AOH Unveils Celtic Cross in Worcester on September 18, 1977

Celtic Cross Worcester MA

To mark the 150th anniversary of the first permanent Irish Catholic settlement in Worcester, Massachusetts, the city’s Irish-American community erected a Celtic Cross on Worcester Common on September 18, 1977. The 15 foot high memorial, weighing over 13,000 pounds and made of Barre Vermont granite, was designed by Joseph Calcagni.  It features patriotic, religious and family symbols pertinent to Worcester, America and Ireland. At the…

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Wayfaring Strangers: The Musical Voyage from Scotland and Ulster to Appalachia

Wayfaring Strangers: The Musical Voyage from Scotland and Ulster to Appalachia

Fiona Ritchie and Doug Orr / Foreward: Dolly Parton Wayfaring Strangers is a treasure of a book, a publishing delight.  Readers will be enthralled with this well-conceived, well-written and well-produced history about how music from Scotland and Ulster got to America, and how it flourished by reinventing itself while staying true to its roots. The…

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National Parks of Boston Begins $30 Million Restoration of the Dorchester Heights Monument in South Boston

Dorchester Heights Monument Restoration

The National Parks of Boston will begin a $30+ million restoration of Dorchester Heights Monument starting on September 15. Funded by the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA), rehabilitation work will be complete prior to March 17, 2026, Evacuation Day, during the nation’s 250th birthday year. The Monument and its surrounding area will remain closed to the public…

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The Spinning Heart / The Thing About December

The Spinning Heart

Donal Ryan Tipperary-born novelist Donal Ryan’s novels offer insights into today’s Ireland, in the aftermath of the Celtic Tiger. The story-lines aren’t always pleasant, with recurring themes of government ineptitude and greedy, wily connivers, bullies and losers somehow made bolder by the Celtic Tiger myth that money buys happiness, or class. But while the writing is…

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An Irish Doctor in Peace and at War

An Irish Doctor in Peace and at War

Patrick Taylor Author Dr. Patrick Taylor, born in Bangor County Down and now living in British Columbia, has written over a dozen popular novels that take place in the colorful Irish village Buckyballybo.   It’s old time storytelling, where the characters share the joys, complications and sorrows of village life.  In this tale, World War…

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Charlestown’s Ursuline Convent for Girls Burned to the Ground on August 11, 1834

Burning of Ursulline School 1834

On August 11, 1834, the Ursuline Convent in Charlestown, Massachusetts, a Catholic-run boarding school for girls of all denominations, was set afire by workmen furious about the growing presence of Catholics in the town. About a dozen frightened nuns and some 57 young female boarding students, still in their nightclothes, rushed from their beds onto…

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President John F. Kennedy Created the Cape Cod National Seashore on August 7, 1961

Cape Cod Beach

On August 7, 1961, President John F. Kennedy used 22 pens to sign into law the Cape Cod National Seashore. The new park, covering forty miles of beaches, ponds, marshes and uplands, created a permanent place for people to enjoy one of the nation’s great natural resources, while preventing the commercial development of the land that would have…

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Rose Kennedy’s Family Album

Rose Kennedy

From the Fitzgerald Kennedy Private Collection, 1878-1946  Foreword by Caroline Kennedy  Arranged and Edited by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation  Hachette Books 368 pages / $45.00 / October 2013  Think of this exquisite coffee-table book literally as a family album, with photos, snippets from letters, humorous asides and personal reflections. But it’s a family album…

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Gaelic Poet Pádraig Ó hÉigeartaigh (1870-1936) of Springfield, Massachusetts

Tombstone of Patrick and Catherine Hagerty, St. Michael's Cemetery

A graveside event honoring Gaelic poet Patrick F. Hagerty (1870-1936), was held at St. Michael’s Cemetery in Springfield MA on Sunday, June 20, 1953, by members of Clan Na Gael and IRA Veterans of America, according to a story in The Boston Globe. Hagerty, whose Irish name was Pádraig Ó hÉigeartaigh, played a pivotal role in the…

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Machine Made: Tammany Hall and the Creation of Modern American Politics

Machine Made: Tammany Hall and the Creation of Modern American Politics

Terry Golway Noted author, journalist and academic scholar Terry Golway has steadily built up a lasting literature on the Irish perspective and role in American history and politics. He is especially animated and astute when discussing his beloved New York, a topic immense and unwieldy like the city itself. Golway’s latest book, Machine Made, offers…

