Official Booklaunch of 'The Bostonian' by Larry Donnelly - 1/7/22

The Irish Cultural Centre of New England is delighted to host the official US Book Launch of Larry Donnelly’s ‘The Bostonian – Life in an Irish American Political Family’ this Friday, 7th of January 2022 at 7:30PM. Larry will be joined on the night by special guest Kevin Cullen of the Boston Globe to discuss the book and the themes which emerge from this spectacular publication by ‘Gill Books’.

American or Irish, Republican or Democrat: many people are one or the other, but Larry Donnelly has been all of them. Born into an Irish American political dynasty, Larry was destined for a successful career in politics from the start. Having completed law school, he entered the ‘family business’ and involved himself in political life, experiencing everything from town hall meetings to the highest offices.

Donnelly comes from a family with deep roots in Democratic politics. His uncle, Brian Donnelly, was a long-serving congressman best known in Ireland for his leading role in introducing the “Donnelly visa” enabling more Irish people to legally emigrate to the United States. The Bostonian’s author calls for further measures to promote emigration from Ireland to the US and vice versa in order to sustain what he calls a “sacred” relationship between the two countries. As an adolescent, Donnelly rebelled against his family’s politics by becoming a right-wing Republican. But after graduating university he came back to the fold. Donnelly sees himself as continuing a family tradition of a particular strand of Democratic politics that articulates the bread-and-butter concerns of ordinary Americans, while disdaining “liberals’ elitists who always assume they know best and make policy accordingly”.

In The Bostonian, Larry Donnelly traces his journey from the Catholic Irish neighborhood of East Milton, just outside of Boston, to rural Ireland, where he has settled and become a well-known commentator on American politics. There are countless books that explore the Irish immigrant experience to America; this is the rare one that concerns emigration in the opposite direction. Donnelly is a cogent analyst and a good storyteller. The Bostonian’s combination of political commentary with memoir works because he lives and breathes politics.

The author's perspective is unusual in that, unlike most Americans of Irish heritage, he chose to make the return journey. Despite his frustrations with domestic politics, in particular the Dáil’s rigid whip system, his fondness for Ireland shines through. More than that, he maintains that unless you’re very wealthy, there’s now more opportunity here than in Boston. America, he writes, is afflicted by 'an epidemic of inequality.’

Throughout the book, Larry Donnelly’s passion for politics and political debate is obvious. Towards the end it becomes apparent that the family business still appeals to him. The Milton Town Meeting may not be his last tilt at public office! (RTÉ)

Larry's new book - "The Bostonian - Life in an Irish American Political Family" - is published by Gill Books. It is part memoir and family history and part transatlantic political and cultural analysis, with considerable reflection on the relationship between Ireland and the U.S. He is delighted to have the official stateside launch of The Bostonian at the Irish Cultural Center of New England on Friday, January 7, at 7:30 PM in which he will discuss the book and the themes emerging from it with Kevin Cullen of The Boston Globe. All are welcome and books will be available for purchase at the event. This event will be conducted in full compliance with relevant public safety guidelines.

Reservations can be made online via https://www.eventbrite.com/o/the-irish-cultural-centre-of-new-england-3800062529 or by emailing agriffin@irishculture.org.