The Lecture:

After lecturing for years on topics such as the Sacco-Vanzetti Case, the Lizzie Borden Case, the Lincoln Assassination and the Haunted History of New England, Mr. Daley has put together a new lecture; Irish Need Not Apply: The History of the Irish in Boston. The Presentation is a 90 minute slide lecture in which the many facets of the early Irish experience in Boston are examined.

The lecture begins with a look at the scant evidence there is of the Irish who were brought over unwillingly as indentured servants in the late 17th Century. Then the first real migration of the Irish in 1718 - the arrival of the Scot-Irish or the "Ulster Irish" will be discussed. Next we will examine the slow pre-famine trickle of Irish Catholic immigrants coming into Boston as well as the corresponding increase in Anti-Irish/Catholic sentiment within Boston beginning with the notorious Pope's Day celebrations and then the discussion will turn to the burning of the Ursuline Convent in 1834 in Charlestown, and the Broad Street Riot of 1837.

The massive wave of immigration into Boston after the Great Potato Famine will be examined next with respect to the condition of the new arrivals, the neighborhoods they settled, how they banded together, the kinds of work they did to survive and their eventual assimilation into American culture.

Finally there will be a discussion of the rise of the Irish within the sphere of Boston politics. Short vignettes on such Irish political leaders such as Patrick Collins, Hugh O'Brien, Martin Lomasney, Patrick J. Kennedy, John "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald and of course the old "Rascal King" himself James Michael Curley will be given.

About the Lecturer:

Christopher Daley has been lecturing all over New England for over 25 years on historical topics of interest; at libraries, historical societies, schools and all sorts of clubs and organizations!
  He is currently a history teacher in the Silver Lake Regional School System in Kingston Massachusetts. He holds a B.A. and an M.A. from Bridgewater State University in Political Science and History.    Mr. Daley has written several articles on varied historical topics for local publications and has written his first book entitled "Murder and Mayhem in Boston: Historic Crimes in the Hub."
He has also served as historical consultant on the Sacco-Vanzetti Case for the Travel Channel's program "Timetraveling with Brian Unger." He also appeared in two episodes of the Travel Channel's "Kindred Spirits" in the capacity of historian on shows about the Lizzie Borden Case.