Boston Swears in First Irish-born Mayor
On this day in 1885, Hugh O'Brien, the first Irish immigrant elected mayor of Boston, took the oath of office. A new era was beginning. For several decades, the Roman Catholic Irish had outnumbered the native-born Protestants, who were now forced to give up their long domination of Boston politics. As a well-spoken, mild mannered, successful businessman, O'Brien defied all the Yankee stereotypes of Irishmen. During four terms as Mayor, he widened streets, planned the Emerald Necklace park system, and built the new Boston Public Library in Copley Square, all the while cutting taxes. Popular among both native- and Irish-born Bostonians, Hugh O'Brien paved the way for the better known Irish mayors who would follow him — "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald and James Michael Curley.
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