| 1718 | Large groups of Ulster immigrants begin arriving in Boston led mainly by Presbyterian ministers and continuing to 1738 |
| 1737 | 17 March: Charitable Irish Society founded by twenty-six men of Ulster birth or ancestry |
| 1743 | Charitable Irish Society has 116 members including wealthy sea-captain Patrick Tracey, a Wexford native |
| 1744 | New Church of Presbyterian Strangers built on Long Lane site donated by John Little, a Charitable Irish Society founder. Its Pastor and Co. Derry native, Rev. John Moorhead, was also a Charitable Irish Society member. |
| 1761 | Since 1737, 173 members enrolled in the Charitable Irish Society--89 of whom were still active |
| 1765 | Charitable Irish Society removes requirement that officers be Protestant |
| 1770 | 12 June: Charitable Irish Society aids Irish sailor John Ryan wounded in confrontation between HMS Rose and Pitt Packet on April 22, 1769 |
| 1775 | Out-break of the American Revolution reduces flow of Irish immigrants and meetings of the Charitable Irish Society suspended |
| 1784 | 26 October: First meeting of the Charitable Irish Society since the outbreak of the American Revolution |
| 1799 | Charitable Irish Society begins holding all annual meetings on March 17 (Saint Patrick’s Day) |
| 1803 | Church of the Holy Cross, designed by Charles Bulfinch, is dedicated and financed by Boston Catholics and a few Protestants |
| 1808 | Boston Archdiocese established |
| 1809 | Charitable Irish Society is incorporated and opens membership to all men of Irish birth or descent |
| 1815 | Andrew Carney, a Co. Cavan native, arrives in Boston and later is a major benefactor for Boston College, the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Carney Hospital as well as Irish Famine Relief |
| 1821 | Patrick Donahoe arrives in Boston and builds a career in journalism and business to become the richest Catholic in New England by 1872 |
| 1825 | Bishop Benedict Joseph Fenwick appointed |
| 1831 | Rev. T. J. O’Flaherty, Kerry native and medical doctor, becomes the first and only clergyman to be President of the Charitable Irish Society |
| 1832 | 2 May: Sisters of Charity arrive in Boston and start first school. In 1843, they establish St. Vincent’s Female Orphan Asylum. |
| 1833 | 22 June: President Andrew Jackson visits Boston and declares pride in his Irish heritage to the Charitable Irish Society |
| 1834 | Rise of anti-Irish, anti-Catholic sentiment in Boston |
| | 11 August: Ursuline Convent in Charlestown destroyed by a mob of nativists |
| 1835 | Young Catholic Friends Society formed by Irish immigrants to assist poor boys with clothing and basic needs |
| 1836 | The Jesuit is renamed the Boston Pilot by newspaper editor Patrick Donahoe |
| 1837 | Montgomery Guards established by Irish immigrant leaders Andrew Carney, Thomas Mooney, and Edwin Palmer |
| | 17 May: Governor Edward Everett speaks at the centenary of Charitable Irish Society and President Boyd welcomes increasing numbers of Catholics to the society |
| | 11 June: Irish American militia men of Montgomery and Sarsfield Guards attacked during the Broad Street Riot between Irish and Protestants |
| | 12 September: City Guards and other anti-Irish militia companies refuse to muster with Irish Montgomery Guards on Boston Common for annual review |
| 1838 | 1 April: Governor Gardner bows to Protestant nativist hysteria and disbands the predominantly Irish Catholic Montgomery Guards |
| 1845 | The population of Boston is 114,000 (8,000 born in Ireland) |
| | Friends of Ireland formed to support political/constitutional reform In Ireland |
| | Native American Party later known as the Know-Nothing Party formed |
| | 15 September: Potato Blight appears in Ireland damaging about 35% of potato crop |
| | Irish organizations in Boston raise initial funds for famine relief, totaling about $19,000 |
| 1846 | Bishop John Fitzpatrick appointed |
| | Catastrophic failure of Irish potato harvest (90%) endangering the life of 4 million people |
| 1847 | Relief efforts for Ireland launched throughout the USA following appeal of New York Quaker Jacob Harvey |
| | 20 January: RMS Hibernia arrives in Boston carrying harrowing accounts from Irish and British press of Irish starvation, death, and disease |
| | 7 February: Publication of Bishop Fitzpatrick’s appeal for funds for Irish Famine Relief |
