquired "Lone Mountain" campus of the University of San Francisco.

The co-organizers of that inaugural meeting were Donald Jordan (Professor of History and Humanities; he may have been teaching at Stanford then, I am unsure.) and James P. Walsh (Professor of History, San Jose State University). They selected San Francisco because of the City's general popularity, comprehensive on-campus meeting and living facilities, and the organizational cooperation of the USF history department chair. The original program was heavy on guests from Ireland: John Montague (English) and Sean O Tuama (Modern Irish), both form UCC, read poetry and discussed the works. Tadhg Foley of UCG (English) was Fulbright Scholar in residence at USF that year. He delivered a major luncheon address and became a welcomed resource person and facilitator for faculty and students with Irish research interests.

ACIS/West has received on-going support from the Irish Consul/San Francisco, and at the 2003 convention members joined in discussion with then-Consul Donal Denham about strategies for initiating a Western Institute of Irish Studies. In 2005, WIIS was incorporated and approved for non-profit status. A Web Site was also officially launched in 2005 (www.wiisonline.org). In 2006, the first issue on the site's on-line journal Siar, under the guest editorship of Charlotte Headrick (Oregon State University) will publish a selection of papers delivered at the 2005 conference.

In 2004 ACIS/West began the Don Jordan Award, in honor of one of the organization's founding members and early presidents. The Award goes to the best conference presentation by an Emerging Scholar.

As James P. Walsh (the first ACIS/West President) remembered them in 2004, those early years were lively:

In 1986, representatives from national ACIS attended to see that we westerners were up to the national standard and spending their stipend properly. Judging their arrival time Walsh greeted them from the conference pool while doing the backstroke. President elect Jordan was at Safeway buying liquor. Dinner was at a Mexican restaurant, breakfast was at the restaurant on the Santa Barbara beach -- out on the sand to the south of the town. Papers were given at the university's Cliff House. When speakers provoked inattention, guest options were to admire the pelicans floating quietly over the breakers or watch the college surfers in action. Joe and Anne Lee were hosted by Jordan and other faculty through the following week of travel to the San Francisco Bay Area, guest lectures, receptions, and dinner parties.

My own interest in ACIS came in a rather oblique and delayed manner. My field is U.S. history, and my research and other professional interests approach Irish Studies from a main line U.S. history perspective. I found Irish Studies interesting from the vantage point of the Irish being one of many of our nation's historic minorities.

My original enthusiasm for organizing ACIS/West was weak. I had served as President of San Francisco's Irish Literary and Historical Society in the mid-1970s, when that group was less than hearty. Acquiring a monthly speaker was a challenge, and gathering an audience to listen to the expert was even more difficult. In those days, as always, my Galway father and Cork mother were my full supporters. They always attended the meetings. When the attendance was sparse my father would put his hat and coat on an adjoining chair. If the room was near empty he would even put his hat on its own chair.

So when it came to organizing ACIS out here in the West, I hesitated until some of the northwestern enthusiasts became almost angry with me. I can only presume that they looked to me because I had been publishing already, gave papers at the national meetings, and enjoyed early Fulbright appointments in the National University of Ireland. When Puget Sound and Pacific Lutheran hosted the national meeting, several persons who might otherwise have taken on the leadership position requested me to step forward and call for a premier meeting for October 1985.

Besides the wisdom and timeliness of their general wishes to have a western regional organization, I was particularly persuaded by a persistent and almost aggressive professor of English from the University of Hawaii. Always practical, I thought we could blow success into the new regional organization by hosting the first meeting in San Francisco, which is always an attractive venue. Next, I always wanted to go to a conference in Hawaii, particularly then, when the islands were not so overrun by tourists. Well, when we met in San Francisco our Hawaiian enthusiast announced his academic retirement and impending relocation back home to the Midwest.

So, instead of an Hawaiian venue, ACIS/West met at Santa Barbara in October 1986. Vivian Mercier offered to present himself as official host, which allowed ACIS/West entrée to wonderful university facilities. The occasion was the eve of Professor Mercier's impending retirement. His behavior, befitting a cultivated, senior European intellectual, required that Don Jordan and I do the work required to create the Santa Barbara conference by remote control from our home institutions in Northern California. Successfully challenged by the task, we almost overshot the mark. The UCSB president was noted for the lavishness of his hospitality and the grandeur of his mansion-home. Without ever even speaking with him, but coordinating through his secretary, Don and I obtained the president's agreement to host a banquet for all conference attendees at his mansion.

