Irish Boston History & Heritage

Senate President Stan Rosenberg Massachusetts State Senate President Stan Rosenberg and members of the senate presented a recitation of excerpts from native son President John F. Kennedy , presented in his City on a Hill speech, spoken on the eve of his inauguration as the 35th President of the United States, given at the House of Representatives Chamber. The recitation was created as part of the St. Patrick's Day festivites, and honors the centennial of President Kennedy's birthday of May 29, 1917, which is being celebrated this year by the John F. Kennedy Library and others throughout the Commonwealth. Find year round information on the Irish in Massachusetts at IrishMassachusetts.com . 

A group of Irish musicians, storytellers and comedians entertained the inmates at Charlestown Prison on March 15, 1918, according to a story in The Boston Globe. Among the performers was uilleann piper Shaun O'Nolan (1871-1941), a recording artist on Columbia Records and a well-known piper in the Boston area for many years. "Shaun O'Nolan, the Wicklow Piper, kept his audience in laughter for a full half-hour with his fund of Irish stories, sogs, wreading and Irish bagpipe selections." Other acts include a piano solo by Mrs. A.W. McMunn, the St. James Auartet, a reading by C.A. Birmingham of John Boyle O'Reilly 's poem, "Bohemia," and a monologue by Miss Katherine Hanley. Humorist Billy Troy "sang a solo and told stories in Scotch, Italian and Irish dialects." Find more about Boston Irish history at IrishHeritageTrail.com .

Statue of General Edward L. Logan Boston ’s Logan InternationalAirport was named for General Edward L. Logan (1875-1939), a first generation Irish-American, military leader, civic leader and municipal judge with family roots in Galway and South Boston .  Logan was the son of Lawrence Logan and Catherine O'Connor from Ballygar, County Galway, according to historian Michael J. Cummings .  The Logan family lived on East Broadway in South Boston.   Read a full profile of Edward L. Logan on IrishMassachusetts.com . The Logan statue is part of Boston's Irish Heritage Trail , a collection of public landmarks, memorials, buildings and statues that tell the story of the Boston Irish from the 1700s to the present.  Find year round information on Boston's Irish community at IrishBoston.org . 

In October, 1768, the British sent 4,000 troops to Boston after local citizens objected to a series of British taxes on the populace.  This only led to increased tensions between British authority and colonial Boston.  That tension escalated and came to a head in April 1775 during the Battles of Lexington and Concord, followed by the Battle of Bunker Hill in June 1775. General Henry Knox  played a key role in ending the British occupation of  Boston .   The 25 year old Bostonian hatched a plan to capture the cannons at Fort Ticonderoga in New York , wheel them 300 miles to   Boston .  His plan was to position the cannons atop Dorchester   Heights   in South Boston and aim them at the British fleet in   Boston   Harbor . General George Washington gave him the go-ahead, despite objections from his senior command, and Knox set off with a group of men and captured 59 canons in December, and dragged them across the frozen lan...

Boston Massacre Memorial on Boston Common The Boston Massacre took place on March 6,1770,  and is said to have sparked the American Revolution.  The episode took place when British troops fired into a crowd of Bostonians; four people were killed and a fifth  victim died a few days later.  The shooting came after a tense week of acrimony between Bostonians and the British soldiers, which included a fist fight in a local tavern, small skirmishes on the streets and taunting threats by both sides. There are several interesting Irish connections to the Boston Massacre: . The soldiers involved were from the 29th British regiment, led by Captain Thomas Preston.  The regiment was mostly Irish soldiers who had been conscripted, often against their will.  The names of the troops involved in the shooting were William Wemms, James Hartigan, William McCauley, Matthew Kilroy, William Warren, John Carroll and Hugh Montgomery. . It was Captain Preston who orde...