| | 18 February: Mayor Josiah Quincy calls Faneuil Hall meeting where leading Bostonians establish the New England Committee for Irish Famine Relief after powerful appeal by Edward Everett |
| | Robert Bennet and John Murray Forbes propose using USS Jamestown to ship food supplies to Ireland |
| | 1 March: Petition to Congress for use of USS Jamestown for Irish relief effort |
| | 3 March: Congress approves the loan of the USS Jamestown and the USS Macedonian to ship food to Ireland |
| | 17 March: Mostly Irish Boston Laborers Society begins to load the Jamestown |
| | 28 March: Jamestown sails from the Charlestown Navy Yard with 800 tons of provisions |
| | 10 April: More than 1,000 Irish immigrants arrive in Boston in one day |
| | 12 April: Jamestown arrives at Cobh Harbor, Co. Cork |
| | 15 April: Cobh elite give Captain Forbes a lavish reception despite the misery and death surrounding them |
| | 17 April: Distribution plan for Jamestown supplies formulated to cover the whole of County Cork |
| | 22 April: Jamestown sails from Cobh |
| | 9 May: Jamestown returns to Boston and Captain Forbes works to expedite sending more supplies on the USS Macedonian from New York |
| | 17 May: English Brig Mary with 46 Famine refugees refused entry to Boston and Revenue Cutter quells passenger mutiny |
| | 29 May: Deer Island Quarantine Hospital Opens for immigrants ill with fever. Hundreds die there. |
| | 10,21,26 June: Strong opposition to Irish famine refugee immigration appears in Boston Daily Transcript and in public protests |
| | 14 November: Large anti-immigrant meeting in Faneuil Hall demands legislature to increase the bonds paid by immigrants |
| | 31 December: By year end, 37,000 Irish have arrived in the Port of Boston and crowd into North End, Fort Hill and wharf areas |
| | Long Wharf Immigration Station opens |
| 1848 | Heavy immigration from Ireland continues |
| 1849 | Cholera Epidemic and work of the Sisters of Charity for ill is widely praised |
| | 27 July: Irish temperance leader Father Theobold Mathew visits Boston and over 4,000 take temperance pledge |
| | 7 October: Brig St. John is wrecked at Cohasset with death of over 100 famine refugees from Galway and Clare |
| 1854 | 2 June: Two Irish militia units assist in return of Anthony Burns to slavery, followed by retaliatory attacks on Irish Homes and premises and the dissolution of the Columbian Artillery |
| | Landslide Know-Nothing Party election victories for local offices and state legislature in spring and fall |
| 1855 | The population of Boston is 160,000 (46,000 born in Ireland) |
| 1858 | 1 April: St. Vincent Asylum for orphan girls opens new large $120,000 facility on Shawmut Avenue |
| 1860 | Lincoln carries Massachusetts but loses in Boston |
| | House of the Guardian Angel established and serves many poor and orphaned Irish boys |
| 1861 | 1 April: “The Fighting Ninth” is formed, a mostly Irish Massachusetts Regiment, recruited by Columbian Guard leader Thomas Cass, Pilot editor Patrick Donahoe, and Andrew Carney. It fought 43 engagements in which 250 were killed and 650 were wounded. |
| | 10 March: Church of the Immaculate Conception, designed by Irishman Patrick C. Keely and financed by Andrew Carney, is dedicated |
| | 25 May: Bishop John Fitzpatrick receives an honorary Doctor of Divinity Degree from Harvard University |
| | Sisters of St. Vincent de Paul assist newly arrived immigrants |
| 1862 | The Pilot encourages readers to enlist in the Union Army following April 1861 attack on Fort Sumner |
| 1863 | 3 March: Congress passes conscription law to fill Union Army ranks |
| | 9 June: Carney Hospital opens with Sisters of Charity caring for many civil war wounded and the poor. Andrew Carney gave an endowment of $75,295 for hospital. |
| | 14 June: A minor riot erupts in the North End in response to marshals serving conscription orders on Irish residents. Six are killed. |
| | Catholics of New England donate $43,466 for Irish relief after a poor harvests and minor potato blight |
| 1864 | Eliot Charity School on Channing Street becomes the first Home for Destitute Catholic Children |
| | 3 April: Andrew Carney dies having donated over $200,000 to Catholic charities and educational institutions |
