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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Ireland has its first Marine National Park, called Páirc Náisiúnta na Mara, Ciarraí – (Marine National Park, Kerry). The announcement came on Earth Day, April 22, as ministers, environmentalists, marine experts and local tourism officials gathered to share the exciting news. The new Páirc is centered around Corca Dhuibhne in Co. Kerry and unites some…
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As always, when traveling to Ireland, we first recommend checking out ireland.com – the official tourism website for the island of Ireland. You’ll find details on where to go, where to stay, what to do and what tosee. Ireland.com has up-to-date details on events, suggestions on driving routes and ways to experience the breathtaking beauty…
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Ireland’s greatest export has always been its people, so the saying goes, and in recent years Ireland’s cultural output – in film, music, dance and literature – has also emerged as wildly popular, particularly in the United States. Start with film, where actors like Cillian Murphy, Barry Keoghan and Kerry Condon are winning both popular…
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Peter Quinn Foreword by Dan Barry Prolific Bronx scribe Peter Quinn synthesizes his wideranging interests into a personal, engaging narrative that begins in his beloved Bronx and takes him to the political corridors of Albany. He shares some amusing political anecdotes along the way, and movingly, talks of his often complicated relationship with his father….
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Henry Knox, a first-hand witness to American history and a hero in the American Revolution, was born in Boston on July 25, 1750, the seventh of ten children. His parents, William Knox and Mary (née Campbell), were Ulster Scots immigrants who came to Boston from Derry in 1729, part of a large exodus of Ulster-Irish Presbyterians who…
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Sean Connolly On Every Tide explores not just Irish immigration to Boston and the United States but also to Britain and Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and South Africa and South America. It offers insights and anecdotes on what Irish Catholics had to overcome in the US, and how they overcame their victimized underclass status…
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Boston has been a gateway city for Ireland’s flag carrier Aer Lingus for more than six decades, and this key transatlantic connection continues to grow stronger each year. With daily non-stop flights from Boston’s Logan International Airport, Aer Lingus flies daily directly to Shannon, in the west of Ireland, and twice daily to the capital…
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The popular BosTix discount ticket booth, a staple at Faneuil Hall since 1979, is back in business, after being closed since 2020 due to the COVID pandemic. The kiosk reopens this Wednesday, July 10, marking a new era for the booth’s nonprofit owner, ArtsBoston. For more than four decades, BosTix has offered a direct connection between the area’s…
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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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Robert J. Savage Focusing on the British broadcast media’s coverage of the conflict in Northern Ireland throughout the 1980s, beginning with the Hunger Strike in 1981, Savage explores the “incessant wrangling between Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s government and an aggressive broadcast media determined to provide objective news and information about the complexities of ‘the Troubles’…
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The American Revolution is taking center stage across the United States this year, as preparations get underway to officially celebrate the 250 th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the birth of our nation in 2026. The effort is being led nationally by America 250, “a nonpartisan initiative working to engage…
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“Irish people are really good at connecting,” says Sara Stanton, managing director and founder of Cara Group Travel in Quincy, Massachusetts. “And we like to know about people and we like to find out where you’re from.” That in a nutshell is why Cara Group Travel has been such a success since Stanton, who is originally from…
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Thrilling music and inspiring literature, stunning landmarks and sheer beauty, iconic events and warm hospitality – these special features of Ireland don’t go away at the end of summer! On this island, culture, beauty and adventure are ubiquitous. Autumn in Ireland is when the summer and fall seasons gently and gradually converge and when bright, warm days…
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Born 180 years ago on June 28, 1844, John Boyle O’Reilly helped shape the history or Ireland and America in the late 19th century in powerful ways. Today, O’Reilly’s stature as a seminal figure in Irish and Irish-American history is particularly evident in his beloved birthplace of Dowth, County Meath; in Freemantle, Australia where he…
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President John F. Kennedy’s visit to Ireland on June 26-29, 1963 was later described by his siblings as one of the most memorable and cherished parts of his presidency. Kennedy visited his ancestral family in Wexford and Limerick, and also stopped in Dublin, Cork and Galway. The trip was widely covered by the international media…
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Get ready New England and the world, as Quincy, Massachusetts prepares to commemorate its 400th anniversary, and you are invited! “In 2025, Quincy celebrates the 400th anniversary of its settlement,” says Mayor Thomas Koch. “400 years of the people and ideas that have shaped America. 400 years of history, diversity and culture. 400 years of…
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Paul Muldoon County Armagh’s Paul Muldoon has distinguished himself as a daring, insightful, skillful poet, willing to fly into flights of fancy with alliterative cascades of language. The Princeton-based, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet is also a melodious lyricist who has written opera librettos and rock stanzas. Some years ago, Muldoon gave a joint reading with singer/songwriter…
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On June 12, 1937 a plaque dedicated to Captain Jeremiah O’Brien was unveiled at the Massachusetts State House commemorating O’Brien’s “distinguished services for winning the first navel engagement in the War of the Revolution and of his subsequent exploits in said war as the first regularly commissioned naval officer and commander of the Revolutionary Navy of…
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Boston Irish Tourism Association (BITA) is releasing today its 2024 summer/fall issue of Travel & Culture magazine, a free travel publication highlighting Irish and Celtic festivals, concerts and cultural and sporting events taking place in New England, as well as travel tips for visiting Ireland this summer and fall. This issue features a new exhibit…
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Many people wonder why the Boston Celtics wear shamrocks on their green uniforms and have a giant leprechaun smoking a cigar as their team logo. And why is the team mascot a guy named Lucky who looks like he stepped out of a box of Lucky Charms? According to the Boston Celtics official website, the name came…
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The City of Quincy is opening its newly designed Welcome Center this week, part of a concerted effort by city leaders, tourism officials, historians and businesses to prepare for the 400th anniversary of the city’s founding in 2025. The innovative and interactive Welcome Center is a key component of the city’s celebration, and has been specifically designed to offer an…
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Think you know Dublin? If you haven’t been to Dublin lately, you are in for some delightful surprises! Of course, Ireland’s capital city retains all of its old-world charm and history that has attracted visitors time immemorial: Trinity College and Christ Church Cathedral, St. Stephen’s Green and Phoenix Park, Leeson Street and O’Connell Street, Glasnevin…
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Niall Williams with Christine Breen A well-lived life is the best kind of life if it brings daily fulfillment and contentment. Married couple Williams and Breen have built such a life in rural Kiltumper, County Clare, Ireland, raising a family and building community, all the while tending a garden and writing books. The centerpiece of…
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A number of Irish immigrants and Irish-American sculptors created some of the most distinctive Civil War Monuments of the 19th Century. Here are three of their monuments in Boston and Cambridge worth visiting: 1. The Shaw Memorial, atop Boston Common and facing the Massachusetts State House, was officially unveiled on May 31, 1897, a homage to…
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