Irish Massachusetts

Check out the five-course Halloween Dinner at the new Granary Tavern on Boston's Rose Kennedy Greenway.  It's taking place on Wednesday, October 24, 2012, with cocktail hour starting at 6:00 p.m. and dinner starting at 7:00 p.m. Order your ticket here .  The Granary Tavern is the newest restaurant opened by the Glynn Hospitality Group , which runs some of the city's finest pubs and venues, including the Black Rose and others. Find year round information on cultural activities in greater Boston by visiting IrishBoston.org . For tourist information, go to MassVacation.com and BostonUSA.com . 

Celtic Thunder is performing in concert at the Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord, NH on Wednesday, September 26, 2012 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets range from $44-$88 and can be purchased online or at the concert hall. The quintet of male singers excels in both traditional music from Ireland and Scotland as well as contemporary songs.  Here are biographies of each singer .  The group is currently on a tour across North America . Here is a schedule of upcoming events at the Capitol Center for the Art s. You can find more information on Irish activities in Massachusetts and the New England states by visiting IrishMassachusetts.com . For information about visiting Ireland, visit DiscoverIreland.com . 

Noted author John Kelly is speaking about his new book, The Graves Are Walking: The Great Famine and the Saga of the Irish People , at the Milton Public Library in Massachusetts on Wednesday, October 3, 2012 at 7:00 p.m. Sponsored by the Friends of the Milton Public Library , the event takes place at the Keys Community Room at the Library.  It is free and open to the public. To read an excerpt from Mr. Kelly's book, click here .  Read book reviews on Irish-American topics published in BITA's Travel & Culture Guide . For year round details on Irish cultural activities in Massachusetts and the New England states, visit IrishMassachusetts.com . For tourist information go to MassVacation.com and BostonUSA.com .

See Video Courtesy of CBS Online   Never-before-released photos of President John F. Kennedy and his family have just been published in a book by photographer Mark Shaw, which captures the intimate moments between JFK and his wife and children. Shaw first photographed the Kennedy family for Life Magazine in 1959, and was given full access to the family throughout the JFK presidency. Entitled The Kennedys ,  the book is available through Reel Art Press . You can find complete details of JFK's presidency  at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum at Columbia Point in Boston, which is open year round to the general public. Here is a schedule of upcoming forums and lectures at the JFK Library. For year round details on cultural activities in greater Boston, visit IrishBoston.org For visitor information, go to MassVacation.com and BostonUSA.com . 

Irish flute master Nuala Kennedy is performing at the Burren Pub in Davis Square, Somerville, on Wednesday, September 26, 2012 at 7:30 p.m.   Tickets are $23 in advance and can be purchased online . A native of Dundalk, County Louth, Kennedy 's first album, New Shoes, was named one of the top traditional music albums of 2008.  Her newest album, Noble Stranger , was just issued by Compass Records. The concert is part of the Back Room Series at the Burren hosted by Brian O'Donovan of the Celtic Sojourn program on WGBH .   Read a profile of the Burren Pub and its owners, musicians Tommy McCarthy and Louise Costello.  You can find year round details on Irish music and culture in Massachusetts and the New England states by visiting IrishMassachusetts.com . For information about visiting Massachusetts, go to MassVacation.com and BostonUSA.com .

The Gaelic Roots Music program at Boston College is presenting a concert with uilleann piper Joey Arbata from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, September 25, 2012.  The concert, which is free and open to the public, takes place at BC's Brighton Campus, located at 2101 Commonwealth Avenue, formerly known as the Cardinal's Residence.  For directions click here .  Arbata is a rising young uilleann piper who tours with Mick Moloney's Green Fields of America troupe and teaches music at the Comhaltas Music School in Boston.   Accompanying Abarta is guitarist-percussionist Paddy League on bouzouki. The Gaelic Roots Music program was founded and is run by Seamus Connolly , All Ireland Fiddle Champion and Sullivan Artist in Residence at Boston College.   For a schedule of upcoming Gaelic Roots concerts this fall and winter, click here . For year round details on Irish music, dance, theater, literary, festivals, parades and other cultural activitie...

