The Metro: Mexican Irish Festival celebrates cultural connections in Detroit

There’s a long history of Irish and Mexican people blending together in North America and in Detroit specifically. 

After a 19-year hiatus, the Mexican Irish Festival returns to the Southwest and Corktown neighborhoods on Sunday — celebrating both cultures and how they intersect in the city. 

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Former President of the Mexicantown Community Development Corporation Maria Elena Rodriguez joined The Metro to discuss how the festival started along with the history and cultural fusion of MIrish – Mexican and Irish – people in Detroit. 

There are many commonalities between the two cultures, Rodriguez says. One thing that many Mexican and Irish people share is the Catholic religion.

“Ask an Irish person and ask a Mexican person, the answer may be the same. It’s like if things are going well, ‘It’s God’s will.’ If things are not, you know, if it’s really awful, ‘It’s God’s will.’ You know, so that’s how we kind of look at life,” Rodriguez said. “And we love to party, not to stereotype or generalize. And we have huge family gatherings. I mean, there’s all of that that parallels, not to say it’s exclusive to us, but we embrace it. And so much so that over 50% of the weddings that take place at Most Holy Trinity in Corktown are MIrish.” 

Use the media player above to listen to the full conversation with Maria Elena Rodriguez about Detroit’s Mexican Irish Festival and history.

More headlines from The Metro on Oct. 11, 2024: 

• Poet, educator, Gilda Fellow and lifelong Detroiter Brittany Rogers is releasing her new book “Good Dress” on Oct. 15. She joined the show to discuss the collection of poems and short stories about community, womanhood and the audacity of Black Detroiters. 
• The Detroit Repair Cafe is a band of crafty and creative people that will help you fix your broken items and keep them out of the trash. And at the Halloween Repair Cafe, they’ll even help you make your Halloween costume on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at ArtBlock. To talk about the Detroit Repair Cafe we were joined by its founder, Diana Graham. 
• The Detroit Documenters are teaming up with their newsroom partners, including WDET, for a Detroit Public Schools Community Board Candidate Forum on Oct. 15. There are 22 people running for three open seats. One of the moderators, WDET Education Reporter Sascha Raiyn and Detroit Documenters Coordinator Noah Kincade, joined the show to preview the forum.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 11 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.