IRISH CULTURAL WEEK BEGINS
Promises religious spectacles, entertaining festivities
LOWELL >> St. Patrick’s Day is around the corner, which means Irish folks across the diaspora will celebrate their religious and cultural heritage with shamrocks, ale and lots of green.
In Lowell, the celebration starts early. Lowell Irish, formerly the St. Patrick’s Irish Cultural Committee, is a volunteer group hosting a series of events for its 40th annual Irish Cultural Week.
Festivities kick off at 10 a.m. today, with an Acre walking tour led by local historian Dave Mckean. Beginning at the National Park Visitor Office and ending at St. Patrick Church, Mckean will take attendees through the original “paddy camps” and retell stories of the Irish workers who once settled there.
Raymond Leavitt, a member of Lowell Irish, said the city has a rich history of Irish-american immigrants starting in the 1820s, when a group of Irish laborers traveled from Charlestown to what was then considered East Chelmsford. They met Kirk Boott, who gave them food and money for tools.
“Irish laborers were there to dig the canals that were necessary to run the mills, and they set up their camps in what would later become known as the ‘paddy camps,’” Leavitt said,
“and that’s now the Acre section of the city.”
Since rival work groups “would get rowdy every so often,” Leavitt said, an acre of land was donated to the archdiocese to build a church. That would become St. Patrick’s, where parishioners will gather Sunday morning for an Irish concert and Catholic Mass.
Starting at 9:30 a.m., organist Jeffrey Smith and soloist Alison Burns will perform a number of Irish tunes, including “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling,”
“Galway Bay” and “Danny Boy.” A bagpiper will lead the procession, followed by honor guards from the Lowell Police and Fire departments, representatives from the Knights of Columbus and members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians.
A fiddler and Irish step dancers from Chelmsford’s Heavey Quinn Academy of Irish Dance will also perform prior to the Mass, which will include readings in Gaelic. Leavitt said he expects 300 to 400 people to attend.
“The Irish population at St. Patrick’s Church, that actually live at the church and go every week, is small, but St Patrick’s lives in the heart of a lot of Irishmen,” Leavitt said. “You’ll see them show up this Sunday, and they support the church because the Acre and St. Patrick’s is just such a part of their fabric.”
Post-mass, participants will assemble for a parade to City Hall, where Lowell Irish will raise the Irish flag and place a wreath on the Irish monument on O’connell Parkway around 11:15 a.m. Attendees can then enjoy brunch at the church hall, provided by the Owl Diner.
St. Patrick’s is the third oldest parish in the Archdiocese of Boston, Leavitt said, and several years ago, its interior was historically restored to its original colors and decorations from the early 1900s. Originally built in 1831, a fire in 1904 destroyed much of the inside, Leavitt said.
The church is also in the process of restoring their 1906 pipe organ, which has 2,748 pipes, and they hope to have that fully completed by Easter.
Though most of the events are free, money raised through the week’s events will all go to the continued preservation of the church.
“Lowell Irish has a twopronged mission,” Leavitt said. “First, it’s to preserve and honor our Irish heritage. And second, it’s to preserve St. Patrick’s Church.”
On Tuesday, March 14, the organization will screen the 1952 Irish-american classic “The Quiet Man” at Mount Pleasant Golf Club at 7 p.m. Admission is free, but Lowell Irish recommends a donation of $5.
The Acre Forum and Anam Cara Awards ceremony — honoring “soul friends,” as the term means in Irish — on Wednesday, March 15, will recognize local figures who have made a positive impact on Lowell Irish and Irish-americans in the city. Eleanor Dunfey-freiburger, who grew up in the Boott Mills as the youngest of 12 children, is the event’s featured speaker.
City Councilor Rita Mercier is one award recipient this year, though the full list of awardees has yet to be released. The ceremony is also free, with a recommended donation of $5, and starts at 7 p.m. at the Mount Pleasant Golf Club.
The week concludes with the annual dinner dance at
Lenzi’s Mill House in Dracut on Saturday, March 18. Cocktails begin at 6:30 p.m. and dinner is at 7 p.m. Tickets are $40 and available for purchase by contacting Maureen Mcniff at 978-808-8269.
“We really want people to get involved,” Leavitt said. “Come on down, participate, come to movie night, Anam Cara awards, that’s what this is all about.”