By Jon Prestage
Editor
3/13/08
Six of the country’s 10 most Irish communities are located in Massachusetts, and Milton is the most Irish of them all. Thirty-eight percent of its 26,062 residents, according to the 2000 census, say they are of Irish descent, but that’s not what drew author Michael Quinlin, and his wife, Colette, a graphic designer, to town.
They came for other reasons, like the schools and the French Immersion program and an opportunity to escape urban life in Dorchester for their young child, but the couple founded the Boston Irish Tourism Association (BITA) a few years ago and Irish heritage is a key focus of their lives.
Quinlin, who, several years ago, authored a book called, Irish Boston: A Lively Look At Boston’s Colorful Irish Past, says his parents were born in Ireland, and Colette is from Ireland. As you might expect, March is a busy time of the year for both of them, primarily because of St. Patrick’s Day and the activities they plan around the event.
Quinlin says St. Patrick’s Day is changing. It is no longer just a matter of green beer, Irish pubs, rowdy parades and party hats, and the reason for the changes have a lot to do with changing demographics among people of Irish descent in this country and also on the fact that Ireland has an economy that buzzing with growth. No longer do Irish immigrants flock to America’s shores in large numbers in search of opportunities. They remain home for those opportunities now.
“It’s the marketplace that sustains the stereotypes about St. Patrick’s Day. But there is a larger context to all of this. Colette and I want to elevate and in some ways refute the superficiality of the marketplace,” he says.
“America’s Irish community is in transition,” he explains. “Irish people who have moved here over the decades are continuing to assimilate, and they are now redefining themselves in slightly different terms than before. They are not looking back toward Ireland anymore for their inspirations but to their Irish communities here and to an emerging Irish-American culture, which is both new and vibrant and different than traditional Irish culture.”
The two organized the Boston Irish Tourism Association as a way to promote what Quinlin terms as “cultural tourism” in the Boston region. BITA publishes three magazines each year aimed at tourists that highlight Irish cultural activities in the city but also in the small towns throughout the region, such as those scheduled in Milton, organized this year by Police Chief Richard Wells.
“This region is the Irish center of the country, and when people come here they often want to participate in something Irish. There are 40 million people in this country who call themselves Irish-Americans and who claim some Irish ancestry. So, let’s say 500 dentists come to town from across the country for a convention, we want them to know all the Irish cultural events that are going on in the region so that they can attend and share in this thriving Irish-American cultural center.”
Several years ago, BITA helped to establish what is now known as the “Irish Heritage Trail” that runs through 250 years of Irish history between Kenmore Square and Faneuil Hall. The original version of the trail was conceived in the 1950s.
Quinlin handles the communication and writing activities for BITA, while Colette, handles the organization’s four websites. Quinlin knows something about communications. He worked for former Boston Mayor Ray Flynn for eight years as deputy press secretary, and also worked for the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA), during the Boston Harbor cleanup, as communications director.
For more information about the Boston Irish Tourism Association visit the association’s website at www.irishmassachusetts.com or call 617-696-9880.