Publisher's Notes

BY ED FORRY The New Year will bring some exciting new developments at Boston’s Irish Consulate. In an end-of-year interview just before Christmas, third year Consul General Fionnuala Quinlan said she plans a March program on Ireland’s literary legacy, and... Read more
The Royal Dublin Society (RDS) is a philanthropic organization on Merrion Road, located just a few blocks from the American Embassy in Ballsbridge, Dublin 4. Established in 1731 as “the Dublin Society” with a mission to support cultural and economic... Read more
The estimable Gerard Doherty, a Charlestown guy who went to Malden Catholic and Harvard College in the late 1940 and early 1950s, was elected a state representative in 1956 at the age of 28. While he was still at Harvard, Doherty was part of the Townie... Read more
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... Read more
A group of current and former South Boston folks who grew up in Old Harbor Village are planning a reunion at Florian Hall in Dorchester on Sun., Sept. 24, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. They will gather that afternoon, even as plans advance for a massive ... Read more
The year was 1989. A group of business and community leaders in Boston gathered to search for ways to help heal a racially divided community. Boston’s reputation was still reeling from years of contentious events brought about by the court-ordered busing... Read more
My niece and her family from Atlanta just returned after a whirlwind 12-day visit to Ireland. It was a first-ever visit to their ancestral homeland, and, like most first-time visitors, they spent much of their days traveling in a rented motorcar, East to... Read more
The Eire Society scored a coup when it presented the 2017 Gold Medal Award, an honor for individuals who “exemplify the best of Irish culture and ideals,” to Colm Tóibín. The awards ceremony took place on April 29 at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Boston... Read more
Tourism Ireland It’s time to Jump into Ireland! That’s the catch line this year in the marketing strategy of Tourism Ireland, the agency that promotes travel and tours to the Emerald Isle, both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The flight... Read more
The long-awaited memorial to the Irish who died before they could reach Boston during the great Irish famine and were buried at Deer Island may soon become a reality. The late podiatrist Dr. Bill O’Connell and his wife Rita O’Connell, longtime stalwarts... Read more
The competition for flights to Ireland this summer is really heating up. The US government, under the “Open Skies” agreement with the EU, has given the go-ahead to Norwegian Air to launch new transatlantic flights from Ireland to the states. The low-cost... Read more
Is this the year to take that first trip to Ireland? For many, the allure of a visit to the ancestral homeland remains strong, and the efforts of the Irish government to promote tourism to the Emerald Isle are showing promising results. Statistics for... Read more
The Obamas will soon move out of the White House, and I am saddened by that reality. It’s not just that the president will leave the post with much unfinished business, including an array of policy decisions that are likely to be changed or reversed when... Read more
Dr. Tom Durant, the man the late Boston Globe columnist Dave Nyhan once called the “bantamweight archangel,” has been gone now for 15 years, but his legacy is very much alive. The Dorchester physician found his medical anchor at Massachusetts General... Read more
In 2008, the Boston Irish Reporter chose Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton as our preferred nominee for president. We wrote: “In a contest that increasingly seems likely to feature proven cross-over candidate John McCain on the Republican ticket, team... Read more
Like many pre-baby-boomers, when I reached my 60s I first began to notice that my walking gait was not what it once was. My daily excursions took longer to complete, a hike around Castle Island’s sugar bowl became more of a stroll, and walking alone at my... Read more
Robert J. (Bob) Dunfey, Sr.’s pride and joy was the house he had built in Ballyferriter, Ireland, with the most amazing view of ocean and cliffs. His purpose was to have new generations of family reconnect with Irish relatives. His school master and... Read more
By Ed Forry, Publisher As the 2016 election season heats, the new media global village has captured the imagination of our ethnic cousins throughout the island of Ireland, and TV news is the messenger. Recent Boston tourists in Ireland were surprised to... Read more
"in all of their dreams, could they ever have dreamt that 160 years later, two great-great-grandsons of shoemakers from Ireland would be sworn in as President and Vice President of the United States of America?" BY ED FORRY You’ve got to admire Joe Biden... Read more
by Ed Forry, BIR Publisher May 31, 2016- Bostonians looking for a new way to fly from Logan to Ireland might soon be able to book a non-stop flight to County Cork on a low-cost economy airline operated by an Ireland-based subsidiary of a Norwegian air... Read more

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