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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Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) today celebrated the upgrade and expansion of Terminal E, the airport’s international terminal at Boston Logan International Airport, and also marked the airport’s 100-year anniversary with a new exhibit. Read press release. The improvements were made in part thanks to a $62 million grant by the FAA as a part of the new Airport…
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The National Parks of Boston will begin a $30+ million restoration of Dorchester Heights Monument starting on September 15. Funded by the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA), rehabilitation work will be complete prior to March 17, 2026, Evacuation Day, during the nation’s 250th birthday year. The Monument and its surrounding area will remain closed to the public…
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On August 7, 1961, President John F. Kennedy used 22 pens to sign into law the Cape Cod National Seashore. The new park, covering forty miles of beaches, ponds, marshes and uplands, created a permanent place for people to enjoy one of the nation’s great natural resources, while preventing the commercial development of the land that would have…
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An event to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Boston Irish Famine Memorial took place on Wednesday, June 28 at the memorial park at the corner of Washington and School Streets. US Congressman Stephen Lynch provided a Congressional Proclamation in Honor of the Boston Irish Famine Memorial, copies of which were distributed at the event….
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Here is the program book for the 25th Anniversary event at Boston Irish Famine Memorial at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, June 28, 2023. The Irish Famine Memorial is part of the Boston Irish Heritage Trail.
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Congratulations to Stephen Johnston, general manager and managing director of Boston Harbor Hotel, who has been honored with the esteemed Hotelier of the Year Award at the 2023 Preferred Global Conference hosted by Preferred Hotels & Resorts. The award were announced recently at the Preferred Global Conference, the annual gathering of the Preferred Hotels & Resorts network, which includes more…
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Bostonians are gathering at the Irish Famine Memorial on Deer Island in Boston Harbor at 4 p.m. on Saturday, June 17, 2023. (The initial date of May 20 has been postponed because of the weather.) A memorial mass is taking place at the memorial, led by Father Dan Finn of the Irish Pastoral Centre of Boston. The…
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Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) today joined elected officials and community stakeholders to celebrate the start of the 2023 cruise season at Flynn Cruiseport Boston. At the event, Massport recognized State Senator Nick Collins with the 2023 Maritime Champion Award for his support and advocacy of the maritime economy in Boston and throughout the Commonwealth. “The Senator has…
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The annual Patriots Day celebration held each April in Massachusetts is a cherished remembrance of local American history and heritage. It harkens back to April 19, 1775, when farmers and merchants, townspeople and volunteer soldiers in Concord, Lexington and nearby towns who banded together against encroaching British troops. The confrontation began when British soldiers set…
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Did you know that Irish immigrants played a pivotal role in the Revolutionary War? From Commodore John Barry and General John Sullivan to Boston Massacre victim Patrick Carr and the Scots-Irish who fought at Bunker Hill, the Irish were everywhere during the quest for independence. The Boston Irish Heritage Trail gives a fascinating overview of Irish landmarks…
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Michael Joyce, an Irish immigrant from Galway who was a central figure at the Mass State House in helping immigrants secure visas, jobs and education, is having a park in his honor at Marine Park in South Boston. This week, a groundbreaking took place with state officials and family and friends. The $1.4 million playground…
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Battle between USS Constitution and HMS Guerriere, 19 August 1812, by Michel Felice Corne Courtesy U.S. Navy – Naval History and Heritage Command, 80-G-K-26254 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…
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Photo of Eugene O’Neill, courtesy of PBS, An American Experience Eugene O’Neill, one of the great American playwrights and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, was born in a hotel on October 16, 1888 in New York City to parents Ella Quinlan and Irish actor James O’Neill. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in…
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Photo courtesy of Wally Gobetz Twenty-five years ago, on Wednesday, July 23, 1997, Ireland’s President Mary Robinson officially helped dedicate the Cambridge Irish Famine Memorial in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a tribute to the 150th anniversary of Ireland’s Great Hunger, known as An Gorta Mor. Nearly 4,000+ people attended the ceremony in the iconic Cambridge Common near Harvard Square, which also includes…
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Three years ago today, a memorial commemorating 800+ Irish immigrants buried on Deer Island in Boston Harbor was unveiled on Saturday, May 25, 2019, several miles off the coast of Boston. Speakers included Boston Archdiocese Sean Cardinal O’Malley and Boston Mayor Marty Walsh. Gene O’Flaherty was the master of ceremonies, City of Boston’s Chief Archivist…
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She may be gone but she is certainly not forgotten. Rose Kennedy Fitzgerald (1890-1995), who held the Kennedy family together through tragedy and triumph for much of the 20th century, is permanently enshrined along Boston’s waterfront. Born in Boston’s North End, Rose was the daughter of Boston’s gregarious Mayor John “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald and Mary Josephine Hannon. The mother of President John F. Kennedy,…
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The City of Cambridge has a long and illustrious history of Irish settlers, dating back to the 19th century when Irish immigrants settled in East Cambridge, Cambridgeport and in North Cambridge. Here are some significant landmarks and institutions that reflect the strong Irish presence over generations. Irish Famine Memorial On Wednesday, July 23,…
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In one of his final acts as Mayor of Boston, James Michael Curley dedicated a bronze memorial on Boston Common to Revolutionary War hero Commodore John Barry, on October 16, 1949. A few weeks later, Curley lost his final bid for re-election to a fifth term as mayor, losing to John B. Hynes. Barry, a naval…
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One of Boston’s most prominent Irish-Americans was Maurice Tobin (1901-53). Born in Roxbury’s Mission Hill, he was the son of immigrants from Clogheen, Tipperary. He had an illustrious political career, which culminated in his serving as US Secretary of Labor under President Harry Truman. Tobin became Massachusetts’ youngest state representative at age 25, and in 1937 made…
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THE IRISH came bearing gifts on March 17, 1961, John F. Kennedy’s first St. Patrick’s Day in the White House. It’s a practice that has spanned 50+ years to this day. 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…
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Clockwise from top left: Sculpture by Margaret Foley; Poet Louise Guiney; Teacher Annie Sullivan, Labor Leader Margaret Foley, Matriarch Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, Labor Leader Mary Kenny O’Sullivan; Special Olympics Founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver; and Teacher/Astronaut Christa Corrigan McAuliffe March is Irish Heritage Month and also Women’s History Month in Massachusetts. In honor of both, here…
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On Sunday, September 20, 2020, the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH) joined with Scituate Selectman John Sullivan and other local leaders in Scituate, Massachusetts to unveil a monument to Ireland’s Easter Rising of 1916. The monument, which is located at the band gazebo on Cole Parkway in Scituate, features the Proclamation of the Irish Republic,…
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An exhibit entitled The Irish and Boston: An Immigrant Saga is running at the Massachusetts State House from June 10-17, 2019. Developed by the City of Boston Archives under the leadership of Director Dr. John McColgan, the acclaimed exhibit was first unveiled at the annual St. Patrick’s Breakfast hosted by South Boston’s State Senator Nick Collins in March. The…
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Massport recently joined local elected officials, friends and family of Tom Butler to officially unveil the Thomas J. Butler Memorial Park in South Boston. Joining Massport CEO Tom Glynn at the event were Governor Charlie Baker, Congressman Stephen Lynch, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, state Senator Linda Dorcena Forry, state Representative Nick Collins, City Councilors Michael Flaherty…
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