That summer, however, I read distressing news in the San Jose Mercury News. Our host was removed from his presidency for alleged misappropriation of funds, particularly for the lavishness of entertainments and redecoration schemes. Don and I met hastily and concluded that we would play it cool; we would await the appointment of an interim president and just pretend that nothing had changed. We would be sure to invite him and his spouse to his hosted ACIS/West banquet. Well, it worked. Few interim presidents want to rock the boat. This one paid the bill, sent a representative, but changed the venue to the faculty club. We did not get to view the mansion, the cause for a presidential departure from academic life. Needless to say, the conference was an intellectual and professional success without regard to the hosting details. Professor Mercier played his role as host quite well, indeed.

My personal participation in ACIS/West conferences slacked during the years through which I administered San Jose State's history department and then its College of Social Sciences. Soon enough, though, I chose early retirement and faced the option of playing the Vivian Mercier role. That coincided with the ACIS/West tenth anniversary meeting. There were several major differences, however. I hadn't quite reached Mercier's advanced age; I lacked his cultivated mannerisms; and I habitually performed my own work. Another stark reality was that San Jose could not be confused with Santa Barbara.

Once again Don Jordan, Tim O'Keefe and I gathered our wits. Quickly we discovered that no hotel rooms would be available within walking distance of the urban campus. All had been fully booked more than a year in advance for a national meeting of barbershop quartets. So, we turned the liability into an asset. We booked less expensive rooms in a comparable hotel well north of downtown, but on the new and attractive light rail line that connected through the refurbished downtown to the university where sessions would take place. We included rail passes with the registration packets. San Jose City ordinances and the local police prevented us, however, from providing a small Irish band to accompany attendees from the first campus cocktail party to the conference banquet, also located on the light rail line.

Whenever confronted with the organizational option, Jordan always favored spending money. And O'Keefe never objected. That year ACIS/West was in good financial condition, evidently because of sound leadership between Santa Barbara (1986) and San Jose (1994). This included the modest stipend the West received annually from national ACIS. Additionally, which a college dean I held a non-state discretionary account that was periodically infused by a university friend whose generosity enhanced my efforts in academic administration. As a result, ACIS/West funds subsidized the general conference cost, light rail passes, and a continental breakfast. My alum angel underwrote the redecoration and repainting of the previously shabby physical facilities we were to use, hosted a cocktail party even though he did not drink, and underwrote the travel and lodging expenses of three conference guests from Ireland. He declined my banquet invitation and retained his anonymity. While his personal academic interests focused on Native American Studies, he derived joy from encouraging the intellectual life. I thanked him then on behalf of ACIS/West. He said we were welcome and that we should keep up our best standards of scholarship and devotion to our professional ideals.

Annual Conferences:

1985, University of San Francisco (CA)

Chairs: Don Jordan (History, Menlo College, CA)
James P. Walsh (History, San Jose State University, CA)
President: James P. Walsh (History, San Jose State University, CA)

1986, University of California/Santa Barbara

Chair: Vivian Mercier (University of California/Santa Barbara)
Features: Plenary by Historian Joseph Lee (University College Cork)
President: Donald E. Jordan, Jr. (Menlo College, CA)

1987, University of Washington Oct. 22-24

Chairs: Hazard Adams (English, University of Washington)
Donna Gerstenberger (English, University of Washington)
Features: Seamus Deane, "Faction to Fiction: The Irish Ascendancy from Burke to Yeats"
Declan Kiberd, "The Poetry of Violence: Yeats and Synge"
President: Donald E. Jordan, Jr. (Menlo College, CA)

1988, Saint Mary's College (CA) Oct. 14-16

Theme: Chair: Br. Ronald Gallalgher (Saint Mary's University, CA)
Features: "The Cave of the Chimera" by Kieth Scales
President: Willard Potts (English, Oregon State University)
Secretary/Treasurer: Donna Gerstenberger (University of Washington)

1989, Pomona College (CA)