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Who’s Your Paddy: Racial Expectations and the Struggle for Irish American Identity

Who’s Your Paddy: Racial Expectations and the Struggle for Irish American Identity

Jennifer Nugent Duffy Who’s Your Paddy will cause controversy, disagreement and hopefully enlightened discussion, because the topics – whether racism is “a socially constructed response or an inherited trait?” as well as “the complexities of Irishness” – are timely and urgent. Nugent Duffy is Assoc. Professor of History at Western CT State University, and the…

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Boston Irish Famine Memorial first unveiled on June 28, 1998 to commemorate An Gorta Mor

Boston Irish Famine Memorial

On Sunday June 28, 1998, more than 7,000 people attended the unveiling of the Boston Irish Famine Memorial, including Ireland’s Minister of State Seamus Brennan, Massachusetts Acting Governor Paul Cellucci, Boston Mayor Tom Menino, and leaders for numerous Irish organizations in Massachusetts. Stonehill College President Rev. Bartley MacPhaidin gave the invocation, and music was provided…

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Frog Music: A Novel

Frog Music

Emma Donoghue Dublin-born Emma Donoghue, now living in Canada, is an award-winning author of novels and short story collections that cover a range of topics, from convent school life in Ireland and emigration to lesbian fiction and historical novels. Her writing evokes a pleasant combination of Canadian short story master Alice Munro and Irish novelist…

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Boston Harbor Hotel’s Stephen Johnston is Named Hotelier of the Year

Stephen Johnston

Congratulations to Stephen Johnston, general manager and managing director of Boston Harbor Hotel, who has been honored with the esteemed Hotelier of the Year Award at the 2023 Preferred Global Conference hosted by Preferred Hotels & Resorts. The award were announced recently at the Preferred Global Conference, the annual gathering of the Preferred Hotels & Resorts network, which includes more…

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Strong Boy: The Life & Times of John L. Sullivan, America’s First Sports Hero

Strong Boy: The Life & Times of John L. Sullivan, America’s First Sports Hero

Christopher Klein Boston-born John L. Sullivan, the larger-than-life heavyweight boxer who dom­inated American sports lore in the late 19th century, had a fascinating life as a first generation Irish-American chasing the immigrant dream of success and fame. He achieved both, as author Christopher Klein recounts in this masterful, engaging biography of America’s first sports superstar….

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What We Love About Ireland

Rock of Cashel, Co. Tipperary

When it comes to proclaiming Ireland’s countless charms, there is no shortage of sources! Look to the poets and songwriters, the travel writers and bloggers, and to visitors themselves if you want to appreciate what makes Ireland such as magical place to visit, not just in summer, but all year round. For many of us,…

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Rogues and Redeemers: When Politics was King in Irish Boston

Rogues and Redeemers: When Politics was King in Irish Boston

Gerard O’Neill The veteran Boston Globe reporter traces the domination of Irish-Americans in 20th century Boston politics. O’Neill’s scope goes from John “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald, the first Irish-American mayor elected in 1906 to Ray Flynn, Boston mayor from 1984-93.  Titans like James M. Curley, Kevin White and Bill Bulger are also covered, alongside a fascinating…

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Ireland’s Sustainable Travel Movement

Adare Gate Cottage, Co. Limerick

Sustainable travel has become an important facet of Ireland’s tourism industry, and is heartily embraced by communities, hospitality venues, small businesses, environmentalists and political leaders. It is a modern-day mindset that protects the island from short and long term damages, while offering visitors a respectful and responsible way to enjoy this precious island and leave…

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The Rising at Roxbury Crossing

The Rising at Roxbury Crossing

James Redfearn It is 1919, the year of the infamous Boston Police strike, and rookie cop Willie Dwyer is on the beat at Roxbury Crossing. Dwyer had fled Ballinasloe, Galway a decade earlier, after being caught up in Ireland’s rebellion, and here he is now upholding a civic order that is about to come crashing…

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Lights, Camera, Action-Ireland

The Banshees of Inisherin

When it comes to films and television shows, the stunning, beautiful scenery of Ireland has always been a marquee attraction, often overshadowing the actors themselves! From classic films like The Quiet Man andRyan’s Daughter to recent gems like Game of Thrones, Ireland itself is an indisputable screen idol. As National Geographic recently noted, “The Irish coast’s ancient forts, Gaelic…

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