Irish Massachusetts

The 2022 Weymouth Irish Heritage Day takes place in Weymouth, MA on Sunday, September 25, starting at 11 a.m. with a parade on Union Street followed by an Irish festival at Stella Tirrell Park. The parade starts at Hamilton School and ends at The Cottage Bar.  Groups participating in the parade include: Weymouth 400, The Shriners, The Boston Senior Crusaders, Sons of The American Revolution, Great American Marching Band, the South Shore Irish Heritage Trail, the Weymouth Girls Basketball and Softball teams and more. Among the performers throughout the day are Silver Spears, led by Weymouth's own Tim O'Leary, singer Finbar Doyle, Devri, the Forbes School of Irish Dancing and the Boston Police Gaelic Column of Pipes & Drums.  For year round details on Irish cultural events in greater Boston, Massachusetts and New England, visit IrishBoston.org .

Adam G. Hinds Congratulations to Adam G. Hinds, the new chief executive officer and executive director at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate has selected, starting on Monday, September 26, 2022. A former United Nations negotiator for nearly 10 years based in the Middle East during the Obama Administration, Hinds has been the elected Massachusetts State Senator since 2017, representing the Berkshire, Hampshire, Franklin and Hampden District. Hinds served as an aide to U.S. Representative John W. Olver and was leader of two Berkshire County social service organizations. In 2020, Hinds was a candidate for Lieutenant Governor in the Democratic Party, but lost in the primary to Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll.   Bruce A. Percelay, chairman of the Kennedy Institute Board of Directors, said, “Adam’s government, political, and nonprofit experience here and abroad made him an ideal candidate for CEO. Among the 160 candidates we considered, Adam stood ou...

Alison Metcalfe, Tourism Ireland On Thursday, September 15,  Tourism Ireland   led a delegation from   The Shannon Airport Group   to Boston to share the latest details on exploring Ireland's Wild Atlantic Way, while also extolling the ease of access through  Shannon Airport .   The delegation also visited New York.  The visit to the United States by The Shannon Group is part of a $1 million campaign to drive business from New York, New Jersey and Boston in to Shannon Airport, which  currently offers daily non-stop transatlantic flights to  Boston's Logan International Airport ,   John F. Kennedy International Airport  in New York  and  NY Newark  on Aer Lingus and United. Companies Visiting Boston  Irish partners joining The Shannon Airport Group on this trip included Adare Manor Hotel & Golf Resort, Burren Ecotourism Network, Caherconnell Fort & Sheepdog Demonstrations, The Dool...

Ireland's Godfather of Comedy, Ardal O'Hanlon, performs at the Crystal Ballroom at Somerville Theatre in Davis Square at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, September 20 2022.   Local comedian Dana Cairns is the opening act.  Tickets to the show are $30 and can be purchased online or at the door the night of the show.   O'Hanlon helped create the ground-breaking Comedy Cellar in his native Dublin in the 1990s, and later moved to London, where he quickly picked up the Hackney Empire New Act of the Year and the Spitting Image New Act of the Year awards.  He became a star for his role as the infamous Fr. Dougal in Father Ted , one of the most iconic sitcoms in British television history, for which O'Hanlon won the British Comedy Award Top Television Newcomer and was nominated for numerous Bafta awards and British Comedy Awards. On this side of the Atlantic, O'Hanlon was the first Irish comedian invited to do a 30-minute special on Comedy Central, and he did a successful comedy tou...

Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley released the following statement September 16, 2022,  reacting to news about the roughly 50 Venezuelan migrants who were flown to Martha's Vineyard from Florida September 14. Immigration policies and practices stand as an abiding moral, legal and political challenge to our Commonwealth and our country. We have delayed far too long in developing an effective response to immigrants, migrants, and refugees at a moment when the movement of men, women, children, and families surpasses any other known example in our history. Our common humanity is the lens through which our response to immigrants and refugees must be judged. Pope Francis has made the plight of immigrants and refugees a constant theme of his pontificate. The Holy Father’s witness, in word and deed, has been based on understanding immigrants and refugees as pilgrims forced by socio-economic conditions, human rights abuses, and the climate crisis to leave their homes in search of safety,...

The Shannon Airport Group Delegation This week, Tourism Ireland is welcoming The Shannon Airport Group to the United States to tell American audiences about Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way and also the ease of access through its gateway airport at Shannon. Shannon Airport is a perfect choice to discover some of Ireland's most stunning destinations, such as the Cliffs of Moher, The Burren and the Ring of Kerry.   Known as an international airport with a regional feel, Shannon currently offers daily non-stop transatlantic flights to Boston's Logan International Airport ,  John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York  and NY Newark on Aer Lingus and United. Shannon airport also operates US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Pre-clearance , enabling visitors to return to the US as domestic passengers. Thanks to new time saving initiatives, returning to the United States from Shannon is easier than ever.  The airport’s newly-introduced security screening t...

The 2022 Newport Mansions Wine & Food Festival weekend takes place on September 16-18, 2022 at the Rosecliff Mansion in Newport, RI. The weekend schedule of events includes the Rosecliff Seminar Series, offering a variety of 50-person wine and spirits seminars, a Friday night Vintner Dinner, and an elegant Sunday Brunch at Rosecliff, according to Discover Newport . Click here for a list of wine dinners in local restaurants as part of the festival, and read this year's program book . Well-known for being the Sailing Capital of the World and for its legendary Gilded Age mansions, Newport is a stunning coastal enclave offers extraordinary natural beauty as well as a rich history and heritage, culture and cuisine.   For more information about visiting Newport RI any time of year, go to DiscoverNewport.org . 

