History & Heritage
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…
Boston is abuzz in 2026 as the city and region prepares for one of its busiest tourist seasons in memory! Three major events are on the horizon: FIFA World Cup Soccer matches in June and July, the 250th events celebrating American Independence on July 4th, and Sail Boston’s Tall Ships promenade on July 11-16. Other…
The 21 cities and towns that comprise the Revolutionary Valley north of Boston are filled with natural beauty, tasty cuisine, vibrant culture and a proud history and multi-ethnic heritage. In 2026, the City of Lowell celebrates the 200th anniversary of its founding and ethnic traditions, which began when Irish immigrants came here in the 1820s…
The Boston Irish have always wanted a cultural home they could call their own, a place to gather with family and friends, where they could preserve their culture, strengthen their heritage and have a bit of fun in the process. In the 19th century, they gathered in community centers, parish halls or tenement kitchens, spread…
Here in New England, the Irish and Scots-Irish played pivotal roles during the Revolutionary War and American Revolution. They stood out as fierce warriors on battlefields and high seas, but also contributed in legal, political and artistic realms where their talent and devotion came to the fore. As part of America 250 celebrations, we’ve created…
On March 17, 2026, Bostonians celebrate the 250th anniversary of Dorchester Heights, a sacred anniversary in South Boston known as Evacuation Day. It was on March 17, 1776, when occupying British troops ended their 11-month Siege of Boston and evacuated the town, after being forced to leave by General George Washington and colonial forces who…
Boston’s Irish Heritage Trail was created in 1994 to chronicle the illustrious history of the city’s Irish community through public landmarks. We are excited to add these two landmarks to the Irish Heritage Trail in 2026. Swan Boats LagoonBoston Public Garden The iconic Swan Boats in the Public Garden Lagoon were first launched in 1877…
To pay homage to its distinctive Irish heritage, the Boston Irish Tourism Association is developing a South Boston Irish Heritage Trail of landmarks celebrating local leaders, institutions and memorials that underscore Southie’s indelible Irish spirit. This project is a work-in-progress, and we welcome your suggestions. John J. Moakley Federal Courthouse1 Court House Way, Northern Avenue…
THE IRISH came bearing gifts on March 17, 1961, John F. Kennedy’s first St. Patrick’s Day in the White House. 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 term at the White House, including his interactions with Ireland and…
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 Wikipedia The plan was to position the cannons…
An Irish man from County Kilkenny named Thomas White was part of the history-making Boston Tea Party on December 16, 1773, when angry Bostonians led by Sam Adams and the Sons of Liberty boarded three British ships and dumped 92,000 pounds of tea into Boston Harbor. Their act of defiance over “taxation without representation” was…
A new “Dublin Heritage Marker” was unveiled on Monday, December 8 at 25 Water Street in the historical town of Plymouth, Massachusetts, best known as the place settled by English Pilgrims in 1620. The marker was created by the Father John Murphy Division of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, who helped fund the project along with…
With America 250 being celebrated across the nation and other countries in 2026, New England is creating a Revolutionary Irish 250 Trail to chronicle Irish and Scots-Irish heroics in the American Revolution. This story is being told through the lens of public art –including historic cemeteries, statues, monuments and battlegrounds – and through iconic institutions…
On Wednesday, October 29, the Charitable Irish Society holds its Silver Key Award at the UMass Club in Boston, starting at 6 p.m. The 2026 recipients of the award include Most Rev. Richard G. Henning, Archbishop of Boston and Conor Shapiro, President and CEO of Health Equity International. The annual event serves as a fundraiser to…
Annie Sullivan, known in her life as the Miracle Worker for her work with the blind, especially Helen Keller, was the daughter of impoverished Irish immigrants. Annie was born in Feeding Hills, Massachusetts in 1866. Partially blind herself, she attended the Perkins School for the Blind in South Boston where she learned to read, write and spell. After graduation,…
Since uncovering a missing bronze plaque to Commodore John Barry, tucked away in a Charlestown Navy Yard warehouse since 1981, we have been working with the Boston Art Commission and Boston National Historical Park for approval to refurbish the damaged bronze and find a suitable public setting for it in the Navy Yard in 2026,…
Kevin Hagan White (1929-2012), one of Boston’s most beloved and impactful mayors of the 20th century, was the son of Irish-Catholic parents Joseph White and Patricia Hagan. He was raised in Jamaica Plain. Born into a political family on September 25, 1929 in Boston- both of his grandfathers were well-known politicians – White followed in…
In the early 18th century, Irish and Scottish settlers began infiltrating Boston’s solidly Puritan stock, coming by the boatload as congregations, or as stragglers wandering up from New York or down from Halifax, Nova Scotia. Long before basketball was invented, these were the original Boston Celtics! The wave of immigration from the island of Ireland…
The larger-than-life bronze statue of legendary quarterback Tom Brady is being added to the Irish Heritage Trail, a collection of public landmarks that celebrate the contributions of Irish and Irish-Americans in New England. The statue was unveiled on August 8 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, MA, where Brady led the New England Patriots to six…
In August 1872, one of America’s most distinctive civil war monuments was being slowly and carefully put into place on a massive pedestal in front of the chapel at Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, MA. The Sphinx Monument was created by Irish immigrant sculptors Martin Milmore and his brother Joseph, who arrived in Boston in 1851 with their widowed…
During the American Revolution, Irish and Scots-Irish immigrants from New England played a pivotal role in helping to win the Revolutionary War. The Boston Irish Heritage Trail gives a glimpse of these Revolutionary Irish heroes through landmarks on Boston Common, the Massachusetts State House, Granary Burying Ground, Copley Square Park, Bunker Hill Monument and Dorchester…
On August 11, 1834, the Ursuline Convent in Charlestown, Massachusetts, a Catholic-run boarding school for girls of all denominations, was set afire by workmen furious about the growing presence of Irish Catholics in the town. About a dozen frightened nuns and some 57 young female boarding students, still in their nightclothes, rushed from their beds…
John Boyle O’Reilly, the famous Irish rebel who lived in Boston from 1870 until his death, died suddenly at his home in Hull, Massachusetts on August 10, 1890, from an accidental overdose of medication. He left behind his wife Mary (Murphy), four daughters, Mary, Elizabeth, Agnes and Blainid, and legions of friends, colleagues and admirers around the world. He was 46. His…
The larger-than-life bronze statue of legendary quarterback Tom Brady was unveiled on August 8 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, MA, where Brady led the New England Patriots to six Super Bowl titles and 17 division championships in his 20 years here. Brady attended the unveiling ceremony with his parents, Tom Brady, Sr. and Galynn, sisters…
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