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.

Barry joined the American forces at the outbreak of the war and was the first Catholic appointed to command a vessel by the Continental Congress.  Barry’s ship, Lexington, was the first to capture a British vessel under the American flag.  During much of the war, Barry commanded ships out of Boston Harbor, including the Delaware and the Alliance. After the war, President George Washington assigned Barry to help create the United States Navy.

President John F. Kennedy was a great admirer of Commodore Barry.  He owned Barry’s sword and displayed it in his office at the White House. It is now at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum in Boston.   In addition to sharing a love of the sea and sailing, both men traced their lineage to County Wexford.   When he visited Ireland in June 1963, President Kennedy laid a wreath at the John Barry Memorial in Wexford.

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.