“The Irish Atlantic - A Story of Famine, Migration and Opportunity”

The Massachusetts Historical Society (MHS) hosted a most unique exhibition throughout the summer of 2017, the like of which we will not see again for a long time. It is entitled “The Irish Atlantic - A Story of Famine, Migration and Opportunity”. The exhibit offered a chance to explore 175 years of the Irish in Boston from the founding of the Charitable Irish Society in Boston in 1737, through the famine relief efforts led by Capt. Robert Bennet Forbes, to a mass migration movement, the progression of community, cultural, and institutional building, and a rise in political power. The exhibition was co-sponsored by the MHS and the Forbes House Museum in Milton.                                                                                                

Over a year in the planning, it took many hands to produce this exhibition. In addition to the MHS,  the Forbes House Museum, and the Sullivan Family Foundation, other contributors included William M. Fowler, noted author and Professor of History at Northeastern University; Peter Drummey, librarian and archivist at the MHS; and Irish historian, Professor Catherine B. Shannon. Boston Mayor, Marty Walsh and Irish Consul General, Fionnuala Quinlan, also took part in the panel discussion which opened the exhibit in March, 2017.

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Watch a brief overview of the exhibition presented my William M. Fowler, Professor of History at               Northeastern University: