Irish Boston History & Heritage

Courtesy of Digital Commonwealth On this day in 1826, Boston celebrated the grand opening of the Faneuil Hall, commonly known as QuincyMarketplace . Located on the site that had long served as Boston 's public market, the three massive buildings dominated the harbor and were hailed as a sign of the city's prosperity and civic pride, according to Mass Moments, published by Mass Humanities.  The project was propelled by Boston Mayor Josiah Quincy , who initially faced resistance from local merchants and citizens who thought the project too costly.  But Quincy prevailed, and the new market was quickly referred to as Quincy Market. Writes Mass Moments, "At the grand opening, crowds gathered to hear the bell that would signify the opening of what one local merchant called "the market of all markets on the globe." According to one newspaper, the new market "was thronged from morning till night, and many visitors from other parts of the Union e...

John Boyle O'Reilly , the famous Irish rebel who lived in Boston from 1870 until his death, died suddenly at his home in Hull, Massachusetts on August 10, 1890. Born on June 28, 1844 in Dowth Castle along the River Boyne, O'Reilly was conscripted into the British Army as a young man.  He was later charged with sedition against the British Crown and sentenced to life imprisonment in an Australian penal colony.  O’Reilly made a daring escape aboard a New Bedford whaler,  Gazelle , in 1869, a feat that helped shape his legend by the time he landed in America.   Arriving in Boston in 1870, he spent the next 20 years reconciling the city's racial and ethnic factions who struggled against one another.  He became editor and then owner of  The Pilot ,  the leading Irish Catholic paper in America, using the paper as a bully pulpit to advance various causes. ...

Rockport Music presents the Nashville-based string band Della Mae at the Shalin Liu Performance Center in Rockport on Wednesday, August 15, 2018.   Tickets are available online .  Since forming in Boston in 2009, Della Mae was named IBMA’s Emerging Artists of the Year in 2013, GRAMMY Nominees in 2014 for their debut album on Rounder Records, named among Rolling Stone’s “10 bands to watch for in 2015.” The band has traveled with the US State Department to over 18 countries spreading peace and understanding through music.  Here is a schedule of upcoming concerts at the Shalin Liu Performance Center .  For year round details on Irish, Celtic and folk music in New England, visit IrishMassachusetts.com . 

Jeremiah O'Brien (1744-1818) created the "first act of Colonial piracy" in the Revolutionary War, when he, his four brothers and townsmen led an attack on the British cutter Margaretta on June 12, 1775 at Machias , Maine , defeating the ship and taking its munitions as bounty.  Maine was part of the Massachusetts Colony until 1820.  The town of Machias had apparently put up a Liberty Pole in town after hearing about the battle of Lexington in April 1775.  When the Margaretta sailed into the harbor, the captain warned the townspeople that the pole must come down, or the ship would fire upon the town. The townspeople voted to leave the  pole intact, and to instead capture the Margaretta . Two American ships, the Unity and the Falmouth Packet , were dispatched to fight the battle.  According to author Charles Lucey, "Fighting was furious," with both sides "determined to conquer or die."   The colonists under O'Brien "used axes a...