Irish Massachusetts

Firefighter Michael R. Kennedy of Ladder 15, who lost his life battling a 9-alarm fire in Boston in 2014, is being remembered on Sunday, March 1, 2015, with an Irish ceilidh in his honor, taking place at the Brighton Elks Lodge . Admission is $10. The event features Irish band Tin Can Hooley , and Irish stepdancers from the Mass Motion Academy .  All proceeds benefit the   Last Call Foundation , which Kennedy's family set up in his honor to advance the safety needs of the Boston firefighting community .  Kennedy, of Ladder 15, and Lieutenant Edward J. Walsh of Engine 33 lost their lives as Engine 33 battled a nine-alarm fire in Boston’s Back Bay neighborhood on March 26, 2014 . For more information about the fundraiser, contact Patrick Kennedy at 617-935-9139 or  patrick_kennedy1976@yahoo.com . Find year round activities within Boston's Irish community at IrishBoston.org .

Irish music duo  Matt and Shannon Heaton  perform at the  Blackstone River Theatre in Cumberland, RI on Saturday, January 17 2016 at 8:00 p.m.   Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at the venue on concert night. The husband-wife duo, based in Massachusetts, has been praised by The Boston Globe for "masterful and inventive" playing, while the Boston Herald calls their music "brilliant, American-bred Irish folk." Also on stage with the Heatons is Irish music duo Torrin Ryan and Mark Oien.  Here is a schedule of upcoming concerts at Blackstone River Theatre . Find year round details on Irish cultural activities in Massachusetts and New England by visiting  IrishMassachusetts.com .

The Second Girl , a drama by Irish playwright Ronan Noone , is being presented by the Huntington Theatre in Boston on January 16 and runs through February 21, 2015. Inspired by Eugene O'Neill 's play, Long Day's Journey into Night , The Second Girl is set in the downstairs world of the Irish servants in O'Neill's classic play, which took place in August 1912. The performances take place at the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, located at 527 Tremont Street in the South End. Here is the winter 2015 season of plays at Huntington Theatre . Find year round details on Irish activities in greater Boston by visiting IrishBoston.org .

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh is giving his first official State of the City address at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 13, 2015 at Boston Symphony Hall . Sworn into office on January 6, 2014 at Boston College, Mayor Walsh has completed his first year as mayor with an ambitious agenda that included modernizing City Hall through upgraded technology, negotiating union agreements, expanding the school day in the Boston Public schools, creating innovation districts in neighborhoods, developing affordable housing options and finding solutions to the city's homeless problem. The son of Irish immigrants , Walsh joins an illustrious group of Irish and Irish-Americans who have taken the stage at Symphony Hall: - Irish parliamentarians John Redmond, Joseph Devlin and Daniel Boyle espoused the cause of Ireland's Home Rule to over 8,000 people at Symphony Hall on October 10, 1910. -  Famed Irish tenor John McCormack made his debut at Symphony Hall on February 11, 1911 and performed...

Boston Irish Tourism Association  has released its 2015 schedule of St. Patrick's Day parades in Massachusetts . This year the state's parade season begins on Saturday, March 7 with the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Cape Cod, and ends with the Holyoke St. Patrick's Day Parade on Sunday, March 22, 2015.  BITA also lists details on parades in Manchester NH, Newport RI, Quebec City, Canada, and Dublin, Ireland. Here is a schedule of Irish  cultural activities  in Massachusetts and the New England states in March 2015.  Check back for updates.  BITA was formed in 2000 to promote the year round cultural activities in the region, and to strengthen travel ties between New England, Eastern Canada, Ireland and Northern Ireland.  Find year round information at IrishMassachusetts.com .

Boston's hometown band, the Dropkick Murphys , is performing at the Strand Theatre in Dorchester's Uphams Corner on Friday, January 9, 2015, at an event for Massachusetts Governor-elect Charlie Baker , according to the Dorchester Reporter .  Also on stage at the event, which is a thank-you gathering for Baker's supporters, is the Fiddlehead Theatre Company , performing its upcoming production of The Wiz . Find year round information on Boston's Irish community at IrishBoston.org .

Visitors can get a real sampling of what makes Boston so unique this time of year by checking out Winter on the Wharf at the Boston Harbor Hotel .  Surrounded by panoramic views of Boston Harbor and the city's skyline, the rink is placed beneath the hotel's iconic rotunda.  After enjoying the beautiful outdoors on skates, you can duck into the hotel for a hot chocolate or hot toddy, or enjoy some of the world-famous cuisine. Massachusetts - the entire New England region - is a winter wonderland, and a great place to start the journey is by checking out Winter on the Wharf, which was named Event of the Month by the Boston Irish Tourism Association for January 2015.   For visitor information, go to BostonUSA.com or MassVacation.com .  

The Burren Pub in Davis Square, Somerville has put together another great s chedule of traditional Irish music as part of its Back Room Series . Brian O'Donovan , radio host of A Celtic Sojourn Radio show on WGBH, is master of ceremonies at the concerts. Opened in 1995 by musicians Tommy McCarthy and Louise Costello , the Burren has since become one of the premier traditional music pubs in the world, with live sessions every night of the week and regular concerts featuring a variety of music in the Back Room. Find year round information on the Irish cultural community in greater Boston by visiting IrishBoston.org .

Massachusetts Governor-elect Charlie Baker is being sworn into office at noon on Thursday, January 8, 2015 at the Massachusetts State House.  Later that evening, an inauguration celebration, titled Let's Be Great, takes place at 8:00 p.m. at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center .  Among the wide variety of musical performers are two Irish groups:  the world famous Boston Police Gaelic Column of Pipes and Drums , and the O’Shea-ChaplinAcademy of Irish Dance , which teaches Irish dancing throughout the region. Other performances during the festivities include a string orchestra, Cambodian dancers, Caribbean carnival band, a hip-hop group and a jazz band, according to local news . Tickets to the inauguration are $50 and can be purchased online.   Find out more about the Irish cultural community in Massachusetts at IrishMassachusetts.com .