Dan Rooney Wins the John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Award in Holyoke, MA

Dan Rooney

Dan Rooney, U.S. Ambassador to Ireland, is marching in the 59th annual St. Patrick’s Day parade in Holyoke, western Massachusetts, on Sunday, March 21, 2009.  Ambassador Rooney is receiving the John F. Kennedy National Award issued by the Holyoke St. Patrick’s Day Parade committee. The prestigious award is presented each March to an American of Irish…

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Kevin O’Connor – Unexpected Host of This Old House

Kevin O'Connor

It began with stubborn, old wallpaper. That’s what set Kevin O’Connor on a short road from fan to host of WGBH’s This Old House, the long-running home-improvement TV series that is one of Boston’s most beloved cultural exports. In 2002, O’Connor and his wife, Kathleen, bought their first house, an 1894 Queen Anne Victorian north of…

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Boston Logan International Airport

Water spraying over plane on tarmac

Boston’s Logan International Airport was named for General Edward L. Logan (1875-1939), a first generation Irish-American, military leader, civic leader and municipal judge with family roots in Galway and South Boston.  Edward was the oldest of nine children of Lawrence and Catherine (O’Connor), according to Michael Cummings of Milton, an expert on the Logan Family. …

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Welcome to Kennedy Country

The Kennedy Family in Hyannisport

There’s no getting around it – Massachusetts is Kennedy Country.  From the cobblestone streets of Boston to the sandy beaches of Hyannisport, the Kennedy legacy is as much a part of Massachusetts as the Boston Pops, the Red Sox and a Cape Cod Clambake. Local Irish-Americans have a natural affection for President John F. Kennedy,…

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The Clancy Tradition: from Charlemont to Chatham

In the 1950s, one of the finest traditional Irish music ensembles in Northern Ireland was the Clancy Brothers Ceili Band, out of Charlemont, County Armagh, led by brothers Pat, Eugene and Brendan Clancy.  The talented trio toured North America as the Irish Ramblers in the 1960s with their hit album, The Patriot Game (Electra Records, 1963). We were…

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Kevin White – The Mayor in Love with His City

Mayor Kevin White Statue Face

One of Boston’s most beloved and influential mayors of the 20th century got his just due on November 1, 2006 as the City of Boston unveiled the Mayor Kevin Hagan White Statue along Congress Street at Faneuil Hall. The official unveiling of the statue took place on Wednesday, November 1st.  It was a glorious fall…

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JFK in Ireland

An Irish woman kisses JFK on the cheek

Boston — In June 1963, President John F. Kennedy, America’s first Irish-Catholic president, journeyed to his ancestral homeland of Ireland, a homecoming he later described as “one of the most moving experiences” of his life.  On St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, 2006, the Museum at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library will open “A Journey…

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Michael Quinlin Earns Boston Public Library Fellowship to Research Irish Music

The Boston Public Library has awarded its biennial Alicia Monti Research Fellowship this year to Michael P. Quinlin who will use the time to create an annotated bibliography for the Library’s extensive collection of 19th century Irish music. Quinlin’s research at the Library will cover the works of important Irish musicians and composers like Michael…

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Harold Connolly: Boston Irish Olympian Hammers out a Victory

Harold Connolly

If you saw Harold Connolly as a young boy you might not think he’d stand a chance to become one of the world’s most elite athletes and a legend in Boston sporting annals. But that’s exactly what Connolly became, overcoming an early physical disability, setting dozens of American and World records, and becoming an inspiration…

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Boston Irish Famine Memorial, Proclamation by Hon. John Joseph Moakley

HON. JOHN JOSEPH MOAKLEYof massachusettsin the house of representativesWednesday, March 17, 1999CONGRESSIOAL RECORDMr. MOAKLEY. Mr. Speaker, it is fitting that on the feast on St. Patrick I rise to pay tribute to the Irish community of Boston and Massachusetts for building a poignant memorial to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Irish Famine. The Boston…

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