Irish Massachusetts

  Painting of USS Jamestown, courtesy of the artist Edward D. Walker  On March 28, 1847, the USS Jamestown set sail from Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston Harbor on a humanitarian mission to Ireland, carrying 800 tons of supplies for the victims of the Irish Famine. The mission was led by Captain  Robert Bennet Forbes , a wealthy sea merchant living in Milton, MA. With Forbes on the journey were 38 crew members who had signed on to help. In February, Forbes had petitioned the US Congress for the loan of a naval ship to bring supplies, and permission to use the USS Jamestown had been granted. As the boat left the harbor on the morning of March 28, crowds lined the wharf and the shores, cheering as the ship headed out to open seas. The fifteen day voyage faced foul weather and rain, sleet, wind and fog. The ship landed in Queenstown (now Cobh), County Cork on April 12, 1847. Back in Boston, the newspapers enthusiastically reported on the trip, failing to note the cruel irony ...

  Congratulations to Martin J. Walsh, who was confirmed today as the next U.S. Secretary of Labor.  The U.S. Senate approved his nomination 68-29. Walsh has been mayor of Boston since January 2014, and prior to that was Massachusetts state representative and a leader in Boston's trade unions. In his farewell speech today, Walsh cited affordable housing, education, economic development, recovery services and racial equality as some of his most important efforts during his term in office. He offered that there was still work to be done, but that he was proud of how far the city of Boston has progressed in recent years.  Upon recommending Walsh for the Labor post in January 2021, President-Elect Joe Biden said, “Marty understands like I do: the middle class built this country, and unions built the middle class. He sees how union workers have been holding this country together during this crisis … [including] public service workers, fighting against budget shortfalls, to kee...

  America's first great portrait artist, John Singleton Copley (1737-1815) was born in Boston on July 3, 1738. He was the son of Irish immigrants who emigrated to Boston in the 1730s. John's parents, Richard Copley and Mary Singleton from County Clare, were married in County Limerick before emigrating to Boston. Right after their son John was born, Richard Copley traveled to the West Indies and died shortly thereafter, leaving John’s mother to raise him as a widow. She worked at a shop in Boston that sold tobacco close to Boston Harbor. In 1747 Mary S. Copley married Peter Pelham, a colonial artist and an original member of the Charitable Irish Society formed in 1737. It was Pelham who helped to nurture his stepson John's talent, and by age twenty Copley had gained a reputation as a promising artist. His first painting, "A Boy and the Flying Squirrel," was sent to the Royal Academy in London and his reputation began to take shape. Copley seized the opportunity to ...

  This week the Boston Irish Tourism Association (BITA) issued its 2021 spring issue of Travel & Culture magazine, a compendium of Irish concerts, culinary, cultural and literary activities taking place in Massachusetts and throughout New England this spring, as well as travel tips for visiting the island of Ireland this year.    The pandemic has caused many of the traditional activities such as the state’s eight St. Patrick’s Day parades to be cancelled this year, and most of the cultural activities such as concerts, film festivals, dancing and lectures have gone virtual and are being enjoyed by viewers online.  On the culinary front, Irish organizations such as the Irish Cultural Centre in Canton, offer reserved dining that complies with the health and safety regulations issued by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. And Dine Out Boston, organized by the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau, is offering restaurant deals at 100+ eateries around Bosto...

Since Irish-born businessman and publisher Hugh O'Brien became mayor of Boston in 1885, 12 mayors of Irish-American heritage have won the seat. Between 1930 and 1994, Irish-Americans were continuously voted in as mayor by the voters of Boston. Here are the Mayors of Boston claiming Irish Heritage: Hugh O’Brien 1885–88 Patrick Collins 1902–05 John F. Fitzgerald 1906–07, 1910–13 James M. Curley 1914–17, 1922–25, 1930–33, 1946–49 Frederick W. Mansfield 1934–37 Maurice Tobin 1938–41, 1941-44 John Kerrigan 1945 John B. Hynes 1950–59 John Collins 1960–68 Kevin H. White 1968–83 Raymond L. Flynn 1984–93 Martin J. Walsh 2014- 2021 Learn more about Boston's Irish history by visiting IrishHeritageTrail.com .

Boston’s Logan International Airport was named for General Edward L. Logan (1875-1939), a first generation Irish-American, military leader, civic leader and municipal judge with family roots in County Galway.  Born in South Boston, Edward was the oldest of nine children of Lawrence and Catherine (O’Connor), according to the late Michael Cummings of Milton, an expert on the Logan Family.  Edward’s father Lawrence immigrated to Boston from Ballygar, County Galway, in 1858, and became a successful businessman at a young age when he became president of the Boston Brewing Company in South Boston. The family resided at 560 East Broadway in South Boston.  In 1898 during his senior year at Harvard University Logan enlisted in the 9th Irish Regiment of Massachusetts when the Spanish American War broke out in Cuba, joining his father Lawrence, who was a Lieutenant Colonel in the regiment. Edward stayed stateside at Camp Dewey in Framingham taking charge of reenlistment, w...

