James Michael Curley Winds Up 50 Year Career in Politics by Unveiling John Barry Plaque on Boston Common

In one of his final acts as mayor of Boston, James Michael Curley dedicated a bronze memorial on Boston Common to Revolutionary War hero Commodore John Barry, on Sunday, October 16, 1949. He was joined at the unveiling by Joseph Shields, Irish consul; John E. Hurley, state treasurer; Captain C. E. Kelly of the U.s.Navy; and John J. Foley, president of the Central Council of Irish County Clubs. Barry, a naval hero of the Revolutionary War, was born in Tacumshane, County Wexford in 1745, and was a long-standing favorite historical figure of Irish-Americans across the United States. The idea for the Barry memorial in Boston was first announced by the Central Council of Irish County Clubs on September 23, 1945, at the city’s annual Barry Day banquet at the Copley Plaza Hotel commemorating the bicentennary of Barry’s birth in Wexford. Four years later, at the Charitable Irish Society annual dinner on March 17, 1949, Mayor James Michael Curley vowed to build a memorial to Barry in ...