Irish Boston History & Heritage

On October 14, 1869, the Town of Woburn MA dedicated its Civil War Soldiers Monument in the center of town, complete "with appropriate and imposing ceremonies," including some 1,600 school children marching in a procession, led by Governor William Clafin and other dignitaries, military heroes, town officials, fire departments and temperance associations. The bronze figure was created by 25 year old Irish-born sculptor Martin Milmore, who was quickly gaining faming as a young artist for his series of Civil War statues and monument, as well as three classical figures for the prestigious Massachusetts Horticultural Society Building on Tremont Street. Prior to the unveiling, the Boston Evening Transcript described the monument: "The statue is in bronze, and is designed and moulded be Martin Milmore. It is eight feet high, and represented a soldier standing at ease. It is considered one of the best specimens of a soldier yet cast in bronze. The granite has been elegantly ...

Many people wonder why the  Boston Celtics  wear shamrocks on their green uniforms and have a giant leprechaun smoking a cigar as their team logo. And why is the team mascot a guy named Lucky who looks like he stepped out of a box of Lucky Charms? According to the Boston Celtic’s official web site, the name came about in 1946 when owner Walter Brown started the team. He and his public relations guy, Howie McHugh, were throwing out potential nicknames, including the Whirlwinds, Unicorns and Olympics. It was Brown who had the epiphany, saying, “Wait, I’ve got it – the Celtics. The name has a great basketball tradition from the old Original Celtics in New York (1920s). And Boston is full of Irishman. We’ll put them in green uniforms and call them the Boston Celtics.” Red Auerbach , the now legendary coach of the early Celtics, then commissioned his brother Zang, a graphic designer in the newspaper business, to come up with the famous Celtics logo in the early 1950s. The logo mana...

The USS Constitution, lovingly referred to as 'Old Ironsides,' returned to Boston on the morning of September 21, 1897, a month before the 100th anniversary of her launch on October 21, 1797. The Boston Globe reported that the ship reached the Boston Lighthouse at 6:30 a.m., and "by 8:30 a.m. the Constitution was at her berth at the navy yard, where she was docked with some difficulty owing to the wind, which was blowing off the pier." The Globe continued, "Now that the Constitution is at the navy yard, the public may see all of her they care to, as she will be open to visitors after today. Already there are hundreds ready to visit her from the immediate vicinity of the navy yard. No ship ever came into port that aroused so much patriotic interest as she. Every schoolboy knows her history." The legendary ship's 83-year career included 33 captures during the War of 1812 and voyages around the world, according to historian Margherita Desy  of the USS Const...

Guide to the Boston Irish,  an innovative compendium of all things Irish in greater Boston, was first published in summer 1985 by Quinlin Campbell Publishers, a Boston-based company that had been importing books from Ireland since 1979.   The 88 page book contained descriptions and contact information for more than 250 Irish cultural and heritage groups as well as musicians and dancers, educational classes and Irish library collections, pubs and restaurants, gift shops and travel agencies, parades and festivals, sports and language groups, and travel contacts for visiting Ireland.  In addition to greater Boston, the Guide also had listings for Cape Cod and Rhode Island, Western Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire. It was sold in bookstores and retail shops, and used as a directory of the area's large Irish and Irish-American community.  Boston Mayor Raymond L. Flynn wrote the book's Introduction, and called it "an invaluable resource for those who want to learn ...

One of the most accomplished Irish-Americans of New England's colonial era was James Sullivan (1744-1808), a heralded lawyer, orator and statesman, who served as both Attorney General, from 1790 to 1807 and was Governor of Massachusetts for two one-year terms in 1807 and 1808. Born in Berwick, Maine on April 22, 1744, James was the fourth of five sons born to Owen Sullivan of Limerick and Margery Browne of Cork, who both indentured servants from Ireland. James and his brothers were home-schooled by their father, who had been a teacher in Ireland and spoke numerous languages. Sullivan worked for and studied law in his brother’s legal firm, and later served as a justice for the Massachusetts Supreme Court from 1776 to 1782, as well as serving as a probate judge for Suffolk County from 1788 to 1790. According to the National Governors Association , Sullivan entered into a political career in 1774, serving as a member of the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts, a position he held un...

Two months after Jeremiah O'Brien committed the "first act of colonial piracy" by capturing the British cutter Margaretta on June 12, 1775 in Machias Bay, Maine,  the Massachusetts House of Representatives  appointed O'Brien as "Commander of the armed schooner Diligent and the sloop Machias Liberty , now lying in the harbor of Machias, fixed for the purpose of guarding the seacoast," according to records at the Massachusetts Archives . O'Brien, along with his four brothers and fellow townsmen, had led an attack on the British cutter  Margaretta  on June 12, 1775 in  Machias , Maine , defeating the British crew and taking its munitions as bounty.  Maine was part of the Massachusetts Colony until 1820.  The Massachusetts House of Representatives—functioning as a wartime legislature known as the Provincial Congress—met in Watertown, Massachusetts on August 23, 1775 and agreed to pay O'Brien "the sum of 160 pounds lawful money in this colony, for...