Irish Massachusetts

Charlie's Sandwich Shoppe , a classic Boston eatery from 1927 that closed down a year and a half ago, has just reopened under new ownership and retained its iconic name.  The new owner is restaurant owner and chef Evan Deluty of Boston .  Today, a grand opening was held at the Shoppe, with a ribbon cutting with former US Ambassador and former Boston Mayor Ray Flynn along with his friend and former mayoral opponent Mel King . Also joining the festivities were Governor Charlie Baker , Mayor Marty Walsh , State Representatives Byron Rushing and AaronMichlewitz and City Councilors President Michelle Wu , Bill Linehan and MichaelFlaherty .   The old-fashioned diner, which had 32 seats, including 16 at the lunch counter, was a local institution back when the South End was a heavily immigrant neighborhood.  When segregation was still rife in America , Charlie's was one of the Boston restaurants that always welcomed Black jazz musicians in town for gi...

Sheila Falls Keohane Music teachers from the Boston College Gaelic Roots program will perform with their students in a free concert from 6:30-7:30 p.m. on Thursday, February 25, 2016 at the Connolly House on Hammond Street in Chestnut Hill. The concert is free and  open to the public.  Music teachers include fiddler Sheila Falls Keohane, flutist Jimmy Noonan, and Irish dancer Kieran Jordan. Sheila Falls Keohane is the Interim Director of BC's Gaelic Roots Music, Song, Dance Workshop and Lecture Series, which was started by Irish fiddle champion Seamus Connolly in 1991. Gaelic Roots is part of the Center for Irish Programs ,which also includes the Irish Studies Department, John J. Burns Library's Irish Collection, the Irish Institute, and the Boston College Ireland program based in Dublin. Find more details on Irish cultural activities in greater Boston by visiting IrishBoston.org .

Learn about Boston's illustrious Irish history by taking a guided tour of the Irish Heritage Trail this St. Patrick's Day weekend.  The tours are being held daily on Friday, March 18, Saturday, March 19 and Sunday, March 20, 2016. The 75-90 minute walking tour starts at 2:00 p.m. at the Boston Common Visitor Information Center and is led by seasoned tour guide Ted Kulik. Tickets are $15 for adults, and $12 for seniors, students and military. Children under 12 go free when accompanied by an adult. Developed by the Boston Irish Tourism Association , the Irish Heritage Trail covers over 300 years of the Boston Irish experience, beginning in the 18th century when indentured servants came from Ulster, through the 19th century when millions of Irish immigrants fled famines and political upheaval in Ireland, through  the 20th century when Irish-Americans became dominant in local politics. Details of where to meet: Boston Common Visitor's Information Center 14...

Boston Irish Tourism Association has compiled this calendar of 1916 commemorative events taking place in Massachusetts  from February through May, 2016.   February 22 Easter Rising of 1916 Lecture by U.S. Congressman Richard E. Neal and Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh Gasson Hall, Boston College February 27 Culture & Society in Ireland, 1916: Contexts for the Arts & Crafts Movement Lecture by Fintan O’Toole McMullen Museum of Art, Boston College March 1-31 Exhibit - ‘Of Terrible and Splendid Things: A Commemoration of the Easter Rising of 1916’ Borgia Gallery, Elms College, Chicopee March 1-31 Lawrence Irish Heritage Month, includes exhibits, lectures and music on 1916 Lawrence Heritage State Park , Lawrence March 6 Film – Mise Éire – the 1916 Rising A special screening and discussion hosted by the Amherst Irish Association Unitarian Universalist Church , Amherst March 6 Massachusetts ’ Role in the Easter Uprising Ir...

Irish music duo Dana Lyn & Kyle Sanna are performing at the Chatham Fiddle Company in Chatham, Cape Cod, at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, February 21, 2016.  Tickets to the show are $20, payable at the venue. Based in Brooklyn, NY, the duo have a broad range of accomplishment as composers and performers.  They are part of New York's experimental music scene, and have also performed around the world. The Chatham Fiddle Company is run by fiddle player and instrument maker Rose Clancy . For year round details on the Irish community in Massachusetts, visit IrishMassachusetts.com .

