By Cassidy McNeeley, Reporter Staff
More than 300 guests filled the the Artist for Humanity’s Epicenter in South Boston last Friday (Oct.24) for the 15th annual Boston Irish Honors luncheon as three outstanding leaders of Irish descent —former US Ambassador to Ireland Claire Cronin, UMass President Marty Meehan, and Dr. James O’Connell of Boston’s Health Care for the Homeless —were inducted into the Boston Irish Hall of Honors.
Since 2010, the Boston Irish Honors luncheon has celebrated the leadership and accomplishments of individuals and families who exemplify the very best of Ireland’s values, legacies, and traditions. The event benefits the Edward W. Forry and Mary Casey Forry Foundation for Community Journalism, a non-profit affiliated with The Dorchester Reporter and BostonIrish.com.
At the event, emceed by former state Sen. Linda Dorcena Forry and Boston Irish Associate Publisher Maureen Forry-Sorrell, the honorees, whose life stories were told in extended profiles in the luncheon program and by the admirers who introduced them, accepted their awards with grace and generosity as guests enjoyed a meal of Guinness Braised Short Rib of Beef.
Dorchester’s James T. Brett, the CEO of the New England Council, introduced his former Savin Hill neighbor, Dr. O’Connell, who is a pioneer in the field of caring for homeless populations.
“This has made me rethink so many of my Irish roots and what people went through to get to places where I can do what I am doing,” said O’Connell, whose own grandparents came to the US during the famine and landed in Newport, Rhode Island.
There, O’Connell’s maternal grandfather, John Hayes, worked his way up to become the head pro at the Newport Country Club.
“He retired after 50 years as the golf pro and told me one day that he was never once allowed in the clubhouse, and that hit me,” said O’Connell. “I never caught that. I just started thinking about all the struggles that so many of our ancestors have done so we can do what we are doing.”
O’Connell gave special shout-outs to the late Dr. Tom Duaran and to one of the luminaries in attendance—former Boston Mayor Ray Flynn, who also served as a US Ambassador to the Holy See. It was Durant and Flynn who asked O’Connell to manage a then-small program to serve men and women on the streets of Boston in the 1980s.
Gov. Maura Healey, herself the recipient of an Irish Honors in 2023, introduced Claire Cronin, a onetime prominent Massachusetts state lawmaker who served as the US Ambassador to Ireland under President Biden. The governor saluted Cronin’s career in state government and called her a mentor.
“How proud were we that Claire Cronin was named ambassador to Ireland on behalf of the United States?” said Healey to loud applause. “That was just such a cool announcement because it was the identification and appointment of somebody who truly recognizes good and who’s about doing good. [It] didn’t matter how much money she raised or contributed. That wasn’t what it was about for Claire.”
The governor added: “There is a recognition from President Biden of the good of Claire Cornin and how special she is as a person. People were a little surprised, maybe not the DNC donors lining up for those ambassadorships, but wasn’t it awesome, it was none of those guys, it was Claire Cronin from Brockton, Massachusetts, going to Dublin.”
Cronin said her upbringing in Brockton was heavily influenced by her family’s Irish-American identity. She asked the audience, “What does it mean to be Irish?”
She answered herself, saying, “To be Irish means that family is everything. To be Irish means that you value education, hard work, and service to others. To be Irish means that you value freedom and you will fight for justice. To be Irish means that you are compassionate and empathetic and that you feel the pain of others in the same way you feel your own pain. To be Irish means that you are resilient and that you will always fight for and root for the underdog. And of course, to be Irish means that you appreciate literature, that you love sports, that you love music, and a good laugh, you love the craic.”
Those themes were echoed by the day’s final honoree, UMass President Marty Meehan, a former US Congressman and Lowell native who has served a lifetime of public service. He was introduced by Cork City native Ruairi O’Mahony, who serves as UMass Lowell’s associate vice chancellor for Sustainability and Enterprise Development.
In his remarks, Meehan said: “Lowell was an immigrant city, and Irish folks came there, a lot of folks came from Greece, a lot of folks from Canada, a lot of folks from Poland and Portugal. We were a community that understood the importance of immigration.
“Our grandparents and my parents never let me forget where I came from, and I appreciate that,” he added.
The Boston Irish Honors event was initially scheduled to be held at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Dorchester, but was relocated due to the federal government shutdown, which has resulted in the temporary closure of the library.
Proceeds from the event will support the mission of the Forry Foundation, which includes training and scholarship funds for young journalists from Boston’s neighborhoods. For more information on the foundation, please visit forryfoundation.org.