Telling our stories – that’s the idea

Ed Forry
By Ed Forry
November 7, 2014

If you are Irish and Boston-bred, the annual Boston Irish Honors luncheon hosted by the BIR can truly be said to be a “feel-good” event in the annual autumn calendar.

The idea we had when the honors was first conceived was to search out and tell the stories of families and individuals whose lives can be described as exemplary – that is, sterling examples of what it means to have been brought up in Irish homes from among our common ancestral community.

Reconnecting, and the joys of memory

By Bill O'Donnell
November 7, 2014
Bill O'Donnell

 Prior to our first visit to Ireland in years last month, I decided to formulate a plan of engagement, or in so many words, how to meet old friends, see familiar places, and experience Ireland north and south as we knew it, and how to do that while giving a nod to my acute osteoarthritis and the constraining limits to my mobility. I could only walk short distances and could not stand for more than a few minutes. A far cry from my three- and four-hour history walks through Dublin, Belfast, and other place in earlier years. I obviously needed a plan.

A fresh coat of paint for Dorchester’s landmark tank

By Bill Forry
November 7, 2014

A team of union painters have just completed a four-month project to re-paint the National Grid gas tank on Dorchester Bay. The workers for the John W. Egan company — all members of the Painters District Council 35 based in Roslindale— touched up fading swatches of Corita Kent’s iconic rainbow design, which remains the largest copy-written piece of art in the world.

All eyes on pendinag sale of Boston Globe property

By Bill Forry
November 7, 2014

Mayor Martin Walsh hopes that the sale of the massive Boston Globe property on Morrissey Boulevard will result in a new mixed-use development that will follow guidelines laid out by a city-led task force four years ago.

“Whatever happens with the Globe is really going to be the catalyst for that whole corridor,” Walsh told the Reporter in an interview last week. “If it is tasteful and done right, mixed-use on that site would be important with a component of housing and a component of economic development, whether it’s an office building or retail park.”

Boston Irish Honorees hailed

By BIR News Room
November 7, 2014

An enthusiastic audience of 400 business and civic leaders and members of our city’s Irish social and cultural organizations gathered on Oct. 24 in the main ballroom of Boston’s Seaport Hotel for the Boston Irish Reporter’s fifth annual Boston Irish Honors luncheon.

This year’s honorees are Boston Mayor Martin J Walsh of Dorchester, Babson College vice president Katherine Craven of Brookline, and the Burke family – Jacquelyn, John, Paul, Dennis and Michael – all born and raised in South Boston.

US appoints Gary Hart as envoy to UK /Northern Ireland

By Paul Galvin, Special to the Reporter
October 23, 2014
Paul Galvin, Special to the Reporter

Former US Senator Gary Hart: Named Peace Envoy to Northern Ireland.Former US Senator Gary Hart: Named Peace Envoy to Northern Ireland.Former US Senator Gary Hart, 77, has been appointed by the Secretary of State John Kerry to serve as Peace Envoy to Northern Ireland. Hart will be tasked with helping major UK and Irish parties restore the endangered 1998 US-brokered Peace Agreement in Northern Ireland that ended more than 25 years of warfare.

The news of the appointment was first reported by Irish Central. Secretary of State John Kerry confirmed the appointment on Wednesday.

“I’ve asked Senator Hart to support the parties in Northern Ireland as they enter a new round of talks to achieve a lasting peace,” said Secretary Kerry said in a statement. “We welcome these new talks, supported by the United Kingdom and Ireland. Senator Hart has my confidence and trust.

100 Years Ago This Week: The Wedding of Joseph P. Kennedy and Rose F. Fitzgerald

By Patrick E. O’Connor
October 8, 2014
Patrick E. O’Connor

The Kennedys on their wedding day, Oct. 7, 1914The Kennedys on their wedding day, Oct. 7, 1914A century ago this week, most Boston newspapers of the day reported on page one of the wedding of Rose F. Fitzgerald, daughter of ex-Mayor John F. Fitzgerald to Joseph P. Kennedy. The ceremony took place on Wednesday morning, October 7, 1914 with Cardinal O’Connell officiating in the chapel of his residence at 25 Granby Street in the Kenmore Square section of Boston.

Both parents of the couple witnessed the ceremony. Ms. Agnes Fitzgerald served as maid of honor for the bride, 24 at the time and another sister, Eunice looked on. Serving as best man for the groom was Joseph Donovan, a close friend and Harvard classmate. Following the ceremony, the couple posed for photos for newsmen who gathered outside the Cardinal’s residence. The couple smiled heartily for the occasion and then returned to the Fitzgerald family home at Welles Avenue in Dorchester for a reception.

The story of the romance of the couple was well told in the bride’s autobiography ‘Times To Remember’, published in 1974. The two first met at Old Orchard Beach in Maine, vacationing as children. They met again as teenagers and romance quickly blossomed into dating and getting engaged a year before the wedding. Upon getting engaged, the couple prepared for their new life. The groom purchased the wood frame home at 83 Beales Street in Brookline a month before the wedding. Here they returned to from a honeymoon of two weeks at White Sulfphur Springs in Virginia.

12th BCMfest gathering impressive lineup for Jan. 9-11 production

By BIR News Room
October 3, 2014

Boasting a line-up of familiar favorites, new faces and sounds, and creative collaborations, BCMFest (Boston’s Celtic Music Fest), presented by Passim, will once again warm up the winter in celebration of the Boston area’s abundance of Irish, Scottish, Cape Breton, and other Celtic-related music and dance traditions.

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