Greetings

By Irish Boston Tourism Newsroom

“There are times when the chances of travel bring one to a spot at just a perfect hour,” wrote Elizabeth Boyle O’Reilly* of Charlestown, an extraordinary travel writer in the early 20th century. She was describing Spain’s Cathedral of Palencia, where “the interior in the dim light on a rainy October morning was picturesque beyond description…with such exquisite half-light and quietude that its memory is a possession for life.”

Every traveler we know seeks out that perfect moment, that perfect memory. Often the best moments arrive unannounced when you least expect them. It could be a serene sunrise or glorious sunset, or a hidden café filled with aromas and ambience. It could be a live concert coming to crescendo, the audience rising in unison, or a breakthrough goal that wins the game in a frenzied second of glory.

In New England, those perfect moments are waiting to be found this summer and fall. Start at the coast, where water, land and sky blend into perfect harmony. Drive out to a Scottish festival in Northampton, Western Massachusetts, or go north of Boston to an Irish Festival in Lowell or a Celtic Festival in Rockport. Go see an arts festival in Plymouth or Cohasset or hop on the ferry in Boston Harbor. Catch the excitement of Gaelic Games at the Irish Cultural Centre in Canton or cheer on soccer legends in Foxborough.

Ireland is full of perfect moments too, just waiting to be discovered. You’ll find them in lush landscapes, crashing waves and late-night sunsets easing into stillness, or in magnificent clouds rolling out to sea that reveal sunny hillsides and sleepy hollows. You’ll find them in countless tunes, sing-alongs and stories, in endless conversations and tender smiles. Unrushed Ireland is where magic moments happen.

We dedicate this issue to our dear friend and brother-in-law Harry French (see p.18) who brought countless bright moments to the world. Harry was a one-man band and a pure entertainer, performing thousands of gigs on Cape Cod and the South Shore and in the winter, the Florida Keys. He drew applause wherever he went.

As we celebrate our 26th year as a cultural tourism group, we feel fortunate to share with our readers travel stories about Greater Boston and the island of Ireland. We hope you enjoy the journey as much as we do.

Mike & Colette Quinlin
Boston Irish Tourism Association

* Raised on Winthrop Street in Charlestown, Elizabeth Boyle O’Reilly (1874-1922) wrote two masterful, massive travel classics, Heroic Spain (1910: 440 pages) and How France Built Her Cathedrals (1921: 612 pages). The books took her a decade each to research and write, and they combined her love of travel with an in-depth study of landscape, architecture, history, culture and language. She revealed to her readers the distinctive and inspiring character of ordinary people she met in then-remote regions such as Galicia and Brittany. Elizabeth’s parents, John Boyle O’Reilly and Mary Murphy, were both writers, and so was her older sister, Mary Boyle O’Reilly.