The larger-than-life bronze statue of legendary quarterback Tom Brady is being added to the Irish Heritage Trail, a collection of…
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Any day of the week, any month of the year, any season you choose, Ireland offers you an inviting, engaging…
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The Titanic Memorial in Washington, DC, an iconic depiction of one of the major maritime tragedies of the 20th century, was carved in Quincy, Massachusetts by local sculptor John Horrigan, who used a 20-ton slab of granite to complete the masterpiece. The pedestal, designed by Henry Bacon, used granite from the quarries in Waverly, RI. Gertrude Vanderbilt…
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In 1729, Scots–Irish Presbyterian Reverene John Moorhead, formerly of Newtonards, County Down, established the Church of the Presbyterian Strangers, initially with a congregation of thirty parishioners,. They built an Irish Meeting House in a converted barn at the corner of Berry Street and Long Lane (now Channing and Federal Street). As church historian Harriett E….
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On Monday, April 6, 1896, James Brendan Connolly of South Boston became the first medalist in the modern Olympic Games when he won the triple jump on the opening day of the Games in Athens, Greece. Connolly won the event – back then it was called the Hop, Skip and Jump – by jumping 44 ‘ 9…
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The Garden of Remembrance commemorating Ireland’s uprising of 1916 was officially unveiled at Forest Park in Springfield, MA on Sunday, May 15, 2016. It was the first memorial in the United States to recognize the 100th anniversary of Ireland’s Easter Rising of April, 1916, where Irish rebels attempted to overthrow British forces occupying Ireland. Congressman Richard…
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On March 28, 1770, following the now famous Boston Massacre that occurred on March 5, local engraver Paul Revere released a depiction of the event that was quickly printed and distributed widely in the colonies, helping to fan the flames of rebellion. Revere, famous for the midnight ride to Lexington and Concord in 1775, was a…
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In February, 1924, the Irish National War Memorial Committee in Dublin donated eight beautifully decorated folio volumes, containing information on Irishmen who died in World War I to the Boston Public Library central branch in Copley Square. Published in 1923 by the Committee of the Irish National War Memorial, the the massive project was undertaken…
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Blacks and Irish have often, though not always, faced similar experiences in how they were depicted, considered and treated in New England over the past four centuries. When the Puritans settled in Boston in 1630, they believed fervently that they were the chosen ones, destined to build “a city upon a hill, with the eyes…
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The Massachusetts State House has a number of beautiful and rare works of art and artifacts relating to the Irish-American experience, and is a featured stop along Boston’s Irish Heritage Trail. The incredible collection of art and artifacts is maintained and curated by the State House Art Commission. Here is just a selection of items worth…
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Irish and Scots-Irish immigrants played a pivotal role in the Revolutionary War, as evidenced by the number of public landmarks that relate to their heroics and sacrifice. From Commodore John Barry and General John Sullivan to Boston Massacre victim Patrick Carr and the Scots-Irish who fought at Bunker Hill and Dorchester Heights, the Irish were…
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John Boyle O’Reilly and Frederick Douglass were natural allies in 19th century New England, where they aligned on pressing issues of liberty and justice for all. In the early part of their lives, both men were fugitives, on the run from their captors as they tried to make their way to freedom. Both became writers…
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Scotland’s famous poet Robert Burns, whose birthday is celebrated around the world on January 25, has a beautiful granite statue and park in his honor in the city of Quincy, Massachusetts. The 25-ton statue was designed by noted Quincy sculptor John Horrigan (1863-1939) and carved by his son Gerald Horrigan (1903-1995), and unveiled on November…
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Colonel John Glover, a local hero of the American Revolution, is memorialized on Boston’s Commonwealth Avenue Mall with an heroic bronze portrayal by Irish-born sculptor Martin Milmore. Described as an overlooked hero by the National Park Service, Glover was born in Salem, Massachusetts and became a successful sailor and maritime leader on Boston’s North Shore. His…
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New Hampshire native John Sullivan committed the first act of armed rebellion against the British Crown on December 14, 1774, when he and his men raided Fort William and Mary in Portsmouth, NH and seized an arsenal of gun powder and guns. The quickly planned raid came after Paul Revere rode up from Boston to alert Sullivan…
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On December 5, 1770, nine months to the day after the Boston Massacre, two of the nine soldiers in the British regiment, Matthew Kilroy and Hugh Montgomery, were found guilty of manslaughter for the killing of five local Boston men; the other seven soldiers were exonerated. The incident in March, known as the Boston Massacre, helped…
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The Granary Burying Ground on Tremont Street in downtown Boston, nestled between Boston Common and Boston City Hall, has a number of important colonial era and Irish Revolutionary War figures buried here. Among them is James Sullivan (1744-1808), lawyer, orator and statesman. The son of indentured Irish immigrants who settled in Maine, Sullivan was a delegate to…
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In the 18th century, the annual Pope’s Day holiday in Boston every November 5 was a chilling demonstration of the deep-seeded anti-Catholic sentiments prevalent in New England in the decades leading up to the Revolutionary War. One of those bizarre and archaic pastimes that measure a lack of progress in the human condition, Pope’s Day…
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America’s oldest commissioned ship, the USS Constitution, was first launched on October 21, 1797, and is berthed in the Charlestown Navy Yard. The USS Constitution is operated by the US Navy, a partner of the National Historic Parks of Boston. Known as Old Ironsides for its durability during battle, the USS Constitution has some important Irish connections. During the War of…
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United States President Jimmy Carter joined numerous elected officials, political dignitaries and members of the Kennedy family to formally dedicate the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum at Columbia Point in Boston on October 20, 1979, before seven thousand people. In addition to President Carter, participants at the ceremony included Caroline Bouvier Kennedy, John…
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Eugene O’Neill, one of the great American playwrights and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1936, died of bronchial pneumonia at the Hotel Shelton on Bay State Road in Boston on November 27, 1953, at age 65. His wife Carlotta Monterey was by his side. O’Neill is buried at the Forest Hills Cemetery in Jamaica Plains, a…
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On September 29, 1845, fugitive slave Frederick Douglass and Irish liberator Daniel O’Connell met in Dublin, when Douglass was on a 4-month speaking tour of Ireland. Both men were duly impressed by one another, and though it was the only time they met, they formed an alliance based on their utter advocacy for freedom and…
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To mark the 150th anniversary of the first permanent Irish Catholic settlement in Worcester, Massachusetts, the city’s Irish-American community erected a Celtic Cross on Worcester Common on September 18, 1977. The 15 foot high memorial, weighing over 13,000 pounds and made of Barre Vermont granite, was designed by Joseph Calcagni. It features patriotic, religious and family symbols pertinent to Worcester, America and Ireland. At the…
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The Catalpa whaleboat out of New Bedford, Massachusetts, pulled off one of the most daring rescues of the 19th century when it retrieved six Irish prisoners from a British penal colony in Freemantle, Australia. The escape plot was hatched for months by Irish leaders in America including Fenians John Devoy and John Breslin, who masterminded…
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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 Catholics in the town. About a dozen frightened nuns and some 57 young female boarding students, still in their nightclothes, rushed from their beds onto…
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A graveside event honoring Gaelic poet Patrick F. Hagerty (1870-1936), was held at St. Michael’s Cemetery in Springfield MA on Sunday, June 20, 1953, by members of Clan Na Gael and IRA Veterans of America, according to a story in The Boston Globe. Hagerty, whose Irish name was Pádraig Ó hÉigeartaigh, played a pivotal role in the…
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