Ireland President Mary McAleese Spends Five Days in Massachusetts in May 2009, Visiting Holyoke, Worcester and Boston

On Sunday, May 24, 2009, Ireland's President Mary McAleese was the commencement speaker to the 172nd graduating class at Mt. Holyoke College in Holyoke, a small women's college in western Massachusetts. She spoke to 570 women graduates and an audience of 4,000 people.

Tus maith is Leath na hoibre, she told the graduates in Irish, meaning: a good start is half the work.

"Here at Mount Holyoke College you’ve got a good start. You’ve given your very best here. You’ve been tested. You've been challenged. You know yourself a lot better now.”

The Daily Hampshire Gazette reported, "she said there is plenty of work ahead — especially in the advancement of women who in most parts of the world are still regarded as second class and second best."

The announcement of President McAleese to address the graduating class was made by US Congressman Richard Neal, a trustee of the college and by Mount Holyoke College President Joanne Creighton, who said, “We are honored to have President McAleese as commencement speaker. In overcoming discrimination and adversity in Belfast and in rising to become a leader of the Irish people, she exemplifies all that we hope for in Mount Holyoke students: leadership and a commitment to purposeful engagement in the world."

The following day, May 25, President McAleese visited Worcester, in Central Massachusetts, stopping at City Hall and the Worcester Hibernian Cultural Centre, where she met people from the local Irish-American community. The All Saints Choir serenaded the president with the Irish national anthem sung in Irish, according to the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.

The Telegram & Gazette reported that President McAleese also laid a wreath at the Celtic Cross monument on the Front Street side of City Hall, where she was greeted by Lt. Gov. Timothy P. Murray. “It really is an incredible day for the city and all of the people of Irish descent to have the president come here and honor the city,” said Murray. “I think in particular the Celtic Cross reflects generations of Irish who sacrificed and helped build the city, but it also tells a story to immigrants today: You come here with a love of your new country and a love of your old and you can do great things.”

Lynn Daily Item

She ended her five-day visit to Massachusetts with three days in Boston, where she was greeted by Governor Deval Patrick, who presented her with a bust of President John F. Kennedy, Senate President Therese Murray and others. McAleese addressed the annual dinner of the Irish Immigrant Center, and paid a visit to the Irish Pastoral Centre in an event at Florian Hall in Dorchester.

McAleese first came to Boston in an official capacity as Ireland's President in October 1998, when she visited the new Irish Famine Memorial in downtown Boston.

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