Éire Society of Boston

About the Society

The mission of the Éire Society of Boston is to promote the knowledge of Irish culture through the encouragement of study in the arts, sciences, literature, language and the history of Ireland, and to raise awareness of the contributions to civilization made by the Irish and those of Irish ancestry.

History

The Éire Society was founded in Boston in 1937 and is one of the city's oldest Irish organizations. Through the time and effort of its members, the Society has hosted nearly a thousand lectures, screenings, opening nights and receptions.

The Society has worked alongside generations of Irish consular and diplomatic missions. It has supported Irish hospitals, educational ventures, ecumenical and peace projects, and creative enterprises. It once commissioned the Boston Pops to play at Symphony Hall. Éamon de Valera welcomed Society members to Áras an Uachtaráin many times.

The Society is non-political and non-sectarian. It welcomes everyone who shares its goals, regardless of race, religion or ethnicity. Its members are of all ages and backgrounds, both American and Irish-born.

Éire Society of Boston membership card for 1959 to 1960, made out to Hon. John F. Kennedy and signed by the financial secretary
John F. Kennedy's membership card, 1959–1960. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum

The Gold Medal

Each year the Society awards its Gold Medal to a person or persons who exemplify the best of Irish culture and ideals, and whose work in their field has benefited society. The medal is presented in spring at the Gold Medal Dinner and Award Ceremony in Boston.

Recipients

  • 2026Jim and Caroilin Callery
  • 2025Monica McWilliams
  • 2024Fintan O'Toole
  • 2023Kevin Cullen
  • 2021Christine Kinealy and Maureen Murphy
  • 2020Richard E. Neal
  • 2019Kathleen M. O'Toole
  • 2018James T. Brett
  • 2017Colm Tóibín
  • 2016Mary McAleese
Earlier recipients, 1945 to 2015
  • 2015Catherine B. Shannon
  • 2014Brian O'Donovan
  • 2013Lena Deevy, LSA
  • 2012Seamus Mulligan and Ronan Tynan
  • 2011Mary Robinson
  • 2010Edward W. Forry
  • 2009John Cullinane and Michael Donlan
  • 2008Padraig O'Malley
  • 2007Jean Kennedy Smith
  • 2006Peter Meade
  • 2005Joseph F. Leary
  • 2004Peter and Carmel O'Reilly
  • 2003Robert O'Neill
  • 2002William M. Bulger
  • 2001Desmond Guinness
  • 2000Bartley MacPhaidin, CSC
  • 1999Thomas O'Connor
  • 1998Frank Patterson and Eily O'Grady
  • 1997George J. Mitchell
  • 1996Brian P. Burns
  • 1995Phil Coulter
  • 1994Brian J. Donnelly
  • 1993Margaret MacCurtain, OP
  • 1992Eoin McKiernan
  • 1991The Chieftains
  • 1990Herbert Kenny
  • 1989Maureen O'Hara
  • 1988John F. Collins
  • 1987Maeve O'Reilly Finley, Thomas Flanagan, Seán MacBride, Tommy Makem and Michael McElroy, for the Society's fiftieth anniversary
  • 1986Mary O'Hara
  • 1985Charles J. Haughey
  • 1984Anna Manahan
  • 1983Barnard Hughes
  • 1982Seamus Heaney
  • 1981George Edward Ryan
  • 1980John Hume
  • 1979Thomas P. O'Neill Jr.
  • 1978Leon Uris
  • 1977Edward Benno Hanify
  • 1976John D. J. Moore
  • 1975William V. Shannon
  • 1974Mary Lavin
  • 1973Bob Considine
  • 1972John W. McCormack
  • 1971Siobhán McKenna
  • 1970Eugene McCarthy
  • 1969Patrick and Aimee Butler
  • 1968John Huston
  • 1967Jeremiah F. Minihan
  • 1966Cornelius Ryan
  • 1965Martin P. Harney, SJ
  • 1964Helen Landreth
  • 1963Brian O'Doherty
  • 1962Joseph Gannon
  • 1961Padraic Colum
  • 1960Terrence L. Connolly, SJ
  • 1959James Augustine Healy
  • 1958Daniel T. O'Connell
  • 1957John F. Kennedy
  • 1956Robert I. Gannon, SJ
  • 1955John Ford
  • 1954Michael J. Houlihan
  • 1953Henry Lee Shattuck
  • 1952Joseph Edward Carrigan
  • 1951Hugh O'Neill Hencken
  • 1950Richard Cardinal Cushing
  • 1949James McGurrin
  • 1948James Brendan Connolly
  • 1947Joseph Dunn
  • 1946Fred Norris Robinson
  • 1945Charles Donagh Maginnis

Officers and directors

The Board of Directors carries out the purposes of the Society. It is made up of the constitutional officers, past presidents who choose to serve, and between seven and twelve other members.

Officers, 2022–2023

  • Ann Connolly Tolkoff, President
  • Paul Doyle, Vice President
  • Patrick Butler, Treasurer
  • Cate McGrail, Recording Secretary

Directors

Christian Dupont, Barbara Smith Fitzgerald, Brian Frykenberg, Tadhig Malone, Paul Moran, Mary Ellen Mulligan, Ronan Noone, Donal O'Sullivan, William J. Smith, John Sullivan and Frank Waldron-Lynch.

Past presidents on the board

Thomas W. Carty, Margaret F. Flagg, Edris Kelley, Mimi McNealy Langenderfer and Catherine B. Shannon.