Boston Public Library
A new era in city government took hold on Monday, January 5, 1885, when Hugh O’Brien became Boston’s first Irish-born mayor. O’Brien’s victory at the polls in December finally broke the hegemony of old-line Yankees who had run local government since Boston was incorporated as a city in 1822. O’Brien defeated incumbent mayor Augustus Pearl Martin by 3, 124…
The Boston Public Library (BPL), founded in 1848 and acclaimed as the People’s Palace, has an incredible collection of books, videos, music, genealogy resources and educational materials available to the public. The BPL also has a celebrated collection of art and sculpture throughout the library that inspires library staff, visitors and residents every day. The McKim Building itself is…
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…
James Michael Curley was born on November 20, 1874 on Northampton Street in Roxbury to Irish immigrant parents Michael Curley and Sarah Clancy from County Galway. A dominant figure in Boston and Massachusetts politics for half a century, Curley served four four-year terms as mayor of Boston, in 1914, 1922, 1930 and 1946. He was Governor of Massachusetts from…
One of America’s most acclaimed sculptors of the 19th century was actually an Irish immigrant. Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848-1907) was born on March 1, 1848 on Charlemount Street in Dublin at the height of the Irish Famine, when millions of Irish were fleeing Ireland to places like Boston, New York, Montreal, St. John and other eastern port cities….
One of Boston’s most interesting sculptures, Bacchante and Infant Faun, is displayed in the courtyard of the Boston Public Library in Copley Square, Back Bay. The masterpiece was created in 1893 by American-born sculptor Frederick MacMonnies, a disciple of Augustus Saint-Gaudens. MacMonnies gave the original casting to his friend, architect Charles Follen McKim, whose own masterpiece, the Boston Public Library, was being…
Bates Hall, Boston Public Library As part of the centennial commemorations marking the Irish Rising of 1916, Boston Irish Tourism Association has complied this list of scholarly resources in the Greater Boston area. The Boston Athenaeum has numerous books, magazines and newspapers from the period, plus a rare British recruitment poster entitled: The Call to Arms, Irishmen Don’t You Hear…
The Boston Public Library has awarded its biennial Alicia Monti Research Fellowship this year to Michael P. Quinlin who will use the time to create an annotated bibliography for the Library’s extensive collection of 19th century Irish music. Quinlin’s research at the Library will cover the works of important Irish musicians and composers like Michael…
Get the Latest Irish News & Events in Your Inbox
Join our mailing list
Editor's Picks
Irish Boston Partners
These organizations promote Irish Culture in New England.
