Some two dozen members of the Charitable Irish Society gathered for lunch at the Harvard Club of Boston on Mon., June 25, at an appreciation luncheon for outgoing Society president Christopher Duggan and his assistant, Hilda Landry.
Incoming society present Carlton LaPorte joined with other board members and society supporters to honor Duggan and Landry for what he described as the “inestimable contributions they have both made and continue to make to the Charitable Irish society.
"Chris Duggan is an attorney with a national reputation, and he has served as our president for four years. He has given of himself- his time, his resources, and his energy- and has increased the effectiveness of our organization. There is nobody I know that has done more for this organization than Chris Duggan,” Laporte said.
Duggan has been known for his “love of poetry,” Laporte added as he presented the outgoing president with a bust of William Butler Yeats.
In brief remarks, Duggan saluted his assistant, saying, “Nothing happens in my life- nothing- without the efforts of Hilda Landry.”
The Charitable Irish Society, started in 1737 in Boston by Irish immigrants was formed to assist other newly arrived Irish immigrants in settling in and assimilating into a new city and new country. It is the oldest Irish society in both Americas and has had a rich history for over two and a half centuries.