October 24, 2007
Contact: 617 696-9880

For Immediate Release

Boston Irish Heritage Trail Map adds two mayors, a cemetery and Fenway Park

(Boston) — The Boston Irish Tourism Association has released an updated new map of the city’s Irish Heritage Trail, a three mile walk that winds its way through 250 years of Boston Irish history.

Since the map was first issued in 2002, the Irish Heritage Trail has increased from 16 to 20 stops, with the addition of these four new sites:

• Statue of Kevin H. White, mayor of Boston (1968-84), unveiled at Faneuil Hall in 2006.
• Memorial to John F. Collins, mayor of Boston (1960-68), unveiled on City Hall south wall in 2002.
• Central Burying Ground on Boston Common, where Irish Catholics were buried in the 18th century.
• Fenway Park, which was built in 1912 by Irish immigrant Charles E. Logue.

Visitors can obtain a free copy of the Irish Heritage Trail at Visitor Information Centers on Boston Common or at the Prudential Center, and at rest stops along the Massachusetts Turnpike. It can be ordered directly from www.IrishHeritageTrail.com for a small postage/handling fee.

The Irish Heritage Trail starts at the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Rose Garden on Atlantic Avenue and winds its way through downtown Boston and over to Back Bay, ending at Fenway Park. It includes historic cemeteries, memorials by Irish born sculptors Augustus Saint Gaudens and Martin Milmore, and statues to various Irish-American mayors, artists, women, poets and war heroes.

In addition to Boston City Hall and Fenway Park, the Trail also stops at the Massachusetts State House and the Boston Public Library, two institutions steeped in Boston Irish history.

The Irish Heritage Trail was created by the Boston Irish Tourism Association (BITA), a group that promotes the state’s Irish cultural community and hospitality community year round to the travel industry. The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority’s tourism grant program provided partial funding for the project. BITA is working with tour operators to provide guided tours along the Trail for conventioneers and school classes. For details contact bostonirishheritagetrail@comcast.net.

Irish landmarks throughout the state are available at www.IrishHeritageTrail.com. For more details on year round Irish culture in Massachusetts, visit www.IrishMassachusetts.com.

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