Irish Boston History & Heritage

The Boston Irish Tourism Association (BITA) is raffling off free pairs of tickets to see Scottish comedian Billy Connolly at Citi Performing Arts Center Shubert Theatre in Boston on Friday, May 7, at 8:00 p.m. To enter the contest, click here . Plus, BITA is offering a $15 discount on purchasing tickets to the show!  All you have to do is enter the word IRISH in the promo code box and you'll receive the discount.  The outrageously funny Scotsman is also a popular actor, and stars in the cult classic Boston movie, Boondock Saints II .  And Connolly is staring with Jack Black in the new motion picture, Gulliver's Travels , coming out later this year.   The Shubert Theatre is at 270 Tremont Street in Boston's theatre district.  For a full list of upcoming shows at Citi Performing Arts Center, click here . Posted by IrishBoston.org

Edward W. Forry, publisher of the Boston Irish Reporter and several other community newspapers in Boston, is recepient of the 2010 Gold Medal Award presented annually by the Eire Society of Boston . Forry, a Dorchester resident who supports a variety of Irish and civic causes, receives the award at the Society's annual dinner on Friday, April 30, 2010, at the Omni Parker House in Boston.  Tickets to the event are $100 per person. Formed in 1937, the Eire Society of Boston is one of the leading supporters of Irish cultural expression in New England.   The Gold Medal award is granted to recepients who have dedicated themselves to the study and preservation of Irish arts or to the betterment of Ireland itself.  Past recepients have included John F. Kennedy, filmaker John Ford, and architect Charles Maginnis. For details on more Irish cultural events in Massachusetts year round, visit IrishBoston.org

Travel writer Christopher Klein , author of The Die-Hard Sports Fan’s Guide to Boston, is giving a lecture today at the Boston Public Library in Copley Square.    The lecture begins at 6:30 in the Orientation Room and is free to the public. Klein will speak about Boston ’s legendary status as a sports-crazy town and   some of Boston ’s great sporting figures.   He’ll answer questions from the audience and sign copies of his book. In a recent article, Klein wrote, “Being a die-hard sports fan in Boston is about joy, it’s about heartbreak, it’s about honoring the traditions of the past, and it’s about unbreakable bonds with our families and our community. In a sense, it’s an experience of the faithful.” The Die-Hard Sports Fans Guide to Boston is published by Union Park Press , a local publisher specializing in the arts, history and culture of Boston and New England. 

( Photo courtesy of Irish Music Center , Boston College ) Excerpt from Irish Boston: A Lively Look at Boston's Colorful Irish Past : "When Irish tenor John McCormack burst onto the music scene in the early 1900s, the Boston Irish rejoiced.  Here at last was a worthy purveyor of the ancient melodies of Ireland, and he could also sing opera!  " The Republic newspaper - published in Boston by John "Honey Fitz" FitzGerald - noted McCormack's "superb presence, magnetic personality and rare voice," hailing him as "about as potent an influence for the conservation of what is distinctly Irish...as any that has appeared in our time." (March 26, 1910).  "McCormack made his first Boston appearance on April 2, 1910, performing at the Boston Theatre in the Manhattan Company's production of La Traviata .  "The following year he made his debut at Boston Symphony Hall , one of the great concert venues of the world.  Between 1911 and 1...

Cape Cod's singing sensation Siobhan Mangus is one of the final contestants on the hit television show, American Idol , now in its ninth season. The Marsten Mills native -- who works as an apprentice glassblower and fronts a local rock band - comes from a musical family and honed her craft doing musicials at Barnstable High School. She credits her parents with giving her a love of music. The Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce has been spreading the word throughout the Cape and beyond to vote for Siobhan each week, distributing free posters and sending out messages on Facebook and Twitter . The Irish-American singer was also profiled in the March issue of Travel and Culture Guide published by the Boston Irish Tourism Association.

The Boston Irish Tourism Association is giving away a pair of tickets to see musicial maestro  Elvis Costello , who is coming to Boston's Orpheum Theatre on April 20 with his stellar country-western band, the Sugarcanes. Since the 1970s, the British-born Costello (aka Declan McManus) has mastered a variety of musical genres, starting with pop, rock, blues and country.  His latest album, Secrets, Profance and Sugarcane , features some of the best musicians in Nashville. Costello is also the host of the popular musical show, The Spectacle on the Sundance Channel.   To enter the contest for free tix, just click here .  The winner will be announced on Friday, April 16, 2010. You can also purchase tickets to the contest through Live Nation. For a full list of upcoming concerts in Massachusetts, visit IrishMassachusetts .