Irish Massachusetts

  The  New York-based group,   Irish American Writers and Artists , has organized an academic panel at this year's American Literature Association Conference at Westin Copley Place in Boston's Back Bay. The panel takes place on Friday, May 23, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The discussion on "New York's Irish Immigrant Impact: Stories of heroes, villains and rockers ," is chaired by Independent Scholar Lori Cassels.  The four papers include: 1. “Payne-ful” Business from NYC to Charleston, my Irish family’s involvement in the slave trades,” Margaret Seidler, Independent Scholar. 2. “Irish Famine Immigrants who worked the Staten Island Marine Hospital and Quarantine Station,” Loretto Leary, Secretary, Ireland’s Hunger Museum of Fairfield. 3.“Catholic Boy: Locating Jim Carroll in Inwood,” Ben Nadler, Widener University. 4."From Wexford to Paradise Square on NYC''s Broadway: Larry Kirwan's Emigrant Literary Journey," Bill Nevins, Independent Scholar....

  Courtesy of National Park Service. Photo Credit: Procon Consulting (Ted Fiffy) Boston National Historical Park is in the midst of a $30+ million restoration of Dorchester Heights Monument atop Telegraph Hill in South Boston.  Funding for the project comes from the  Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) .  The restoration began in  September 2023  and is expected to be completed by March 2026, in time for the 250th anniversary of the famous episode at Dorchester Heights in March 1776.  That is when colonial troops pointed canons from Dorchester Heights at British ships in the harbor, forcing British troops to evacuate and effectively ending the 11-month Siege of Boston. According to Boston National Historical Park, "This current project is restoring the 115-foot-tall marble commemorative tower, which was designed by Peabody & Stearns architects of Boston in 1899 and constructed in 1901-1902. It is also replacing all hardscapes within the surrounding...