Theme: Irish Humor
Chair: Eileen Kearney (Theatre, Pomona College, CA)
Features: Reading by poet Des Egan
Performance of Celtic Twilight by Eileen Kearney
President: Willard Potts (English, Oregon State University)
Secretary/Treasurer: Donna Gerstenberger (University of Washington)

1990, Southern Oregon State College Oct. 12-14

Theme: Ireland: Tension and Resolution
Chair: Kathleen Quinn (English, Southern Oregon State College)
Features: Oregon Shakespeare Festival production of Brian Friel's Aristocrats
President: Donna Gerstenberger (English, University of Washington)
Secretary/Treasurer: Robert Tracy (English, University of California/Berkeley)

1991, University of the Pacific (CA) Oct. 11-13

Theme: Tradition and the Future
Chair: Kara Brewer (University of the Pacific)
Features: Poetry Reading by Eilean Ni Chuilleanain
Student production of Brian Friel's Translations
President: Donna Gerstenberger (English, University of Washington)
Secretary/Treasurer: Robert Tracy (English, University of California/Berkeley)

1992, Loyola Marymount University (CA) Oct. 9-11

Theme: The Search for Themes in Irish Studies
Chair: John M. Menaghan, Loyola Marymount)
Features: Poetry Reading by Paul Muldoon
President: Robert Tracy (English, University of California/Berkeley)
Secretary/Treasurer: Nora McGuinness (English, University of California/Davis)

1993, Oregon State University Oct. 15-17

Theme: From Maeve to Mary Robinson: The Changing Face of the Women of Ireland
Chairs: Charlotte Headrick (Theatre, Oregon State University)
Bill Potts (English, Oregon State University)
Features: American Premiere of SigNora Joyce by Gemma O'Connor
Plenary by Kathleen Quinn (Southern Oregon State University)
A Year in Belfast
Tour of Tyee Winery
President: Robert Tracy (English, University of California/Berkeley)
Secretary/Treasurer: Nora McGuinness (English, University of California/Davis)

1994, San Jose State University (CA) Oct. 7-9

Chairs: James P. Walsh (History, San Jose State University, CA)
Timothy O'Keefe (Santa Clara University, CA)
Donald E. Jordan, Jr. (Menlo College, CA)
Theme: Ireland: Progress and Prospects
Features: Plenary by historian Gearóid ó Tuathaigh (University College Galway)
Plenary by Joseph Lee (University College Cork)
Poetry reading by Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill
President: Nora McGuinness (English, University of California/Davis)
Secretary/Treasurer: Stephen Arkin (San Francisco State University, CA)

1995, University of Arizona Oct. 6-8

Chair: Ann Owens Weekes (English, University of Arizona)
Theme: Ireland: Moving Toward Healing
Feature: Poetry Reading by Michael Longley
President: Nora McGuinness (English, University of California/Davis)
Secretary/Treasurer: Stephen Arkin (San Francisco State University, CA)

1996, San Francisco State University (CA) Oct. 11-13

Chair: Stephen Arkin (English, San Francisco State University)
Features: Dramatic Readings (Jennifer Cornell, Oregon State University)
President: Stephen Arkin (San Francisco State University, CA)
Secretary/Treasurer: Ann Owen Weekes (English, University of Arizona)

1997, University of San Diego Oct. 17-19

Chair: Stephen Arkin (English, San Francisco State University)
Features: Poetry reading by Eamonn Wall
Music by Sean McVicker, "San Diego's Irishman of the Year"
President: Stephen Arkin (San Francisco State University, CA)
Secretary/Treasurer: Ann Owen Weekes (English, University of Arizona)

1998 University of Puget Sound (Tacoma WA) Oct. 2-4

Theme: Ireland and Europe, 1798-1998
Chair: Robert Garratt (English, University of Puget Sound, OR)
Features: Mary Dorcey
Music from Joyce, performed by Thomas Goleeke and UPS students
Drama: Granuaile by Molly Lyons, Greenwood Studio (Seattle)
President: Ann Owen Weekes (English, University of Arizona)
Secy/Treas: Audrey S. Eyler (Pacific Lutheran University, WA)