| | 1 September: Boston College opens on Harrison Avenue after receiving endowment of $20,000 from Andrew Carney |
| 1865 | The population of Boston is 192,000 (48,000 born in Ireland) |
| | Boston Fenians, including Patrick A. Collins, attend Fenian Brotherhood Convention in Cincinnati |
| 1866 | 1 January: The Sisters of Charity take charge of the Home for Destitute Catholic Children and move the home to a larger building on Common Street in December. |
| | 13 February: Death of Bishop John Fitzpatrick |
| | 11 March: Installation of Bishop John J. Williams at St. James Church in Boston |
| | Approximately 5,000 students enrolled in Catholic schools in Boston comprising 3 academies, 9 girls schools, and 4 boys schools |
| 1867 | Patrick A. Collins, Famine era immigrant, elected to represent South Boston in Massachusetts legislature |
| 1868 | St. Elizabeth’s Hospital established |
| 1869 | 15 June: Patrick S. Gilmore, Irish born composer and bandmaster, organizes a four-day National Peace Jubilee with 50,000 in attendance, including President Ulysses S. Grant, for the benefit of Civil War orphans and widows |
| 1870 | 2 January: John Boyle O’Reilly, escaped political prisoner, arrives in Boston and joins the Pilot staff. He later becomes its editor and co-owner and renowned local literary luminary. |
| 1871 | 1 October: New Home for Destitute Catholic Children opened on Harrison Avenue costing $100,000 dedicated by Bishop John J. Williams |
| 1872 | 9 November: Great Boston Fire destroys Patrick Donahoe’s Pilot Office and Emigrant Savings Bank on Franklin Street, eventually leading to his bankruptcy |
| 1873 | Catholic Union established by Irish Catholics to advocate for religious rights of Catholics, especially for those in state or municipal institutions |
| 1875 | The Population of Boston is 342,000 (70,000 born in Ireland) |
| | 8 December: Holy Cross Cathedral, designed by Irishman Patrick C. Keely, dedicated |
| | Boston becomes an Archdiocese |
| 1876 | 17 March: Five Fenian units totaling 200 men march in Boston’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade |
| | Catalpa voyage rescues six Fenian prisoners from Australia and raises morale of Irish American nationalists |
| | 15 April: John Boyle O’Reilly and Archbishop Williams purchase the Pilot from Patrick Donahoe |
| 1877 | 17 September: Soldiers and Sailors Monument, sculpted by Co. Sligo native Martin Milmore, dedicated on Boston Common |
| 1878 | 4 March: Centenary of birth of Irish patriot Robert Emmet celebrated at Tremont Temple with speeches by John Boyle O’Reilly and Patrick A. Collins |
| | 7 December: Former Fenians Michael Davitt and John Devoy meet John B. O’Reilly in Boston to discuss the New Departure plan to unite Irish political groups with a campaign for Irish land reform and self-government |
| 1879 | Return of famine conditions in the west of Ireland leads to large donations from the Boston Irish community and a big increase in Irish immigration to Boston |
| | 6 September: In a letter to the Pilot, Anna and Fanny Parnell urge the Irish in the United States to send money to relieve distress in Ireland. The Pilot editor, John Boyle O’Reilly, opens a subscription fund at the paper to quickly forward donations to Ireland. |
| 1880 | 12 January: Charles S. Parnell, M.P. visits Boston area to raise funds for the Irish Land League and Home Rule |
| | 10 February: Charitable Irish Society donates $1,000 to Irish Land League to help alleviate the food crisis in the West Of Ireland |
| | 17 March: Charitable Irish Society cancels its annual dinner and encourages donations to Irish Land League |
| | 15 April: John Boyle O’Reilly, Patrick Collins, and John Dillon, M.P. speak at Faneuil Hall and organize Boston chapter of American Land League to support agrarian agitation in Ireland |
| | 5 November: Boston Land League packs Faneuil Hall for speeches by Irish land agitator Michael Davitt and John Boyle O’Reilly on progress of Irish Land War against exorbitant rents and evictions |
| | Census records show 7,172 Irish-born women employed as domestic servants in Boston |
| | 9,099 Irish immigrants arrive at the Port of Boston during year |
| 1881 | 19 May: Fanny Parnell, founder of American Ladies Land League, honored at Boston reception where she thanks Boston Irish for their financial and moral support |