Noted playwright Ronan Noone is appearing at the  Irish Social Club of Boston in West Roxbury at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, February 21, 2016.  He will talk about Irish theater and also read passages from his plays. The event is hosted by the Eire Society of Boston and is free and open to the public. An assistant professor in the MFA play writing program at Boston University , Noone's American Trilogy of plays about the fictional Irish village of Baile were presented by the Huntington Theatre Company , earning Noone critical acclaim. Here is a brief history of the Irish Social Club of Boston ,which was founded in 1945 in Roxbury. The Eire Society of Boston was founded in 1937 to promote Irish culture in greater Boston. For year round details on Irish cultural events in Massachusetts, visit IrishMassachusetts.com .

Irish America Magazine in New York has published an issue devoted to the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin Ireland, on the occasion of its centennial. Of local interest is the essay, Boston & the Irish Rising by author Michael Quinlin , which describes the Boston Irish community in the years leading up to April 1916 and the months after the rising took place. Among the historical figures mentioned: Mayor James Michael Curley, Governor David I.Walsh, Mayor and newspaper publisher John Honey Fitz Fitzgerald.  In addition, it includes Irish rising leaders with Boston connections, such as James Connolly, Jim Larkin and Francis Sheehy-Skeffington, who all visited Boston just prior to the Easter Uprising. Find more about Boston's Irish history by visiting IrishHeritageTrail.com . For year round information on current events, go to IrishMassachusetts.com .

Noted Irish musicians Rose Clancy and Robbie O'Connell present a Valentine's Day Matinee of Irish Music and Song at 3 p.m. on Sunday, February 14, 2016 at the Wellfleet Preservation Hall on Cape Cod. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased online or at the venue. Find year round details on Irish cultural activities by visiting IrishMassachusetts.com .

The Merry Ploughboys, one of Ireland's most enduring traditional ballad bands, is performing at Mechanics Hall in Worcester on Saturday, February 27, 2016 at 8:00 p.m.  Doors open at 6:30 for the pub. Tickets can be purchased online for $22-$27, general admission, with discounts available for groups or for members of Mechanics Hall or Worcester Hibernian Hall. The Boston Irish Tourism Association (BITA) is giving away a pair of free tickets to the show.   Enter the contest to win here . Formed in 1988, the band has emerged as one of Dublin's most popular and enduring pub bands.  In fact, the Merry Ploughboys Pub , was started by the band to provide year round entertainment.  It is located in Rathfarnham at the foot of the Dublin Mountains. Find year round information on Irish cultural activities in Massachusetts at IrishMassachusetts.com .  

The  Boston Irish Tourism Association  has issued its  2016 schedule of  St. Patrick's Day parades  taking place this March in Massachusetts as well as in Newport, RI and Dublin, Ireland. This year's parade season begins on Saturday, March 5, 2016 in Yarmouth, Cape Cod, and concludes on Sunday, March 20 in Abington, Boston, Holyoke and Scituate. These events are free and open to the public.  In the event of weather-related delays, be sure to check the web site for each of the parades to get up-to-date-information. Here is a full calendar of related  St. Patrick's Day events taking place in March  in the New England region. Find year-round details on Irish cultural activities at  IrishMassachusetts.com .

An exciting concert of  young Irish  musicians takes place at Blackstone River Theatre in Cumberland,RI on Saturday, February 6 at 8:00 p.m. The line-up includes the Vox Hunters and Lindsay Straw, along with Torrin Ryan and Kyle Forsthoff. Tickets are $13 in advance and $15 the night of the show. Here is a schedule of upcoming concerts at Blackstone River Theatre . For year round information on Irish cultural events in New England, visit IrishMassachusetts.com .

Cellist Natalie Haas and singer/guitarist Yann Falquet are performing at Boston College's Gaelic Roots series from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, February 4, 2016. The concert takes place at the Cadigan Alumni Center on BC's Brighton Campus and is free to the public, though pre-registration is requested .  The Center is located at 2121 Commonwealth Avenue. The Gaelic Roots Music, Song, Dance, Workshop and Lecture Series was started in 1991 by master fiddler Seamus Connolly , the longtime Sullivan Artist-in-Residence at Boston College.  Connolly retired in December 2015, and the Interim Director of Gaelic Roots is fiddle champion Sheila Falls . Find more information on greater Boston's Irish cultural scene by visiting IrishBoston.org .