Publisher's Notes

by Ed Forry For those lingering lost souls who struggle accepting that the American people voted to elect Barack Obama as their president, there were a few public utterances made within a few short days this spring that speak volumes about political... Read more
By Ed Forry The Irish were in charge at the White House on St. Patrick’s Day last month – or so it seemed. Even as the fountain on the north lawn was filled with green dye, and the colors of the Emerald Isle adorned the East Room, several hundred Irish... Read more
By Ed Forry Barney McGinniskin was the first Irish cop in Boston. He arrived in Boston’s North End from County Galway in the 1840s, and found work as a laborer, until finally, on Nov. 4, 1851, he was hired by the city and he put on the blue waistcoat of... Read more
By Ed Forry A group of local Irish Americans are gathering up again this year to host an afternoon of Irish music, dance, and merriment in April to raise funds to help victims of last years earthquake in Haiti. “Irish Hearts for Haiti” is chaired by... Read more
By Ed Forry The gridlock that seems to have enveloped Washington D.C. in the two years since Barack Obama was elected has come to define the country in this first decade of the 21st century. Such ephemeral nonsense as demands for the president’s birth... Read more
A Boston lawyer with expertise in immigration law is calling on Irish advocates to reach out for Congressional help in amending a special visa program that benefits Australians who want to work in the United States. Attorney John Philip Foley, an... Read more
Four years ago, this newspaper endorsed the candidacy of Deval Patrick because of what we saw in him: The promise of a transformational leader who would bring change to state government. Four years later, we endorse his candidacy for a more concrete... Read more
By Ed Forry In the fall of 1990, when my late dear wife Mary Casey Forry and I discussed the idea of publishing a newspaper about Irish Boston, we were not well informed about the land of our ancestors. Mary’s mom and dad had come over in the1930s – Mary... Read more
By Ed Forry High school seniors and their parents looking for another, more affordable option for college should consider the colleges and universities in Ireland. That’s the message being delivered by Ireland’s Minister for Education and Science,... Read more
 High school seniors and their parents looking for another, more affordable option for college should consider the colleges and universities in Ireland. That's the message  being delivered by Ireland's Minister for Education and Science, Tánaiste Mary... Read more
Baseball fans who find themselves in Ireland in October are well advised to find their way to Greystones (Irish: Na Clocha Liatha), a little town in County Wicklow on Ireland’s east coast, five miles from Bray and a half hour south of Dublin. There, on... Read more
by Ed Forry I learned from your parents some months ago that you were on the way. The news came at dinner with them, as I offered to pour a glass of wine for your mom. At first she said yes, then hesitated, and declined. That was unusual because she and... Read more
Former UMass President Bill Bulger was guest speaker last month at a community breakfast hosted by Mt. Washington Bank. Speaking to a gathering of some 300 local business and civic leaders, Bulger used the occasion to voice a lament for the current tone... Read more
A large group of Bostonians of Irish heritage, chaired by Winnie Henry of Milton and Pat "Doc" Walsh of Dorchester, gathered with friends on Sun., May 2, to raise funds to support relief efforts for Haitian children orphaned by the January 12 earthquake... Read more
By Ed Forry A growing committee of Boston Irish chaired by Winnie Henry of Milton and Pat “Doc” Walsh of Dorchester have gathered to raise funds to support relief efforts for orphaned children who are victims of the January 12 earthquake in Haiti.... Read more
Ireland's great Famine, also known as the Great Hunger (An Gorta Mór) took place in the middle of the 19th century, caused by a blight on the potato crop in the Emerald Isle. Beginning with the harvest of 1846, and lasting fully for five years, the fungus... Read more
The story of how one Boston Irish business leader stepped up to help in the wake of the terrible earthquake in Haiti typifies the great sense of empathy, compassion and benevolence that is part of the culture of Irish Americans and the Irish around the... Read more
Old friend Marty Kane is back home in Boston after some wayward years of working “outta town,” or as we locals say, somewhere west of Jamaica Pond. A long-ago hockey player for BC High and Boston College, Marty sends word of a nifty annual event that... Read more
Is this the year to make that long-delayed trip to Ireland? I asked myself that question at the beginning of 2009, and as in previous years, the answer was a resounding "maybe." Somehow, a trip back "home" to the land of the grandparents has always been... Read more
When Jack Driscoll died suddenly last month, the Boston Irish community lost a wonderful friend and a compassionate leader. More precisely, with the death of 77-year-old John Patrick Driscoll Jr. on Nov. 15, the loss was felt throughout the Greater... Read more

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