Irish Boston History & Heritage

Two months after Jeremiah O'Brien committed the "first act of colonial piracy" by capturing the British cutter Margaretta on June 12, 1775 in Machias Bay, Maine,  the Massachusetts House of Representatives  appointed O'Brien as "Commander of the armed schooner Diligent and the sloop Machias Liberty , now lying in the harbor of Machias, fixed for the purpose of guarding the seacoast," according to records at the Massachusetts Archives . O'Brien, along with his four brothers and fellow townsmen, had led an attack on the British cutter  Margaretta  on June 12, 1775 in  Machias , Maine , defeating the British crew and taking its munitions as bounty.  Maine was part of the Massachusetts Colony until 1820.  The Massachusetts House of Representatives—functioning as a wartime legislature known as the Provincial Congress—met in Watertown, Massachusetts on August 23, 1775 and agreed to pay O'Brien "the sum of 160 pounds lawful money in this colony, for...

  On April 21, 1986, city officials led by Boston Mayor Ray Flynn and Veterans Services Director Tom Lyons, along with Henry Lee of the Friends of the Public Garden and members of the Paget family, placed this plaque on the bridge crossing the lagoon on the  Public Garden , in memory of Charlestown native Second Lieutenant Michael Patrick Quinn, a US Marine who was killed in action in Vietnam on August 29,1969.  Quinn worked summers on the swan boats on the Public Garden lagoon.  He  graduated from Boston Latin School in 1964 and attended Holy Cross College in Worcester.  Read more about Lt. Quinn, who was awarded a Purple Heart, on the Wall of Faces .  The Michael Patrick Quinn plaque, along with the Swan Boats , are being added to Boston's Irish Heritage Trail , a collection of public landmarks that chronicle the Irish experience in Boston from the 17th century to the present.  

  Photo courtesy of patriots.com Congratulations to legendary quarterback Tom Brady, whose larger-than-life  bronze statue  was unveiled on August 8, 2025 at  Gillette Stadium  in  Foxborough, MA , where Brady led the  New England Patriots  to six Super Bowl titles and 17 division championships in his 20 years here. Brady attended the unveiling ceremony with his parents, Tom Brady, Sr. and  Galynn , sisters and three children, and they were joined by team owner  Robert K. Kraft , former teammates, and thousands of enthusiastic fans who came out to honor their football hero. Sculptor  Jeff Buccacio  working on the Tom Brady statue Sculptor Jeff Buccacio and his team of artisans and technicians spent more than 20,000 hours on the  Tom Brady project  as they sought to create “a timeless and iconic representation of a legendary player.”  Buccacio said the Patriots provided him with “a selection of photographs to use ...