Actor Gerald Dickens  In celebration of Charles Dickens' 200th birthday anniversary, Mechanics Hall presents A Christmas Carol by actor Gerald Dickens , the great-great grandson of Charles Dickens.  The dramatic performance takes place on Friday, September 21, 2012 at 8:00 p.m.  Tickets to the show are $20-$35 and can be purchased online or at the concert hall. Charles Dicken s himself performed A Christmas Carol at Mechanics Hall in March 1868. Find a full schedule of upcoming performances at Mechanics Hall , located at 321 Main Street in Worcester. For year round details on cultural activities in Massachusetts, visit IrishMassachusetts.com . Tourists can find information at MassVacation.com and CentralMass.org

Governor Deval Patrick announced today that Massachusetts' tourism industry was increasing its international tourism outreach by partnering with Brand USA , a new federal marketing program that campaigns aggressively to bring more international tourists to the United States. Governor Patrick made the announcement at the 25th Governor's Conference on Travel & Tourism , which was held at The Big E Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield.  Over 400 tourism leaders from around the state attended the conference. Here is a video courtesy of WWLP- 22 News in Chicopee: Massachusetts is targeting tourist markets in Canada, Germany, United Kingdom and Japan, as well as emerging tourist markets like China, India and Brazil, according to Betsy Wall, head of the Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism . Brand USA will add 30% to whatever money Massachusetts spends, giving the state an added boost to attract international visitors, who tend to spe...

Celtic Thunder , the hit ensemble of male singers from Ireland and Scotland, is returning to Boston for a concert at the Citi Performing Arts Center on Saturday, September 22, 2012, at 7:30 p.m.   The band, which performs Celtic melodies as well as contemporary and pop music, is performing songs from its new CD and DVD concert special Voyage, which has been airing on PBS television affiliates across the United States. You can purchase tickets online . Celtic Thunder is also performing at the Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord NH on Wednesday, September 26, 2012. You can find more information on Irish activities in Massachusetts and the New England states by visiting IrishMassachusetts.com . For information about visiting Ireland, visit DiscoverIreland.com . 

Boston Irish Tourism Association is giving away a free pair of tickets to see the Dropkick Murphys at Bank of America Pavilion in Boston's Seaport District at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, September 21, 2012. Enter the Dropkick Murphys Contest to win .  Or, you can purchase tickets online to attend the concert. To enter other contests to concerts, including The Script, Tony Kenny, Solas and Celtic Woman, visit BITA's Contest Page . You can find year round details on Irish cultural activities in Massachusetts and the New England region by visiting IrishMassachusetts.com . For visitor information go to MassVacation.com and BostonUSA.com . 

The Huntington Theatre Company in Boston is presenting Good People by playwright David Lindsay-Abaire .  Directed by Kate Whorskey , Good People opened on September 14 and runs through October 14, 2012 at BU Theatre. Lindsay-Abaire sets the play in South Boston, where he grew up, and examines complex social questions about class, community and courage in the face of adversity. Here is a short trailer of Good People   Here is a full schedule of Huntington Theatre's 2012-13 season . For year round details on cultural events in greater Boston, visit IrishBoston.org . Find visitor information at MassVacation.com and BostonUSA.com .

An old-fashioned Irish wake took place in Boston this week for the Purple Shamrock Pub in downtown Boston, one of the city's signature Irish pubs in the shadows of Boston City Hall and Faneuil Hall Marketplace. The owners are closing the iconic place after the landlord announced a 60% rent increase. Here's a video of the wake, reported by Greg Wayland of NECN : The Purple Shamrock is owned by the Glynn Hospitality Group , a family-run business that operates some of the city's signature Irish pubs like The Black Rose and sports bar Hurricane O'Reilly's . Patrons  are hoping the Purple Shamrock will be re-opened at some other Boston location in the coming months. The pub was named for James Michael Curley , Boston's quintessential Irish-American politician, who dominated Boston politics from 1900 to 1949, serving as mayor (four times), governor, U.S. congressman.  Curley got the nickname from his biographer, Joseph F. Dineen, author of The Pur...

Congratulations to Andrew Barcomb of the McDermott Academy of Irish Dancing in Westfield, MA, who won an international competition to create the official logo for the World Irish Dancing Championships , which come to Boston for the first time in March 2013. The Irish Dancing Magazine reported that Barcomb's logo "incorporates both new world Boston with the modern skyline and old world Boston with the image of (Paul) Revere" while also using "beautiful celtic knotwork and dance shoes (to) bring in the Irish dancing elements." The World Irish Dancing Championships is organized annually by An Coimisiún le Rincí Gaelacha (The Irish Dancing Commission), based in Dublin, Ireland.   The Boston event,which runs from March 24-31, 2013 at the John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center in the city's Back Bay neighborhood, is only the second time the championships have taken place in the United States. In 2009, the championships were held in Philad...

Check out the Massachusetts page on DiscoverAmerica.com . Or, go directly to the Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism site. To find out about Irish cultural activities in Massachusetts any time of year, visit IrishMassachusetts.com .

