Get Up on Yer Bike!

Mountain biking trail

Cycling in Ireland is an age-old tradition, and there’s a movement underway encouraging children to ride their bikes to school and adults to ride to work! Ireland’s National Bike Week, May 10-18, 2025, celebrates what everyone knows about cycling: it’s good for your health, good for the environment and good for Ireland! For visitors, the…

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Dan Coll of the Union Oyster House Wins Annual Oyster Shucking Competition at this Year’s Seafood Expo in Boston

Dan Coll Union Oyster House Boston, MA

Congratulations to Dan Coll of Boston’s famous Union Oyster House, who was declared the winner of the 17th Annual Oyster Shucking Competition at the Seafood Expo North America conference. The highly anticipated competition took place on March 17, 2025 at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center in the city’s Seaport District, where the Expo holds its annual…

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Nine Irish Women Writers of Distinction in Boston

The post-Famine generation of Irish women in Boston and New England were typically relegated to jobs as domestic servants, nursemaids and mill workers, before eventually being accepted as shop clerks, nurses and teachers.  This work was often in addition to their primary role running households as wives and mothers.  The young Irish girls of the Famine…

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Fiddler Aoife Griffin

Aoife Griffin, newly-appointed Director of the Boston Comhaltas Irish Music School, is a highly-regarded fiddle player who is making an impact on the Boston Irish music scene since moving here in 2021. We caught up with Aoife to find out more. Tell us about your background I am a traditional Irish fiddle player from County…

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Welcome to the JFK Library

JFK Library

The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum is one of Boston’s most popular destinations, and welcomes local residents, school classes, convention groups and visitors from around the world to come and be inspired. Open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the JFK Library sits on a 10-acre site overlooking Boston…

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Tourism Group is Adding New Landmarks to Boston’s Irish Heritage Trail

The Boston Irish Heritage Trail, a three mile walk covering 20 public landmarks and depicting three centuries of Irish-American history, is expanding to include more sites in 2025. Stretching from the city’s waterfront through downtown and Back Bay and over to Fenway Park, the Irish Heritage Trail features some of Boston’s finest public art and…

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Boston Tourism Group releases Spring Issue of Travel & Culture Magazine

Spring 2025 issue of Travel & Culture magazine

The Boston Irish Tourism Association released its Annual Spring 2025 Travel & Culture magazine today, highlighting New England’s robust St. Patrick’s Day and spring season, plus travel ideas for visiting Ireland this year. The 48 page magazine is available for free at visitor centers and cultural venues in greater Boston and throughout New England, and is also available in digital form…

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Historic Omni Parker House

Boston Cream Pie

The Omni Parker House has been a timeless icon in the city of Boston since 1855, quickly becoming part of the city’s very fabric. In the 19th century it was a gathering place for literary geniuses such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Charles Dickens.  In the 20th century, Irish-American politicians such as James M. Curley…

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Victoria Cimino is Selected as the New President & CEO of Discover Newport

Tourism leader Victoria Cimino has been named as the new president and CEO of Discover Newport, following a robust national search that concluded with a unanimous vote by the Board of Directors. She begins her new role on March 17, 2025. The award-winning destination leader and brand expert, brings over 20 years of hospitality and destination marketing…

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Celebrating with Irish American Partnership

Each St. Patrick’s Day season, as Americans ponder how best to honor their Irish heritage in a meaningful way, they often turn to the Irish American Partnership, and for good reason. For nearly 40 years, the Partnership has been helping to ensure that Ireland’s future remains promising by investing in its youth. Since its launch…

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Riverdance 30: The New Generation

Riverdance Heartland Kick Line

For the past 30 years, generations of girls and boys have taken up Irish step dancing, thanks to Riverdance, one of the world’s most acclaimed theatrical shows.  Riverdance 30 – The New Generation, returns to the Boch Center Wang Theatre in Boston for eight performances from April 8 – 13, 2025.  It was 30 years…

