In 2025, Boston Irish Tourism Association (BITA) celebrates its 25th anniversary as a distinctive cultural tourism organization that promotes culture…
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A cool way to experience Ireland is to ‘settle yourself,’ a common Irish phrase that means to get your bearings…
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The A terrific new exhibit at the John F. Kennedy Museum in Hyannis this summer reveals that Old Cape Cod magic during the height of President John F. Kennedy’s Camelot Era. Presidential Summers: The Kennedys on Cape Cod offers a curated selection of archival video, family photographs, artifacts and memorabilia that takes visitors back to a…
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On January 24, 1776, 25 year old Boston bookseller and American revolutionary war hero Henry Knox reported to General George Washington in Cambridge that he and his volunteers had just transported 59 cannons and artillery 300 miles, from Fort Ticonderoga in New York to eastern Massachusetts, in the dead of winter. Image Courtesy of Marching the Knox Trail The plan was to position…
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Timothy Deasy (1839-1880), Civil War soldier, Irish rebel and elected official, died on December 10, 1880 in Lawrence, MA. Deasy emigrated with his family from Clonakilty, County Cork to Massachusetts in 1847 to escape the Irish Famine. The family settled in Lawrence 35 miles north of Boston, the nation’s first planned industrial city where immigrants and…
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On November 17, 1918, more than 30,000 people gathered in Lowell to honor a favorite native son, William Henry Cardinal O’Connell, who was at that time the Cardinal of the Boston Archdiocese. Officials unveiled and dedicated a fountain of granite and bust of O’Connell along a parkway in front of City Hall. The fountain and…
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On November 16, 1988 Boston City Council officially proclaimed Goody Glover Day in tribute to Goodwife Ann Glover, an Irish immigrant woman who was falsely accused of being a witch and hung from the gallows in 1688. Puritan leader Rev Cotton Mather and other town leaders were involved in the trial and execution of Glover. Glover was an Irish…
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After the Revolutionary War, the Puritan’s strident objections to Catholics living in the Bay Colony had lessened, thanks in part to the bravery of French, Polish and Irish soldiers fighting alongside the colonists during the colonial war against Britain. But it wasn’t until November 1818 that the Town of Boston’s Board of Health gave “that…
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Now is the time to start planning your long-awaited trip home to the island of Ireland. There are countless reasons to return to Ireland, but here are eight suggestions to make you want to visit Ireland this summer, fall and beyond! 1. The craic (fun) is still mighty! Replenish yourself with magical days and nights reconnecting…
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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…
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One of Boston’s most prominent Irish-Americans was Maurice Tobin (1901-53). Born in Roxbury’s Mission Hill, he was the son of immigrants from Clogheen, Tipperary. He had an illustrious political career, which culminated in his serving as US Secretary of Labor under President Harry Truman. Tobin became Massachusetts’ youngest state representative at age 25, and in 1937 made…
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Here are the Mayors of Boston Claiming Irish Heritage: Hugh O’Brien 1885–88 Patrick Collins 1902–05 John F. Fitzgerald 1906–07, 1910–13 James M. Curley 1914–17, 1922–25, 1930–33, 1946–49 Frederick W. Mansfield 1934–37 Maurice Tobin 1938–41, 1941-44 John Kerrigan 1945 John B. Hynes 1950–59 John Collins 1960–68 Kevin H. White 1968–83 Raymond L. Flynn 1984–93 Martin J. Walsh 2014- 2021 The lineage of Boston mayors with Irish ancestry…
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We’ve spent months binge watching our favorite TV shows and movies but did you know the island of Ireland provides the backdrop to some of your favorite on screen moments? Whether it’s Hollywood blockbusters or smash-hit TV, the beautiful landscapes, streetscapes and architecture of the island of Ireland always shine brightly on the big, small…
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THE IRISH came bearing gifts on March 17, 1961, John F. Kennedy’s first St. Patrick’s Day in the White House. It’s a practice that has spanned 50+ years to this day. Online digital archives at John F. Kennedy Presidential Library which have been recently made available to the public, contain a wealth of information on President Kennedy’s…
