On Monday evening, the Newton Free Library hosted “In the Shadow of the Shamrock: Tracing Boston’s Irish History,” featuring the Irish and Irish American archives collections from Boston College’s John J. Burns Library.
Since its establishment in 1986, the Burns Library has developed an extensive Irish and Irish American collection, including literature, music, journals, newspapers, and archival materials.
Marta Crilly, the Head Librarian of Burns Library Public Services, delivered a presentation on Boston’s Irish community.
It started with the impact of the Great Hunger in 1847, which brought 100,000 Irish refugees to Boston, to the revolution of Evacuation Day, celebrated on St. Patrick’s Day since 1901, to the upbringing of modern-day notable figures, including John Sullivan, James Michael Curley, and John F. Kennedy.
Some of the Irish and Irish American collections, including the letters of families separated by the Great Famine and Boston Irish Newspapers, are digitized and can be found on the BC Library website.
With BC’s founding rooted in the growing educational needs of the Irish Catholic immigrant population in the mid-19th century, the Burns Library has become a homage to the record of the Irish American experience.
“One sphere of life where Irish Americans absolutely thrive is politics, both city, state, and federal,” Crilly said. “No discussion of Boston’s political history is complete without Mayor James Michael Curley.”
Laminated high-quality scans of Curley’s comic-like campaign pamphlets were passed throughout the audience.
“Unfortunately, because what we have is rare and often one of a kind, I can’t bring it with me here,” Crilly said. “Instead, I have some high-quality scans and facsimiles of some of our items.”
On top of Curley’s campaign pamphlets, 35th President of the United States John F. Kennedy’s membership card to the Charitable Irish Society can be found in the Irish American collections.
“Kennedy was very much a product of Boston’s Irish American political scene,” Crilly said. “Born in 1917, he grew up in the robust Irish and Irish American political context.”
Further, the library hosts several personal journals and photographs documenting “the Troubles” in Ireland between the 1960s and 1990s, as well as records about how Irish Americans responded.
These include archives from Northern Irish photographer Bobbie Hanvey and an autograph album from the Arbour Hill Prison in Dublin, among others.
“We have very large collections of what was happening in North America with that, and also what was happening in Ireland,” Crilly said. “There’s a lot of evidence of what was going on.”
Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill, former US Speaker of the House and BC ’36, played a role in advocating for peace in Ireland during this era, and the Burns Library hosts some records related to O’Neill’s work, including his correspondence with his constituents.
“Tip O’Neill, whose papers we have, he is a part of this,” Crilly said. “ He really, kind of, he advocated for peace in Northern Ireland, in hearing the troubles, and he really went head to head with some of his constituents about that flow of money to the IRA.”
Audience member and resident of Newton, Pat Enright, said she was interested in the presentation because of her Irish heritage.
“I’m all Irish from my great grandparents,” said Enright. “I was interested in the Boston Irish history part and looking into my ancestry.”
Another Newton resident, Normand LeBlanc, said the presentation inspired him to explore Burns Library for himself.
“We live here in Newton,” LeBlanc said. “And most interestingly, I didn’t know that anybody around here could have access to that library.”
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