Mayor Curley Dedicates Boston Common Memorial to Commodore John Barry on October 16, 1949

In one of his final acts as Mayor of Boston, James Michael Curley dedicated a bronze memorial on Boston Common to Revolutionary War hero Commodore John Barry, on October 16, 1949.  A few weeks later, Curley lost his final bid for re-election to a fifth term as mayor, losing to John B. Hynes.

Barry, a naval hero of the Revolutionary War, was born in Tacumshane, County Wexford in 1745, and is a long-standing favorite historical figure of Irish-Americans across the United States.  They claim Barry as the Father of the American Navy, while others say that title belongs to John Paul Jones.

The idea for the Barry memorial in Boston was first announced by the Central Council of Irish County Clubs on September 23, 1945, at the city’s annual Barry Day banquet at the Copley Plaza Hotel commemorating the 200^thanniversary of Barry’s birth in Wexford.

Four years later, at the Charitable Irish Society annual dinner on March 17, 1949, Mayor James Michael Curley vowed to build a memorial to Barry in 60 days, saying Barry had been ignored for too long.

The project got underway, and the bronze memorial was unveiled seven months later, on October 16, 1949, during the height of what would be Curley’s final political campaign.

Since its unveiling, the Barry memorial has had some interesting twists and turns.  On April 5, 1975, someone – possibly local college students – stole the bronze plaque as a prank, and a stone version of the plaque was put in its place. Contrition set in a few years later and in 1980 the thieves anonymously returned the plaque to the Massachusetts Ancient Order of Hibernians, who in turn returned it to the city. The original bronze memorial was put in storage at the L Street Bathhouse in South Boston, then on Saturday, September 12, 1981, it was transferred from the Boston Arts Commission to the National Parks Service for permanent display at the Charlestown Navy Yard, where it remains today.

Visitors can see the Commodore John Barry Memorial on Boston Common, located along Tremont Street between Lafayette Mall and the Visitor Information Center.

The memorial to Commodore John Barry is part of Boston’s Irish Heritage Trail, and is located on Boston Common along Tremont Street, between Lafayette  Mall and the Visitor Information Center. A monument to Mayor James Michael Curley, across from Boston City Hall,  is also part of the Irish Heritage Trail.