Hidden History of the Boston Irish

When it comes to Irish America, certain names spring to mind—Kennedy, O'Neill and Curley testify to the proverbial "footsteps of the Gael" in Boston. However, few people know of Sister Mary Anthony O'Connell, whose medical prowess carried her from the convent to the Civil War battlefields, earning her the nickname "the Boston Irish Florence Nightingale," or of Barney McGinniskin, Boston's first Irish cop, who proudly roared at every roll call, "McGinniskin from the bogs of Ireland—present!" Along with acclaim or notoriety, many forgotten Irish Americans garnered numerous historical firsts. In Hidden History of the Boston Irish, Peter F. Stevens offers an entertaining and compelling portrait of the Irish immigrant saga and pays homage to the overlooked, yet significant, episodes of the Boston Irish experience.

Peter Stevens earned his Bachelor of Arts in journalism and history from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He is the news and features editor of The Boston Irish Reporter and has authored two additional books on Irish history—The Voyage of the Catalpa: A Perilous Journey and Six Irish Rebels' Escape to Freedom, which was chosen as Read Ireland's book of the month, and The Rogue's March: John Riley and the St. Patrick's Battalion in the Mexican-American War, 1846-48. He is also a syndicated columnist for American Irish Media Network. Stevens has contributed numerous articles to newspapers throughout New England and to such regional magazines as Yankee, Down East, Vermont Life.