James Michael Curley  was a larger-than-life political figure who dominated Boston and Massachusetts politics for half a century. Born on November 20, 1874 on Northampton Street in Roxbury to immigrant parents from County Galway, Curley's political career was unparalleled. First elected to the Boston Common Council in 1899 and then to the state House of Representatives in 1901, Curley quickly rose up the ranks.  He served four four-year terms as mayor of Boston in 1914, 1922, 1930 and 1946. He and also served as  US Congressman  from 1911-14 and from 1943-47, and was  Governor of Massachusetts  from 1935-37. Curley came of age in Boston just as the Irish, by numbers and ingenuity,  had learned how to get out the vote and take over local government, after generations of being held back by the Yankee establishment. Fearless and ambitious, witty and brash, Curley was the right politician to represent Boston's changing demographics.  He was a dev...

  The U.S. Census Bureau, which serves as the nation's leading provider of data about the American people, has issued its annual report on Irish-American demographics in the United States . According to a 2019 report, 30.4 million, or 9.2% of the U.S. population, claim Irish ancestry. And 111,886 foreign-born U.S. residents claim Ireland as their birthplace. Massachusetts is the most Irish state in America based on residents claiming Irish ancestry per capita, according to the 2019 American Community Survey.  Approximately 1.350,000 residents claim Irish ancestry, accounting for about 21.6% of the state's total population.   Generally, the six New England states, along with Pennsylvania, account for the largest percentage per capita of Irish-Americans.  See details of the map here.   According to the U.S. Census, Congress designated March as Irish-American Heritage Month in 1991, and the U.S. President issues a proclamation commemorating the occasion ...

MARCH 01, 2021   •   PRESIDENTIAL ACTIONS Since before the founding of our Nation, Irish immigrants have arrived on our shores with an unyielding spirit of determination that has helped define America’s soul and shape our success across generations.  Driven by the same dreams that still beckon people the world over to America today, so many crossed the Atlantic with nothing but the hope in their hearts and their faith in the possibility of a better life. That’s what brought the Blewitts from County Mayo and the Finnegans of County Louth to the United States.  For years, they brought Ireland into their homes in America.  Working hard.  Raising families.  Remembering always where they came from.  By 1909, my grandparents Ambrose Finnegan and Geraldine Blewitt met and married in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and passed on to my mother, Catherine Eugenia Finnegan Biden, a pride and a passion that runs through the bloodstream of all Irish-Americans. The stor...

  You may not find a St. Patrick’s Day parade this March, but you can still celebrate Irish Heritage Month all across Massachusetts. The Boston Irish Tourism Association (BITA) offers 10 suggestions on how to safely enjoy Irish music, culture, history, film, food and beverage, both virtually and actually, this St. Patrick’s Day season.  1. Boston's Irish Heritage Trail   The Irish have been making history in Boston since the 17th century, and the city’s Irish Heritage Trail tells the illustrious story. The three-mile walk of 20 sites starts at the Rose Kennedy Garden on the waterfront and ends at Fenway Park, letting visitors, residents, and students learn about local history, enjoy the outdoors and explore the city. The website also marks 20 additional Irish landmarks in Boston’s neighborhoods like South Boston and Charlestown, plus dozens more landmarks around Massachusetts to visit. Free maps are available at the Visitor Information Center on Boston Common.  ...

THE IRISH came bearing gifts on March 17, 1961, John F. Kennedy's first St. Patrick's Day in the White House. It's a practice that has spanned 50+ years to this day. Online digital archives at John F. Kennedy Presidential Library which have been recently made available to the public, contain a wealth of information on President Kennedy's term at the White House, including his interactions with Ireland and the Irish. The archives reveal that at 10 a.m. on Friday, March 17, 1961, Ireland's ambassador, Thomas J. Kiernan made his nation's annual pilgrimage to the Oval Office to present the ceremonial bowl of shamrock to the President. That tradition had started a few years earlier in 1958 when the inauguration of Aer Lingus transatlantic jet flights guaranteed fresh shamrock sprigs from Ireland on the big day. Joining President Kennedy in the Oval Office was Congressman John E. Fogarty of Rhode Island, Kennedy's long-time friend and colleague. In 1951, Congress...