Boston Irish Heritage Trail

The Boston Irish Heritage Trail is an exciting exploration of the city’s illustrious Irish experience, covering 300+ years of the city’s history, from colonial times to the present.

The three-mile walk covers 20 public landmarks. It begins at Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Garden on the waterfront and ends at Fenway Park in the Fens. Sites on the trail depict politicians and poets, sculptors and scholars, women and war heroes, with stops at Boston City Hall, Massachusetts State House and Boston Public Library.

The Irish Heritage Trail is one of four major walking trails in the city that explores an important segment of Boston’s history and heritage. The Irish trail sites intersect with the Freedom, Black and Women’s trails, underscoring the city’s common historical themes.

In addition to the downtown trail, the Irish Heritage Trail features an additional 20 sites in Boston’s neighborhoods, including iconic stops such as Bunker Hill, Dorchester Heights, Ray Flynn Cruise Terminal and Forest Hills Cemetery.

The Irish Heritage Trail was first created in 1994 by Michael Quinlin when he was assistant parks commissioner of Boston Parks and Recreation Department.

Having celebrated the trail's 30th anniversary in 2024, plans are now underway to add more landmarks to the downtown trail and Boston neighborhoods. In 2025, additional sites are being added across Greater Boston, in Quincy, Milton, Canton, Brookline, Cambridge and Watertown. Leading up to 2026, the Irish Heritage Trail project is expanding across Massachusetts, adding 140+ sites of Irish significance in cities and towns across the Commonwealth.

The trail’s target audience includes tourists, educators, history lovers and New England residents. Since 2003, more than 300,000 free maps have been distributed in stand-alone maps, brochures and in each issue of Travel & Culture magazine, published three times a year (March, June, November). The trail has been widely profiled in the media, on television, radio, online and print.

Map of the Boston Irish Heritage Trail showing 20 different locations of historical significance throughout Boston

Self-Guided Walking Tour

The Boston Irish Tourism Association recommends enjoying a self-guided tour of the Boston Irish Heritage Trail at your own pace. Start by picking up a free copy of our Travel & Culture magazine at the Visitor Information Center. We always include the map and stop descriptions within every edition.

Download Map (PDF)