Explore Boston's new Revolutionary Irish Trail

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The Boston Irish Tourism Association (BITA) has just released a new Revolutionary Irish Trail, chronicling the role of the region’s Irish and Scots-Irish in the American Revolution through public landmarks, including monuments, statues and historic cemeteries as well as libraries, museums and genealogy centers.

The free map with descriptions is available in the spring issue of BITA’s  Travel & Culture magazine and also online, where it can be downloaded for self-guided walks. 


“The Irish and Scots-Irish in New England made an outsized contribution to the American Revolution, from generals Henry Knox and John Sullivan to naval heroes Jeremiah O’Brien and John Barry,” says Michael Quinlin, creator of the Rev Irish Trail.  “As our nation celebrates America 250 in 2026, it is fitting to cast a spotlight on these heroes who helped shape American history.”

The Rev Irish Trail includes 16 sites in downtown Boston and its neighborhoods,  as well as five historic plaques, and details on the Knox  Noble Train of Artillery.

In addition to colonial patriots, the Rev Irish Trail features local Boston Irish who remained loyal to the British during the Revolutionary War, such as famous portrait painter John Singleton Copley and his brother Henry Pelham.  There is also information on Irish regiments who were part of the British Army during that time, such as the infamous 29th Irish Regiment involved in the Boston Massacre in 1770.

The project was funded by a grant from Meet Boston and MA250.  Plans are underway to add new landmarks to the trail in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine. 

The Rev Irish Trail project benefited from input from the numerous groups, including: America 250, American Ancestors, Revolutionary Boston 250, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, Mass Historical Society, Boston Public Library, Massachusetts State Library, The Freedom Trail, Revolutionary Spaces, Boston National Historic Site, Charitable Irish Society, Boston Parks Department and the Museum of Fine Arts.

BITA is also expanding its Irish Heritage Trail, which was created in 1994 to chronicle 300+ years of Boston Irish history.  The expanded trail will include iconic landmarks such as the Swan Boats on the Public Garden, the Back Bay memorial to women’s advocate Kip Tiernan, the Edgar Allan Poe statue, the Sphinx Monument in Cambridge and the new Tom Brady statue at Gillette Stadium.  

Plans are also underway to create a touring map of South Boston landmarks pertaining to the Irish in South Boston.


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