Five pairs of Tix! Five Winners! Winners attend both days!
Enter Now
Getting outside in summer is a pre-requisite in New England, especially after a dreary winter! Check out our schedule of…
Continue Reading
Ireland’s traditional music is one of the world’s most vibrant and enduring folk traditions, stretching back to the ancient bards…
Continue Reading
Belfast, a city of undeniable musical chops and outrageously gifted musicians, has been officially named as a UNESCO City of Music in November 2021. The prestigious honor puts Belfast in the company of musical bastions like Glasgow, Liverpool, Kingston, Havana and Kansas City, and confirms what many of us already know: this city rocks! World-renowned…
Read More
Did you know that 70 million people around the world claim Irish ancestry, including 30 million in the U.S. alone? The Irish Diaspora is a testament to the intrepid Irish who by necessity or adventure bravely explored new frontiers. There are countless joys to visiting Ireland but researching your family tree is clearly one of…
Read More
The City of Cambridge has a long and illustrious history of Irish settlers, dating back to the 19th century when Irish immigrants settled in East Cambridge, Cambridgeport and in North Cambridge. Here are some significant landmarks and institutions that reflect the strong Irish presence over generations. Irish Famine Memorial On Wednesday, July 23,…
Read More
One of America’s most acclaimed sculptors of the 19th century was actually an Irish immigrant. Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848-1907) was born on March 1, 1848 on Charlemount Street in Dublin at the height of the Irish Famine, when millions of Irish were fleeing Ireland to places like Boston, New York, Montreal, St. John and other eastern port cities….
Read More
The town of Milford Massachusetts has its own iconic Irish Round Tower, built in the 19th century by Irish immigrants who came to the Blackstone Valley Region to work in the rock quarries and on railroad construction. The Milford tower is about 65 feet high and 16 feet in circumference. Early media reports suggest that the…
Read More
The public fascination with the Kennedy children during the John F. Kennedy administration was a world-wide phenomenon that tapped into pop culture and the advent of television during the 1960s. This special exhibit at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum in Boston examines this phenomenon in detail. First Children: Caroline and John Jr. in…
Read More
Dublin, Ireland is gearing up for massive literary festivities this year, as the city celebrates the centenary of James Joyce’s novel, Ulysses, first published on February 2, 1922. Hailed as a masterpiece work of fiction by literary critics everywhere, Ulysses is set in Dublin and revolves around a single day in the life of Leopold Bloom…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More