This month, the John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum and Cape Cod Camino Way presents a guided walk entitled: Walking with a Purpose, on Wednesday, September 14 and September 21,  from 10 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.  Register and purchase tickets here . The curated walk through the village of Hyannis goes down historic streets, stopping at ancient cemeteries and viewing pubic art.  In addition to the vibrant presence of President Kennedy and the Kennedy Family in Hyannis, the tour also reflects upon local history in the context of Wampanoag natives, early European colonial settlers, Otis family members and Cape Verdean connections. The guided walking offers shade and rest stops along the way.   Average fitness required, walking at moderate pace on some uneven ground.  Read about two current exhibits at the JFK Museum in Hyannis.   For year-round information on Irish culture, history and heritage in Massachusetts visit IrishMassachusetts.com . 

  Today, President Joe Biden appeared at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum to discuss his Cancer Moonshot initiative, which is to end cancer as we know it. The initiative offers a vision that will change people’s lives for the better, improve their health, and decrease the burden of the disease. He was introduced by US Ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy. Biden's speech today echos a similar speech made sixty years ago today by President John F. Kennedy at Rice University, where JFK committed his Administration and the nation to putting a man on the moon and bringing him back home. President Biden's remarks were  streamed live  from the JFK Library this afternoon. "This cancer moonshot is one of the reasons why I ran for president. We know this: Cancer does not discriminate -- red and blue. It doesn't care if you're a Republican or a Democrat. Beating cancer is something we can do together and that's why I'm here today," Biden sa...

The Irish Cultural Centre ’s Tenth Annual ICC 5K Road Race and Fitness Walk takes place on Sunday September 11 at 11:30 a.m. on the beautiful 46-acre Centre, located off of Route 138 in Canton, MA This event is open to athletes of all abilities. Wheelchairs are welcome, and walkers are also encouraged to attend. The course is flat, and begins and ends on the grounds of the Centre.   Sign up here . A free Kids Run beings at 10:45 a.m. prior to the 5K. Awards are given across various age divisions--five youth divisions and 10-year adult age groups through 80+, plus a unique category of top three stroller runners as well as top three wheelchairs. Race day registration is $40.00. For more information, visit irishculture.org or email mdooher@irishculture.org The event is also a celebration of  "Halfway to St. Patrick’s Day” with Irish dancers and live Irish music. For year-round info on Irish activities in Massachusetts & New England, visit IrishMassachusetts.com .

Photo Courtesy of New York Public Library Archive s Louis Sullivan , r egarded as the Father of American Architecture,  was born in Boston, Massachusetts on September 3, 1856 to an Irish father and a French-Swiss mother.   The family lived at 22 South Bennett Street in Boston's South End, and he attended local public schools, including English High School.   Sullivan spent his summers with his grandparents in South Reading in a bi-lingual household and he advanced quickly as a student, attending   MIT   at age16 and then moving to Paris to complete his studies before settling in Chicago right after the Chicago Fire of 1871, where his services were in great demand. Sullivan's father   Patrick Sullivan   arrived in Boston on the ship The Unicorn in July 1847 just weeks after   Deer Island's quarantine station   had opened for hundreds of passengers too sick to come ashore.    According to Louis, in his book,   Autobiography of an...

Here is a track from Katie Grennan 's new album, Far Away. The selection of jigs is called The Coming of Spring.  You can purchase the album or individual tracks here . Born and raised in Wexford, PA and now residing in the Chicago area for over a decade, Katie was the fiddler in the popular celtic-fusion band Gaelic Storm for over five years, has recorded a number of solo albums , and is involved in a number of cutting edge musical projects, including The Winifred Horan Quartet, The Bow Tides & Chicago-based STEAM Quartet .

A new collaboration between the  University of Limerick  and  Silkroad  takes shape on September 8, 2022 at Harvard University's  ArtLab  with a series of workshops exploring the stories and songs of Irish railroad workers, followed by a performance featuring artists from Silkroad and UL.   Register here to attend .  The concert is part of an exciting new project The American Railroad  that is meant to illuminate the impact of African American, Chinese, Irish, Mexican, and Native American communities on the creation of the Transcontinental Railroad. The American Railroad series is led by Silkroad Artistic Director Rhiannon Giddens , the Grammy-award winning musician who is artist-in-residence at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at UL. Silkroad is a global musical ensemble founded by cellist and cultural ambassador Yo-Yo Ma. The organization believes in the power of the arts to create social change, and strives to add more equi...

“Famine Ship” by John Behan Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum of Fairfield and Quinnipiac University are presenting the exhibition, “An Gorta Mór: Selections from the Collection of Ireland's Great Hunger Museum” this fall.  The exhibit runs from September 17 through October 16 at the Fairfield Museum and History Center , located at 370 Beach Road in Fairfield, CT. Among the nearly 30 pieces on display from the collection:  “Gorta” by Lilian Lucy Davidson;  “Famine Ship” by John Behan;  “The Leave Taking” by Margaret Lyster Chamberlain;  “The Victim” by Rowan Gillespie;  “The World is Full of Murder” by Brian Maguire;  “Finishing Touch” by James Brenan; and  “Irish Peasant Children” by Daniel Macdonald. “The Fairfield Museum is delighted to host this preview of the Great Hunger Museum’s extraordinary collection that will soon be coming to Fairfield,” said Executive Director Michael Jehle. “This museum will be a wonderful addition to Fairfield’s...