Discover Boston’s Irish Heritage with Irish Heritage Trail
The Boston Irish Heritage Trail extends about three miles from the Rose Kennedy Garden at Christopher Columbus Park to Fenway Park. Created more than 30 years ago by Michael Quinlin, it honors the Irish heritage of Bostonians ranging from artists and political figures to lesser-known individuals in the community.
In an interview with the Boston Globe, Quinlin described how he conceived of creating the trail while working in the Boston Parks Department during former mayor Raymond Flynn’s administration. “I wanted each site to be either an homage to an Irish individual or to have an Irish connection that was interesting in its own right,” he said.
Quinlin highlights the Irish sculptors, whose work can be seen along the trail. Martin Milmore, who created the Soldiers and Sailors Monument on Boston Common, emigrated from County Sligo. Sculptors Augustus and Louis Saint-Gaudens, both of Irish and French heritage, created the twin marble lions on either side of the main staircase of the central library.
This year, the Irish Heritage Trail will add some additional sites. The Swan Boats, created generations ago by Irish immigrants Robert Paget and Julia Coffey Paget, continue to serve as a prime visitor attraction. Irish American artist George P. Healy created a painting of Massachusetts Sen. Daniel Webster in Faneuil Hall. Quinlin will also call attention to the bust of Edgar Allan Poe — who was born in Boston to an Irish American father and English mother — in the central library and Poe’s statue near the Transportation Building.
Finally, the Dartmouth Street memorial to Kip Tiernan, founder of Rosie’s Place, the first shelter for unhoused women in the United States, honors women’s contributions to Boston’s history.
Quinlin said he hopes people take the time to reflect upon the objects along the trail. “Maybe there’s some inspiration that people can take from looking at the history and trajectory of a group of people who struggled mightily to establish themselves,” he said.
