Boston Irish Heritage Trail Features Three Stunning Memorials of an Irish Artist, Poet and Politician
The next time you are exploring Boston's Irish Heritage Trail, visit these stunning public memorials to three 19th century Irish immigrants: sculptor Martin Milmore, poet John Boyle O'Reilly and politician Patrick A. Collins.
Two of the monuments, the Milmore Memorial at Forest Hills Cemetery in Jamaica Plain and the O'Reilly Memorial in the Fens, were created by sculptor Daniel Chester French of Concord, considered one of America's leading artists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Collins Memorial on Commonwealth Avenue in Back Bay was created by noted husband and wife sculptors Henry Hudson Kitson and Theodora Alice Ruggles Kitson.
Milmore, O'Reilly and Collins were all born in 1844, the year before Ireland's five-year famine (1845-49) erupted and devastated the island, causing more than one million people to flee the island. Milmore and Collins each arrived in Boston as young boys with their widowed mothers and siblings, while O'Reilly arrived at age 25 after a daring escape from a British penal colony in Australia. All three men, individually and collectively, played consequential roles in the transformation of Boston in the later half of the 19th century. Their influence is still present today.
Martin Milmore (1844-1883) came to Boston in 1851 at age 7, and became known as the Boy Sculptor because of his artistic genius. As a teenager he quickly excelled in a variety of classical, mortuary and Civil War statues. His most famous works are the Soldiers and Sailors Monument on Boston Common and the American Sphinx at Mount Auburn Cemetery. He died at age 38, and stipulated in his will that a memorial be erected to his brothers Joseph and James, talented stonecutters in their own right who assisted their brother.
The Milmore Memorial commission was awarded to sculptor Daniel C. French. Called 'Death and the Sculptor,' the statue depicts an angel of death, solemn yet tender, gently arresting the hand of a young sculptor who is engaged with his chisel, telling him that his time has come to an end. French finished the memorial in 1889 and it was unveiled without fanfare in August 1893. It is located at the entrance to Forest Hills Cemetery in Jamaica Plain, where the Milmore brothers and their mother Sarah are buried.
John Boyle O''Reilly (1844-1890) was considered one of the most extraordinary men of his generation. Unfairly sentenced to life imprisonment in western Australia by the British in 1868, he escaped on a New Bedford whaling ship and made his way to Boston, where he quickly excelled as a journalist, poet, orator and advocate for disadvantaged groups including Irish, Blacks, Native Americans, Jews and Chinese. He was also an avid sportsman and a founder of the Boston Athletic Association. He died suddenly at age 46.
The O'Reilly Memorial was funded by donations from his friends and admirers, and was also commissioned to French. It features a bust of O'Reilly, set against a Celtic design stone. The back of the memorial has bronze allegorical figures of Erin, flanked by Poetry and Patriotism. It was unveiled on June 20, 1896, and attended by his wife and four daughters, as well as US Vice President Adlai Stevenson and thousands of citizens. It is located in Boston's Fens at the intersection of Boylston and Fenway Streets.
Patrick A. Collins (1844-1906) arrived in Boston at age 4, with is widowed mother and sister. They lived through the harrowing 1850s, when their Catholic Church in Chelsea was attached by a mob of anti-immigrant, anti-Catholic bigots. Collins quit school at age 10 and worked as a fish monger, a delivery boy and upholster, but later returned to school and got a law degree from Harvard. He was elected to public office in 1870s and held various positions, including State Senator, US Congressman, US Ambassador to England, and mayor of Boston. He died suddenly in September, 1906 while mayor.
The Collins Memorial was also funded by public donations and was awarded to sculptors Henry and Theo Kitson. The memorial contains a 15 foot high granite shaft, surmounted by a bust of Collins. On the west side of the shaft is a figure of Erin resting on a harp, symbolizing Ireland, Collins' birthplace. On the east side is the allegorical figure of Columbia, representing the United States, Collins' adopted land. Unveiled on November 2, 1808, the memorial is on Commonwealth Avenue Mall between Clarendon and Dartmouth Streets.
Research + Text, Michael Quinlin
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