Irish Boston History & Heritage

"Those who looked for a lot of verbal fireworks" at the recent Sinn Fein convention in Dublin "must have been disappointed," according to a  Boston Globe  story by James T. Sullivan on November 18, 1917. "Moderation prevailed, but the delegates insisted on letting the world know they were firm upon the platform of independence," wrote the Globe. Eamon deValera was elected President of Sinn Fein, and gave the principle address: "We are asserting to the world that  Ireland  is a Nation, and  Ireland  has never yet agreed to become a subject Nation or part of the  British Empire .  The people of Ireland were kept from expressing that view simply by the naked sword of England, but England pretended that it was not by the sword, but by the goodwill of the people of Ireland that she was there, which was false.   Ireland ’s aim was freedom. “Those men (who fought for  Ireland ) felt they were morally justified in doing that.  ...

Photo Courtesy of Jamaica Plain Historical Society   James Michael Curley , the larger-than-life political figure who dominated Boston and Massachusetts politics for half a century, died on November 12, 1958, fifty-nine years ago today.   Over 100,000 people passed by his coffin at the Hall of Flags in the Massachusetts State House, according to a story in The Boston Globe .  “The rich and the humble, Democrats and Republicans, bared the depth of their tribune in whispered prayers and unrestrained tears,” wrote the Globe . Then a final process drove Curley's body through the streets of Boston and then to Holy Cross Cathedral in the South End, where his son, Reverend Francis S. Curley, S.J., celebrated mass along with Richard Cardinal Cushing of South Boston .   Curley is buried the Old Calvary Cemetery in Boston .  Born on November 20, 1874 on Northampton Street in Roxbury, Curley's political career was unparalleled....