Irish Boston History & Heritage

St. Stephen's Church, image courtesy of Digital Commonwealth The next time you are exploring landmarks along the Boston Irish Heritage Trail , take a walk over to the North End and visit Saint Stephen's Church, 401 Hanover Street, in the heart of the city's Italian neighborhood. Originally designed in 1802 as a Congregational Church by famed architect Charles Bulfinch, St. Stephen’s became a Catholic Church in 1862, after Bishop John Fitzpatrick purchased the church to accommodate growing numbers of Irish immigrants settling Boston and this neighborhood in particular. Like nearby St. John the Baptist Church, which St Stephen's replaced, this "would not simply be another parish church, it would be a free church without pew rents," according to Boston Archdiocese archivist Thomas Lester . On the walls outside of St. Stephen's Church are two plaques that speak to a range of experience of Irish women in Boston over two centuries.  The first plaque honors ...

      Patrick Carr was the last man shot at the Boston Massacre on March 5, 1770, the last to die on March 14, and the last to be buried at the Old Granary Burying Ground on St. Patrick's Day, March 17.  The other four victims were Crispus Attucks, Samuel Maverick, James Caldwell and Samuel Gray. Carr was also the only Irish Catholic immigrant among the five victims. His very presence in Boston had to have been circumspect, because of the longstanding prejudice that Bostonians had against Catholics that dated back to the first Puritans who arrived here in 1630.  Religious liberty was not a strong suit of 18th century Massachusetts, and Catholics were despised more than any other religious group.   There are several anti-Catholic themes in the Boston Massacre and subsequent trial. Attorney John Adams , who defended the accused soldiers of firing into the crowd at the famous trial, characterized the Bostonians that night as a mob, stating in court,...

I rish poet, lyricist and musician Thomas Moore, who wrote compelling lyrics to many of Ireland's ancient melodies, died on this day of February 25, 1852.  His ten-volume collection of  Moore's Melodies , published between 1808 and 1834, helped revitalize interest in Irish music that was in danger of being marginalized and forgotten.    For a full story on Moore's achievements, read  Ireland's Minstrel Boy Gets His Encore  in the Irish Echo. In Boston, Moore's Melodies quickly found their way into the city's musical community; with several of his songs published as early as 1811.  His songs, particularly  Last Rose of Summer , were performed as part of Boston's musical repertoire by famous visiting performers like singer  Jenny Lind  and violinist  Ole Bull .   Upon learning of his death in 1852,  Boston Pilot  publisher Patrick Donahoe and other leaders formed a Thomas Moore Club to perpetuate his music.  In 186...

  Eunice Kennedy, a leader in the field of intellectual disability, was born at the Kennedy family home on Abbotsford Road in Brookline, MA on July 20, 1921. She was the fifth child of Rose and Joseph Kennedy’s nine children and their third daughter. Read full biography of Eunice Kennedy Shriver and watch the video, Eunice Kennedy Shriver 100: A Legacy of Inclusion , produced on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of her birth by the National Park Service and Brookline Interactive Group. Eunice began her career as a social worker for women prisoners and juvenile offenders. In 1957 she headed up the Joseph P. Kennedy Foundation, dedicated to improving the way society deals with mental retardation. Her camp for children and adults with intellectual disabilities inspired her to create the Special Olympics, which spread to 150+ countries. In 1984, President Ronald Reagan presented Eunice with the Medal of Honor for her life's work. Read about the Special Olympics . John, Jean and Eu...

  During the American Revolution, Irish and Scots-Irish immigrants from New England played a pivotal role in helping to win the Revolutionary War. The Boston Irish Heritage Trail gives a glimpse of these Revolutionary Irish heroes through landmarks on Boston Common, the Massachusetts State House, Granary Burying Ground, Copley Square Park, Bunker Hill Monument and Dorchester Heights. Many of these landmarks intersect with Boston's Freedom Trail, a unique collection of museums, churches, meeting houses, burying grounds, parks, a ship, and historic markers that tell the story of the American Revolution and beyond. These are the Revolutionary Irish sites along the Irish Heritage Trail. Boston Common A memorial plaque to Commodore John Barry was unveiled along Tremont Street in December, 1949 by Mayor James Michael Curley. Barry was a naval hero in the Revolutionary War. He was commander of the USS Lexington and later chosen by George Washington to create the first U.S. Navy. Barr...

Roxbury Soldier at Forest Hills Cemetery A notice in the Boston Evening Transcript, dated February 18, 1869, reported that Martin Milmore 's Roxbury Soldier bronze statue was on temporary display at Boston City Hall on School Street, across from the statue of Ben Franklin. The piece had just been cast at Ames Works in Chicopee, MA and had been commissioned by the Town of Roxbury for placement in Forest Hills Cemetery. "It deservedly attracts much attention from the throngs of people who are constantly passing through that thoroughfare," BET reported.  Clay Model of Roxbury Soldier in Milmore's Studio on Tremont Street Image Courtesy of Library of Congres s The Town of Roxbury commissioned the statue which it "purchased a lot in the Forest Hills Cemetery upon recovering the bodies of 8 local soldiers from the Antietam Battlefield in 1862," according to a National Portrait Galley exhibit in 2006.  "We have spoken heretofore of this fine work when in the c...