(photo by Katrina Regan) Congratulations to the Burren Pub in Davis Square, Somerville, for being named as Irish Pub of the Year in the Boston area by the Phoenix Newspaper.  Read the Phoenix review here. The Burren was started in 1996 by two traditional musicians, Tommy McCarthy and Louise Costello , and is regarded as one of the top places in North America for quality traditional Irish music sessions and performances. For year round details on Irish music and dance, theatre and literary readings, and cultural activities in the greater Boston area, visit IrishBoston.org . For visitor information go to MassVacation.com and BostonUSA.com .

The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation is making available a live webcast of its forum,  Changing Political Demographics at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, NC on Wednesday, September 5, 2012 from 4:00 to 6:30 p.m. The forum features Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick , Democratic strategist Maria Cardona, New York Times Columnist Matt Bai, Publisher and Editor in Chief of The New Republic Chris Hughes, and Meet the Press host David Gregory. The event is available to view live on webcast starting at 4:00 p.m. Find out more about the John F. Kennedy President Library , located at Columbia Point in Boston.  For year round details on Irish cultural activities in greater Boston, visit IrishBoston.org .  For information about visiting Massachusetts, go to MassVacation.com and BostonUSA.com .

The 37th annual New Hampshire Highland Games & Festival is taking place the weekend of September 21-23, 2012 at Loon Mountain, NH. It's the largest and most diverse Scottish cultural celebration in the northeast, according to organizers, and includes Highland Dance, Piping and Drumming competitions, pipe bands, fiddle, harp, Scottish heavy athletics and sheep dog trials.  Plus there's a Clan Village, gift vendors, a food and beverage court, whisky tasting, living history reenactments and more. To download the full schedule of events, click here , and a list of the performing musicians . Purchase tickets online or at the festival You can get visitor information about traveling and staying in New Hampshire by going to VisitNH.gov . To find out about year round Irish, Scottish and Celtic cultural activities in the region, visit IrishMassachusetts.com .

Singer Pauline Wells and Irish band Devri are performing at the annual Tribute to the Heroes of 9/11 at the Wilbur Theatre in downtown Boston on Saturday, September 8, 2012 at 8:00 p.m. Also featured at the concert: Boston Police Gaelic Column of Pipes & Drums , and the NYPD Emerald Society of Pipes and Drums . Tickets to the event are $40-$50 and can be ordered online or by calling 617 931-2000. Proceeds of the concert benefit the Massachusetts Iraq and Afghanistan Fallen Heroes Memorial project. For year round details on the Irish community in Massachusetts and New England, visit IrishMassachusetts.com . For visitor information go to MassVacation.com and BostonUSA.com .

The Boston Police Emerald Society is holding its annual Halfway to St. Patrick's Day 5K Road Race to benefit Cops for Kids with Cancer , a non-profit group that raises funds for children with cancer.  The race starts at 11:00 a.m. in Boston's Roslindale Village , proceeds around the Arnold Arboretum and ends up back in Roslindale at the Emerald Society Hall. Following the race, participants can enjoy live Irish music, step dancing, children's fingerprinting and other children's activities. The block party will also screen the New England Patriots game versus Arizona Cardinals at 1:00 p.m. Find year round details on the Irish community in Massachusetts and New England by visiting IrishMassachusetts.com . For visitor information, go to MassVacation.com and BostonUSA.com .

Northern Ireland golfer Rory McIlroy had a blazing last round of golf to win the 10th Deutsche Bank Championship taking place outside of Boston in Norton, Massachusetts this weekend. McIlroy is currently ranked as the Number One golfer in the world .  You can follow McIlroy on Facebook . To find out about golfing in Ireland, visit DiscoverIreland.com . For details on Irish cultural activities in Massachusetts visit IrishMassachusetts.com .

The Purple Shamrock , one of Boston's iconic Irish pubs, is closing its doors after 32 years on Friday, September 15, 2012.  The building's landlord tried to raise the rent by 60%, according to a story in The Boston Globe . The Glynn Hospitality Group , a family-run business which owns the Purple Shamrock, plans to have a Last Hurrah for the pub by organizing an Irish Wake on Thursday, September 13, complete with Irish bagpipers and a parade.  For more details on the Wake and other activities, click here . The pub was named for James Michael Curley , Boston's quintessential Irish-American politician, who dominated Boston politics from 1900 to 1949, serving as mayor (four times), governor, U.S. congressman. Curley got the nickname from his biographer, Joseph F. Dineen, author of The Purple Shamrock : The Hon. James Michael Curley of Boston , who noted that purple represented Curley's royal mannerisms and shamrock his Irish ancestry. Right outside the Purple S...