Boston's Irish Heritage Trail: 300 Years of History and Heritage

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Boston - America's Walking City - famous for its Freedom Trail, Black Heritage Trail and Women's Trail - has its very own Irish Heritage Trail.

The Boston Irish Heritage Trail was created in 1994 by Michael and Colette Quinlin as a way for visitors and residents alike to appreciate Boston history as seen through Irish eyes.  It was first published in the book, Guide to the New England Irish. 

In 2000 the Trail project went online with the launch of IrishHeritageTrail.com/boston/, a collection of twenty sites, starting at the Rose Kennedy Garden at Boston's waterfront and ending up at Fenway Park, which was built by Irish immigrant Charles Logue in 1912.  The Trail includes colonial landmarks like the 18th century Old Granary Burial Ground as well as recent sites like the Irish Famine Memorial park, unveiled in 1998.

The online Irish Heritage Trail is maintained by the Boston Irish Tourism Association.

There is also a Boston neighorhood section with twenty additional landmarks in neighborhoods like South Boston, Charlestown and Jamaica Plain, as well as surrouding cities and towns like Brookline and Cambridge.

And plans are underway to create a statewide version that includes Irish memorials, burial groups and other public landmarks across the state.

Visitors can pick up a free copy of the Boston Irish Heritage Trail map at visitor centers on Boston Common and at the Prudential Center, which is operated by the Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau.

You can order a copy of the Irish Heritage Trail by mail, with includes two copies of the map along with educational materials on Boston Irish history, by clicking here.

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