1999, Central Washington University (Ellensburg) Oct. 2-4

Theme: The Second Coming: Ireland at the Millenium
Chair: Virginia Mack (Central Washington University)
Shannon Hopkins (Yakima Community College, WA)
Features: Reading by Irish American poet Tess Gallagher
Dramatic Reading from Damian Gorman's Loved Ones
Charlotte Headrick and Trischa Goodnow (OSU)
Papers honoring Robert Tracy (UCA/Berkeley)
President: Ann Owen Weekes (English, University of Arizona)
Secy/Treas: Audrey S. Eyler (English, Pacific Lutheran University, WA)

2000 Pacific Lutheran University (OR) (Tacoma and Gig Harbor) Oct. 13-15

Theme: Ireland's Children
Chair: Audrey Eyler (English, Pacific Lutheran University, WA)
Features: Children of Ulster photographs by Rachel Brown (MA)
Dinner and Puget Sound cruise, music by Slaint
President: Audrey S. Eyler (Pacific Lutheran University, WA)
Secy/Treas: Charlotte Headrick (Oregon State University)

2001, Sheraton Hotel (Tacoma OR) Oct. 12-14

Theme: Genre to Gender
Chair: Kendall Reid (Library, Tacoma Community College)
Audrey Eyler (English, Pacific Lutheran University)
Features: Performance of Jennifer Johnston's Twinkletoes
Kimberly Gifford (Thriving Theatre OR)
President: Audrey S. Eyler (Pacific Lutheran University, WA)
Secy/Treas: Charlotte Headrick (Oregon State University)

2002, Santa Clara University (CA) Oct.11-13

Chairs: Don Jordan (History, Menlo College, CA)
Timothy O'Keefe (History, Santa Clara University, CA)
James Walsh (History, San Jose State University, CA)
Features: Poetry Reading by Michael O'Siadhail
President: Charlotte Headrick (Oregon State University)
Secy/Treas: Virginia Mack (Central Washington University)

2003, Boise State University (ID) Oct. 10-12

Theme: Into the West
Chair: Helen Lojek (English, Boise State University)
Features: Poetry reading by Medbh McGuckian
Plenary by Playwright Ronan Noone
Plenary by Environmental Scientist Ronald Russell (Trinity College)
Performance of Endgame (BSU Theatre Department)
President: Charlotte Headrick (Oregon State University)
Secy/Treas: Virginia Mack (Central Washington University)

2004, University of Northern Colorado

Theme: Modern Ireland: Her Arts and Culture
Chair: Susan Smallwood Herold (Art, University of Northern Colorado)
President: Virginia Mack (Central Washington University)
Secy/Treas: Helen Lojek (Boise State University, ID)

2005, Oregon State University

Theme: Women of Some Importance
Chair: Charlotte Headrick (Theatre, Oregon State University)
Features: Plenary by playwright Nicola McCartney
North American Premiere of Elizabeth Kuti's Treehouses performed by OSU students
Showing of Short Films: Gort na gCnam (Field of Bones), Yu Ming is Anim Dom
Dawn Duncan performance:
Clara Dillon Darrow: Irish-American Pioneer
President: Virginia Mack (Central Washington University)
Secy/Treas: Helen Lojek (Boise State University, ID)

2006, George Fox University (Oregon) Oct. 27-29

Theme: Conflict and Peace in Ireland
Chair: Kathy Heininge (English, George Fox University)
Features: "Illegal in Ireland: Irish Illegals: Racism and Immigration in 21st Century Ireland": Plenary lecture by Ronit Lentin (Trinity College Dublin)
Reading by Gerard Donovan, poet and novelist
Performances: "Counterparts" (from Dubliners) performed by Matt Spangler
My Name, Shall I Tell You My Name (by Christina Reid), performed by Charlotte Headrick and John Countryman
President: Helen Lojek (Boise State University)
Secy/Treas: Kathy Heininge (George Fox University)

2007, Tacoma Community College (Washington) Oct. 5-7

Theme: From Emain Macha to St. Andrews: Finding the Intersection of Reconciliation and Traditions
Chair: Kendall Reid (Library, Tacoma Community College)
Features:
President: Helen Lojek (Boise State University)
Secy/Treas: kathy Heininge (George Fox University)

Emerging Scholar Award

2004, Jane Elizabeth Dougherty, University of Colorado. In honor of Don Jordan
2005, Tiffany Bodie, Boise State University (ID). In honor of Don Jordan
2006, Alexander McKee, UC Santa Barbara. In honor of Bill Potts