Irish Massachusetts

One of Boston's most prominent Irish-Americans was  Maurice Tobin  (1901-53). Born in Roxbury's Mission Hill, he was the son of immigrants from Clogheen, Tipperary.  He had an illustrious political career, which culminated in his serving as US Secretary of Labor under President Harry Truman. Tobin became Massachusetts' youngest state representative at age 25, and in 1937 made a surprise run for mayor against his mentor, James Michael Curley . Tobin defeated Curley in 1937 and again in 1941, serving through 1944. He then won the race for Governor of Massachusetts, and served as Governor from 1944-46. Governor Tobin advocated for the Fair Employment Practices Bill, and helped increase unemployment insurance and benefits for workers. After he actively campaigned for  President Harry S. Truman , he was appointed Tobin as US Secretary of Labor from 1948 to 1953, where he continued to advocate on behalf of America's working people. Sculptor Emilius R. Ciampa created t...

  The Irish Pipers Club of Boston held its 2nd Annual Reunion on Thursday, April 19, 1917, at Paine Memorial Hall on Appleton Street in the South End.  Nearly 1,500 people attended, according to a story in The Boston Globe .   Both modern and Irish dancing were being offered: the hall for the Gaelic dancers was being directed by the well-known Kerry born Hanafin brothers, Michael, William and Cornelius.  Other performers included Joseph Mack, John Marrion, Thomas O'Connell, Shawn McDonough, the McDonough brothers, Bert Lynch, Michael Kelliher and Andrew Farrell.  A special competition of Irish dances was scheduled, with winners taking home silver cups. In addition the Hanafin children were being featured in a four-in-hand reel. Formed in 1910 , the Irish Pipers Club of Boston held its first official concert on January 11, 1910, at Wells Memorial Hall at 978 Washington Street in the South End, part of a vibrant traditional Irish music scene at the time in Bo...

  Illustration from The Boston Globe, April 20, 1897 The first  Boston Marathon  was held on April 19,1897, inspired by the first modern Olympic Games held the previous year in Athens, Greece.  The race was sponsored by the  Boston Athletic Association , and the initial field consisted of fifteen runners, of which ten finished the race.  John J. McDermott  of the Pastime Athletic Club of New York won the race, finishing in two hours, fifty-five minutes and ten seconds. Thomas E. Burke , who won first place in the 100 and 440 yard races at the Athens Olympics in 1896, was the official starter of the race. The race started in Ashland and finished at Irvington Oval near Copley Square in Boston, which had a 220 yard track.  There BAA officials had organized an entire track and field meet in the spirit of the Olympic Games the previous year. Among the most talked about races was the 100 yard dash, which had a stellar field that included Olympic medalis...

The  Boston Athletic Association  (BAA) was founded in 1887 by a group of local athletes, civil leaders and organizations in Boston.  Since then the BAA has become one of the most successful amateur sports associations in the world,  presiding over the annual Boston Marathon and a variety of road races and community events in Massachusetts. One of the founders of the BAA was an Irish immigrant, poet and amateur sportsman named  John Boyle O’Reilly (1844-90).   Better known as a fiery rebel, activist and leader of the Irish community during his  20 years in Boston, O'Reilly was a celebrated amateur sportsman who believed in the physical, mental and spiritual benefits of sports.  His 1888 book, Ethics of Boxing and Manly Sports , included a treatise on boxing  - he was friends with heavyweight champ John L. Sullivan - and sketches of O'Reilly's canoe trips throughout New England and Pennsylvania.  One essay in the book, "How to Grow ...

On Monday, April 6, 1896 ,  James Brendan Connolly  of South Boston became the first medalist in the modern Olympic Games when he won the triple jump on the opening day of the Games in Athens, Greece. Connolly won the event - back then it was called the Hop, Skip and Jump - by jumping 44 ' 9 3/4", beating the second place finisher by nearly six feet. After his final jump, the audience began chanting his name and yelling Nike, the Greek word for victory, according to Connolly's teammate, Ellery H. Clark. Connolly and his American teammates nearly missed their events - they arrived in Athens thinking they had twelve days to prepare, only to realize that the Greeks used the Julian Calendar, not the Gregorian Calendar, and his event was that afternoon. Connolly also competed in the 1900 Olympic Games in Paris, and took second place in the Triple Jump. Beverly Cronin of the Boston Herald wrote, "In typical Connolly fashion, he walked the seven miles to Paris Stadium becaus...