Charitable Irish Society Of Boston
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The Charitable Irish Society of Boston was founded in 1737 and is the oldest Irish organization in North America. Its early charitable efforts focused around providing temporary loans and assistance in finding work to Irish immigrants. The society was incorporated in 1809 and established a constitution in 1810.


Involvement in the first St. Patrick's Day

The society organized the first observance of St. Patrick's Day in the
Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies, also known as the Thirteen British Colonies, the Thirteen American Colonies, or later as the United Colonies, were a group of Kingdom of Great Britain, British Colony, colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. Fo ...
. Surprisingly, the celebration was not Catholic in nature, Irish immigration to the colonies having been dominated by Protestants. The society's purpose in gathering was simply to honour its homeland, and although they continued to meet annually to coordinate charitable works for the Irish community in
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, they did not meet on 17 March again until 1794. During the observance of the day, individuals attended a
service of worship A church service (or a service of worship) is a formalized period of Christian communal worship, often held in a church building. It often but not exclusively occurs on Sunday, or Saturday in the case of those churches practicing seventh-day Sa ...
and a special dinner. The list of members names are available herehttps://archive.org/details/constitutionofch00char/page/10/mode/2up Despite being protestant a large amount have Irish surnames.


Notable members

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Patrick A. Collins Patrick Andrew Collins (March 12, 1844 – September 13, 1905) was a U.S. Representative from Massachusetts and Mayor of Boston from 1902 until his death. Biography Early life Collins was born March 12, 1844, near Fermoy, County Cork, I ...
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James Michael Curley James Michael Curley (November 20, 1874 – November 12, 1958) was an American Democratic politician from Boston, Massachusetts. He served four terms as mayor of Boston. He also served a single term as governor of Massachusetts, characterized ...
* Patrick Donohoe *
John F. Fitzgerald John Francis "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald (February 11, 1863 – October 2, 1950) was an American Democratic politician from Boston, Massachusetts. He served as a U.S. Representative and Mayor of Boston. He also made unsuccessful runs for the United ...
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Hugh O'Brien Hugh O'Brien (July 13, 1827 – August 1, 1895) was the 31st mayor of Boston, from 1884 to 1888. O'Brien is notable as Boston's first Irish and Catholic mayor, having emigrated from Ireland to America in the early 1830s. O'Brien was the editor ...
* John C. Park * Timothy Francis Walsh


See also

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Charitable Irish Society of Halifax The Charitable Irish Society of Halifax is a historic society in Halifax, Nova Scotia which was established in 1786. The Society assists those on low-income and holds other charitable events. Many of the most prominent members of Nova Scotia have ...


References


External links

* Irish-American organizations Irish-American culture in Boston Clubs and societies in Boston 1737 establishments in the Province of Massachusetts Bay Organizations established in 1737 Philanthropic organizations based in the United States {{US-philanthropy-org-stub