Bringing history to life with a flair for the dramatic

By R.J. Donovan, Special to the BIR
October 3, 2017
R.J. Donovan, Special to the BIR

Evan O’Brien is a man steeped in history. As creative director of the award-winning Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum, he manages the creation and maintenance of all exhibits, programming, tour scripting and special events for the museum. He also oversees the direction and hiring of all the actors and interpreters who bring the unique museum experience to life.

Putting rebel monuments in perspective

By James Dolan, Special to the BIR
October 3, 2017
James Dolan, Special to the BIR

I have mixed feelings about the movement to eliminate Confederate monuments. How do we preserve our history without denying it? Can we honor the often gallant yet imperfect, misguided souls who believed they were right. While it’s true that the leaders of the rebellion were traitors and slaveholders, the rank-and-file troops for the most part owned no slaves and were responding to the “patriotic” appeal of the Southern power structure to protect their states from a Northern invasion.

God bless mighty West Cork

By Joe Leary, Special to the BIR
October 3, 2017
Joe Leary, Special to the BIR

Every county in Ireland has its dedicated followers. For me, the western part of Co. Cork is special. Not only have I spent a great deal of time there, but I can also trace my family roots to Inchigeelagh and Tracton Abbey, both in West Cork. My great-grandfather immigrated from Inchigeelagh.

Taking in Dublin, appreciating Vermeer

Ed Forry
By Ed Forry
October 3, 2017

It was a ten-day sojourn to Ireland last month, taking the late evening Aer Lingus flight out of Logan on Friday night, just as Labor Day weekend began. The plane arrived at Dublin Airport at 9 on Saturday morning, the first stop on a journey that would wind its way down the southeast coast of the island, spending one or two nights in Wicklow, Wexford, Cork, and Galway, and seeing the sights in Waterford, Tipperary, and Clare. It was a memorable vacation, and I was delighted to visit parts of the country that for me had remained unexplored.

BC High senior helped resuscitate man who had OD’d at Town Field

By Dan Sheehan
October 3, 2017
Dan Sheehan

Students at Dorchester’s Boston College High School are taught early on that they should strive to “be an upstander, not a bystander.” Ryan McWade, a senior at the Jesuit school, took that core tenet to heart last month when, acting quickly and boldly, he helped to save the life of a man who was overdosing from an opioid at Town Field in Dorchester.

Bringing family histories to life in the present

By Maureen Forry-Sorrell
October 3, 2017
Maureen Forry-Sorrell

Last month, the Maine Irish Gaeltacht DNA project joined up with the Irish Cultural Center of New England (ICCNE) for a workshop focusing on DNA testing and the ways in which it can connect us all with our past and our future. The information they shared with workshop participants offered a fascinating look at the study of geneaology and the wonderful ways that gene-based science can bring our history to life in the present.

‘IT HAD TO BE MADE’ Film depicts Hume’s path to Irish peace

By Daniel Sheehan, BIR Correspondent
October 1, 2017
Daniel Sheehan, BIR Correspondent

The filmmaker Maurice Fitzpatrick’s new documentary, “In the Name of Peace: John Hume in America,” will be screened at the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum in Dorchester at a free forum on Tues., Oct. 10. The showing will be followed by a discussion between Fitzpatrick and former US Sen. George Mitchell, who served as the chairman of the peace talks that led to the Good Friday Accord of 1998. The exchange will be moderated by the Boston Globe’s Kevin Cullen.

IIIC will salute three with Solas Awards at annual gala on Oct. 12

By Staff report
October 1, 2017
Staff report

The Irish International Immigration Centre has announced the details of our 2017 Solas Awards Gala. As the IIIC’s signature annual fundraising event, the gala honors the many ways immigrants contribute to our society, while supporting the immediate needs of those coming to our shores from across the globe.

Boston Irish Honors to hail five who make us all proud

By Staff report
October 1, 2017
Staff report

A beloved public servant, an exemplary Boston Irish family, and one of the city’s most respected journalists will be the honorees at this month’s Boston Irish Honors luncheon, the season’s premier celebration of Irish-American achievement in Massachusetts.
The 8th annual luncheon, which serves as an anniversary celebration for the Boston Irish Reporter, will be held at the Seaport Boston Hotel on Oct. 26. Some 400 top Boston business, civic, and political leaders will be on hand for the luncheon event, which begins at 11:30 a.m.

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