Irish Boston History & Heritage

 

Paul Revere Statue, courtesy of  Digital Commonwealth On September 22, 1940, the bronze statue of Paul Revere was unveiled at the Paul Revere Mall on Hanover Street in Boston's North End. A number of Revere's ancestors and descendants were present at the unveiling, along with many North Enders who returned to their neighborhood for the occasion. Some 10,000 people attended. Orator and Boston City Councillor Henry L. Shattuck gave a stirring patriotic tribute on the eve of World War II, telling the audience, "It is well we should honor and celebrate the achievements of Paul Revere and of our other heroes. It is just and fitting that we should sing their praises and take pride in their deeds. But that is not enough. These patriots did not live for their country and die for their country in order that we might live softly. They looked to us, their descendants, to pick up and carry on the of liberty." Thomas Cass Bronze Plaque, courtesy of IrishBoston.org   In addition t...

Photo couresty of NPS / Claire Hassler A bronze statue in Washington, DC honoring Robert Emmet was created in 1916 by Irish sculptor Jerome Connor (1874–1943), who used Emmet's own desk mask to model the face.  Emmet was an Irish nationalist and rebel who was hanged and beheaded at age 25 on September 20, 1803 on Thomas Street in Dublin, Ireland, after being convicted of high treason by the British government. Connor made three original castings of the Emmet statue.  The first casting was unveiled in June 28, 1917, at the main rotunda of the Smithsonian national museum in Washington DC.  US President Woodrow Wilson and his wife attended the event, along with and numerous dignitaries from the United States and Ireland and leaders of the Irish-American community. US Supreme Court Chief Justice Edward Douglass White accepted the statue on behalf of the American people.  "About the statue will be draped the Stars and Stripes, and on the base will rest the Gaelic flag, so...

   On September 12, 1953, Jacqueline Lee Bouvier and US Senator John F. Kennedy from Massachusetts were married at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Newport, RI. More than eight hundred guests attended the wedding. The bride's stepfather, Hugh D. Auchincloss, walked her up the aisle. The ceremony was performed by Boston's Archbishop Richard Cushing , a friend of the Kennedy family, and he was assisted by four other priests, including the former president of Notre Dame and the head of the Christopher Society. Before the mass, a special blessing from Pope Pius XII was read, according to the John F. Kennedy Library archives. Tenor soloist Luigi Vena from Boston sang Gounod’s Ave Maria. The reception was held on the terrace of the 300 acre Auchincloss oceanfront estate, Hammersmith Farm, for more than 1,200 guests. The wedding cake, four feet tall, was ordered by Joseph P. Kennedy.  Meyer Davis and his orchestra played at the reception under a huge canopy.  St. Mary’s Chur...

  Photo Courtesy of National Museum of the U.S. Navy Photograph Collection In 1956, the heroic-sized statue of Commodore John Barry,"Father of the American Navy,"designed by American sculptor Wheeler Williams of Madison, CT was cast at the T.F. McCann & Sons Foundry in Somerville, MA before being shipped to Wexford, Ireland, where Barry was born in 1745. The statue was a gift of the people of the United States to the people of Ireland. US Congressman and Speaker of the House John McCormack from South Boston introduced the idea of selecting John Barry as the most suitable Irish-born hero in the American Revolution. He instructed Congressman John Rooney of Brooklyn, NY, to introduce a resolution for $30,000 for the memorial. Williams was selected by the American Battle Memorials Commission and President Harry S. Truman convened a national John Barry Commission, which included Robert Fitzgerald from Milton, MA. Williams began making sketches in 1954, and after the commission...

In fall 1926, Ellen O'Byrne DeWitt (1875-1926), an Irish immigrant who ran a successful Irish music store and record company in New York City, opened a new store called E. O'Bryne Dewitt's Sons: House of Irish Music, at 51 Warren Street in Roxbury. Located right in the heart of Dudley Square, the new shop was run by her son Justus O'Byrne DeWitt (1899-1983). The Boston store was an extension of a successful Irish music company in New York City that had flourished for a quarter century. It was run by Ellen and her husband, Dutch immigrant Justus DeWitt. Together they had run a small travel company for several years before Ellen decided to open the small Irish music shop at 1398 Third Avenue near 79th Street. With the swift rise of the recording industry in the early 20th century, Ellen was among the first to recognize that the burgeoning Irish immigrant population would always be looking out for music from back home, and she convinced several record companies su...