Ancient Order of Hibernians
The next time you are exploring Irish heritage sites in Massachusetts, visit these landmarks in the City of Lowell, a mill city built in the 19th century in large part by Irish immigrants. The idea to create an experimental new town of mills and factories came from Yankee industrialists and bankers, but they quickly realized…
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…
As part of Ireland’s annual National Famine Commemoration taking place in Edgeworthstown, Co. Longford on Sunday, May 19, 2024, the Boston Irish Tourism Association has compiled information on ten Irish Famine Memorials throughout New England. These memorials were erected between 1914 and 2019 and built by local Irish communities to commemorate the Irish Famine of the 19th century, which…
The Rhode Island Irish Famine Memorial is a permanent memorial in the capital city of Providence that commemorates the victims and survivors of Ireland’s famine years in the mid-19th century. The memorial occupies a prominent location at Dyer’s Landing along the River Walk in Providence. Created by sculptor Robert Shure of Skylight Studios, the Memorial was dedicated…
On Saturday, May 30, 1914, Massachusetts Governor David I. Walsh joined officials from the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Ladies Auxiliary to unveil a granite Celtic Cross in memory of Irish immigrants who perished during a storm off the Massachusetts coastline in 1849. 7000 Hibernians from all over Massachusetts attended the ceremony, according to a story…
Worcester’s proud Irish community is front and center for Irish Heritage Month in March, as annual St. Patrick’s Day celebrations bring out the marching bands, bagpipers and step dancers, along with live music and dance performances, community theater, dining specials and plenty of conviviality! Monique Joseph, the president of Discover Central Massachusetts, describes the region…
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…
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…
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…
Anywhere you travel in Boston, you’ll find evidence of deep-rooted Irish connections dating back to the 17th century. To appreciate the Irish and Irish-American contribution, we created the Irish Heritage Trail in 1994 to chronicle the illustrious history of the Boston Irish. It includes 20 downtown and Back Bay sites, and an additional 20 sites…
On Sunday, May 30, 1913, Massachusetts Congressman James Michael Curley laid the corner stone for the new Hibernian Building on Dudley Street in Roxbury, before a crowd of over 5,000 people. Curley was joined by numerous Irish leaders from the city, state and nation, including members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, which organized the project in 1906 to create…
Timothy Deasy (1839-1880), Civil War soldier, Irish rebel and elected official, died on December 10, 1880 in Lawrence, MA. Deasy emigrated with his family from Clonakilty, County Cork to Massachusetts in 1847 to escape the Irish Famine. The family settled in Lawrence 35 miles north of Boston, the nation’s first planned industrial city where immigrants and…
Illustration by Leonard Everett Fisher A passenger ship called Brig St. John sank off the coast of Cohasset on the morning of Sunday, October 7, 1849, pushed to the brink by a severe nor’easter that rocked the boat for hours before it sank. On board the ship were 127 passengers from Ireland, along with sixteen…
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,…
Dave Burke of Lawrence, Massachusetts had a certain way about him. He was big-hearted, generous to a fault. He had big ideas and could quickly put them into motion. He was big on loyalty, tradition and kindness. In short, he was bigger than life. Dave’s devotion to Ireland, Northern Ireland and Irish-American heritage was truly…
Toll Gate Cemetery Photo Courtesy of Remember Jamaica Plain? The Boston chapter of the Ancient Order of Hibernians is paying tribute to the fallen Civil War soldiers from Massachusetts’ Irish regiments with a ceremony at Toll Gate Cemetery in Jamaica Plain, Boston, on Saturday, September 1, 2012 at 11:00 a.m. The event is free and open to…
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