| 1882 | Peak of post-Famine Irish immigration to Boston and growth of widespread Boston Irish support for Irish land reform agitation and Home Rule |
| | 20 June: 7,000 assemble at Mechanics Hall to hear Michael Davitt, founder of the Irish Land League, on his plan to eradicate landlordism in Ireland and build a peasant proprietorship |
| | 10 November: Charlotte Grace O’Brien, daughter of Young Ireland rebel William S. O’Brien, advocates building a home in Boston for newly arrived Irish young women to prevent their exploitation |
| 1883 | 8 February: Charitable Irish Society organizes a large protest against a British government assisted immigration scheme as a plot to depopulate Ireland |
| | Clover Club founded as a social club for Irishmen |
| 1884 | Hugh O’Brien elected as first Irish-born mayor (re-elected 1885, 1886, and 1887) |
| 1885 | The population of Boston is 390,000 (68,000 born in Ireland) |
| 1886 | Boston chapters of Irish National League and other Irish organizations hold numerous meetings to provide financial and moral support to Charles S. Parnell, M.P. and the Irish Parliamentary Party in their campaign to secure passage of William E. Gladstone’s Home Rule Bill of 1886. John Boyle O’Reilly and Patrick A. Collins are prominent in these efforts. |
| | 8 June: Irish Home Rule Bill is defeated in the British House of Commons |
| 1887 | Irish Catholics including Hugh O’Brien and John E. Fitzgerald hold major city offices |
| | 17 March: Charitable Irish Society celebrates its 150th Anniversary and John Boyle O’Reilly recites his famous poem "The Exile of the Gael" |
| 1889 | James Bernard Cullen publishes The Story of the Irish in Boston, relating many Irish successes in business, government, the legal profession, and the cultural life of the city. |
| | 17 March: Charitable Irish Society confers Honorary Memberships on Irish leaders Charles S. Parnell MP, Michael Davitt MP, and William O’Brien MP |
| 1890 | 10 August: Death of John Boyle O’Reilly at Hull, Massachusetts |
| | 2 September: Memorial service for John Boyle O’Reilly at Tremont Temple attended by thousands. Other services held in 12 Massachusetts towns as well cities across the country |
| 1892 | John F. Fitzgerald elected to Massachusetts Senate |
| | Boston Irish hold many meetings in support of Irish Home Rule Bill of 1892 |
| | Martin Lomasney elected to the Board of Aldermen |
| 1894 | Immigration Restriction League formed |
| | 22 April: 5000 attend the dedication of St. Cecilia’s Roman Catholic Church. The church was financed principally by Irish-born domestic servants employed by Boston elite families of the Back Bay and Beacon Hill. |
| 1895 | The population of Boston is 497,000 (72,000 born in Ireland) |
| 1896 | 30 June: Dedication of the John Boyle O’Reilly memorial by Daniel Chester French at the Fenway entrance. This is the first memorial to an Irish man in Boston. |
| 1898 | James Michael Curley’s first run for public office |
| 1900 | 7 May: Ancient Order of Hibernians holds national convention in Boston. On May 9, 1,200 AOH members parade through the city. |
| 1902 | Patrick A. Collins elected mayor |
| 1905 | 14 September: Mayor Collins dies in office |
| | John F. Fitzgerald elected first American-born Irish Catholic mayor |
| 1907 | 30 August: Death of Archbishop John J. Williams and William H. O’Connell succeeds as Archbishop |
| | 4 September: Cardinal Gibbons officiates at Archbishop Williams’ funeral at Cathedral, attended by 5 archbishops, 13 bishops, hundreds of priests and religious figures as well as prominent lay Bostonians |
| 1909 | 19 June: 35,000 attend Garden Party for Ground Breaking of new Boston College Chestnut Hill campus, designed by Irish born Charles D. Maginnis and Timothy F. Walsh |
| 1911 | 30 November: Archbishop O’Connell elevated to Cardinal in Rome |
| 1912 | Boston Irish again rally in support of the 1912 Home Rule Bill which passes in May, but is suspended because of World War I |
| | 18 March: Charitable Irish Society's 175th Anniversary Dinner at Somerset Hotel with President William Howard Taft and Cardinal William O'Connell among the 800 guests. |
| | 17 May: Opening of Fenway Park, built by Irish contractor and Charitable Irish Society member Charles E. Logue |
| 1915 | The population of Boston is 745,000 (64,000 born in Ireland) |
