The Learned Kindred of Currie

The Learned Kindred of Currie is a leading Scottish non-profit cultural and educational organization dedicated to preserving and promoting Scottish and Highland heritage and the arts through a wide variety of programs. Based in the United States, the Kindred has over 4,000 members worldwide.

Curries, or more accurately, the MacMhuirich Bardic Family, can trace their history to the 13th century. The family served as Hereditary Bards to the Lords of the Isles and later to the MacDonalds of Clanranald.

The Learned Kindred of Currie continues this legacy today through programs, events, and scholarships that honor and promote Scotland’s rich culture and ancestry in the US and globally. Its extensive cultural programs and initiatives include:

• Hosting the largest Tartan Day event in the world, Tartan Day on Ellis Island, which received 80,000 visitors in 2024 alone!
• Providing scholarships to deserving students
• Commissioning new musical and cultural works
• The Learned Kindred of Currie Monuments Initiative, which helps erect and preserve new and existing locations such as the Scottish Writers Museum in Edinburgh and Bale nam Bàrd (the bard’s home) on the Island of South Uist
• Developing a cultural heritage centre in Scotland (currently in preliminary stages)

Perhaps the most remarkable feature of the Learned Kindred of Currie of today is how it continues to be a standard bearer for Celtic culture, just as it was during the centuries when it served Clan Donald and other Clans and Families.