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Clockwise from top left: Sculpture by Margaret Foley; Poet Louise Guiney; Teacher Annie Sullivan, Labor Leader Margaret Foley, Matriarch Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, Labor Leader Mary Kenny O’Sullivan; Special Olympics Founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver; and Teacher/Astronaut Christa Corrigan McAuliffe March is Irish Heritage Month and also Women’s History Month in Massachusetts. In honor of both, here…
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In 1977, a Celtic Cross was placed in O’Connell Park on Merrimack Street across from Lowell City Hall, as part of America’s Bicentennial Celebration. The granite monument was carved by local artisan Adian Luz. The text on the back of the monument reads: The Irish community of Lowell was the first ethnic group to inhabit…
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Photo Courtesy of Boston National Park Service Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849), the famous 19th century writer of short stories and novels, was born in Boston on January 19, 1809, to parents who were actors at the Federal Street Theatre in Boston. On his father’s side, “The poet’s ancestors were of the same Scotch-Irish stock that…
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Ireland is a moveable feast of delicious home-grown produce, dairy products, meats and fish, all native to the island. Here’s just a sampling of nine cool food treks you can enjoy while also taking in the beauty of coastal fishing ports, cities and tucked-away towns. 1. Moran’s Oyster Cottage, County Galway Located in a 250-year-old cottage…
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David I. Walsh, the first Irish Catholic elected as Governor of Massachusetts, received the largest plurality ever for a Democratic candidate for the office, winning by over 53,000 votes, getting 180,000+ votes. He defeated three other candidates: Charles S. Bird, Augustus Gardner and Eugene Foss. Walsh had to plan a larger inaugural reception than originally…
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Twin Curley statues at Union Park on Congress Street, Boston James Michael Curley, the larger-than-life political figure who dominated Boston and Massachusetts politics for half a century, died on November 12, 1958. Over 100,000 people passed by his coffin at the Hall of Flags in the Massachusetts State House, according to a story in The Boston Globe….
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Boxing champion John L. Sullivan was born on October 12, 1858, on East Concord Street in Boston’s Roxbury/South End. His father, Mike Sullivan, emigrated from County Kerry around 1850 and married Katherine Kelly, whose family had immigrated from Athlone in 1853. They married on November 6, 1856. Most Irish boys during this time seemed to…
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Illustration by Leonard Everett Fisher A passenger ship called Brig St. John sank off the coast of Cohasset on the morning of Sunday, October 7, 1849, pushed to the brink by a severe nor’easter that rocked the boat for hours before it sank. On board the ship were 127 passengers from Ireland, along with sixteen…
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On Sunday, September 20, 2020, the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH) joined with Scituate Selectman John Sullivan and other local leaders in Scituate, Massachusetts to unveil a monument to Ireland’s Easter Rising of 1916. The monument, which is located at the band gazebo on Cole Parkway in Scituate, features the Proclamation of the Irish Republic,…
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On Wednesday, July 23, 1997, Ireland’s President Mary Robinson officially helped dedicate the Cambridge Irish Famine Memorial in Cambridge Common, a tribute to the 150th anniversary of Ireland’s Great Hunger, known as An Gorta Mor. Nearly 4,000+ people attended the ceremony in the iconic Cambridge Common near Harvard Square, which also includes the Cambridge Civil War Monument…
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America’s first great portrait artist, John Singleton Copley (1737-1815) was born in Boston on July 3, 1738. He was the son of Irish immigrants who emigrated to Boston in the 1730s. John’s parents, Richard Copley and Mary Singleton from County Clare, were married in County Limerick before emigrating to Boston. Right after their son John…
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Photo by Peter H. Dreyer, Boston City Archives Bunker Hill Day is celebrated in Boston each June 17 to mark the famous Battle of Bunker Hill, which took place on June 17, 1775 between American colonists and British troops. The Bunker Hill Monument was built to recognize the sacrifice of the colonists fighting against British rule. The British…
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