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Celebrating 25 Years

Sphynx statue

In 2025, Boston Irish Tourism Association (BITA) celebrates its 25th anniversary as a distinctive cultural tourism organization that promotes culture and travel year round. To mark our quarter century, here are some exciting projects underway in the months ahead. We are grateful to the thousands of partners, members, advertisers and friends who have joined us…

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Camelot on Cape Cod

JFK and family in a golf cart

The John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum is the ideal place to learn about the legacy of President Kennedy and his deep connection to Cape Cod, where he spent magical summers with the Kennedy family and with his wife and children. Located on Main Street in downtown Hyannis, the museum has ongoing exhibits such as “Presidential…

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Literary Events

Niall Williams

The wellspring of Irish literature is gushing these days with inspiring new novelists, short story writers, poets and scholars publishing, reading and discussing their latest works. Irish folklore and heritage get top billing at the John J. Burns Library at Boston College on March 12. Editors Cormac O’Malley and Patrick Mahoney discuss their new book,…

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Settle Yourself at Lough Derg

A couple picnicking at a lookout spot

A cool way to experience Ireland is to ‘settle yourself,’ a common Irish phrase that means to get your bearings and get grounded. Choosing a single place to spend your vacation, whether it be a city, county, or province, is a novel way to experience Ireland at the ground level, to immerse yourself in nature…

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Road Trip on the Border

Enniskillen Castle

Tyrone and Fermanagh in the province of Ulster, and Sligo and Mayo in the province of Connacht are places knitted together by geography, landscape and enduring traditions. The drive from Dungannon in Tyrone to Westport in Mayo offers a thrilling glimpse of Ireland’s small villages and towns, of the daily rhythms of the people who…

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Merrimack Valley: Crossroads of America

Lowell Festival of Lights Fireworks

Just a half-hour drive from Boston lies the Merrimack Valley, a distinctive region in Massachusetts known for its natural beauty, ethnic cuisine and storied culture. And it may be best known for its prominent ties to American history, from the American Revolution to the Industrial Revolution to the High Tech Revolution. Today, there is no…

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Dine Out Boston

Couple dining out

Dine Out Boston offers visitors and locals the perfect opportunity to discover why Boston is one of the culinary capitals of the world!  Taking place on February 23 to March 15, 2025, Dine Out Boston features dozens of participating restaurants offering prix fixe menus at multiple price points for lunch and dinner. From seafood and…

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Patriot Place Irish Festival Expands to Three Days, March 15-17, 2025

Girls Irish dancing

The 14th Annual Irish Festival at Patriot Place, one of the region’s most popular events each March, is expanding in 2025 as it goes from a one to three-day celebration of Irish culture in greater Boston on March 15-17.  The events at Patriot Place North Marketplace is free and open to the public and takes…

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Ten Ways To Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day In Massachusetts

Woman playing bagpipes

Massachusetts is rolling out the emerald carpet for St. Patrick’s Day this March, as one of America’s most Irish-American states celebrates its distinct culture and ethnic heritage. The Boston Irish Tourism Association (BITA) has issued its annual recommendations for enjoying the region’s St. Patrick’s Day season in a fun and meaningful way. “Today, nearly 20%…

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The Ship of War and Angel Of Mercy (USS Jamestown)

USS Jamestown

On March 28, 1847, an American naval ship – the USS Jamestown – left the Charlestown Navy Yard on a humanitarian voyage that captured the world’s imagination. It was the height of the five year famine in Ireland (1845-49), and scores of Irish people were dying in the streets.  The magnitude of the despair, disease and the…

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All In The Family – Bridget’s: An Irish Tradition

Quality products at Bridget's

Thirty-five years ago, in 1987, Bridget Daly and her daughter Lorraine Ryan opened their first Irish gift shop in Plymouth, MA, aptly named Bridget’s – An Irish Tradition. Originally from Tullamore in County Offaly, the Irish mom and daughter had a good instinct that the shop would be a success and were well aware of the…

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