Boston club was down, but far from out

[caption id="attachment_66969" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="There's life yet in Irish Social Club of Boston."]

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BOSTON --- Thanks to the efforts of hundreds of volunteers, one of Boston's most enduring and treasured Irish-American traditions may be revived in the coming months.

The Irish Social Club of Boston, which is known far and wide for its weekly Sunday night dances, abruptly shut its doors in April of this year because of a dwindling, aging membership, and the prospect of much-needed costly building repairs.

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The club was founded in 1945 by Mary Concannon and was initially located at Hibernian Hall in Roxbury, where funds were raised to send Irish step-dancers to competitions in far away New York City.

In 1978, the club moved to its current location on Park Street in West Roxbury, where the Sunday evening dances became an entertainment staple for Irish Americans and newer arrivals from Ireland alike.

At one point in its long history, membership was up to 15,000, but in recent years that number has diminished substantially. When the doors closed in April, the club had only about 300 members, mostly senior citizens.

At this year's St. Patrick's Day dance, the club could barely afford to pay the band. And when the city's fire department demanded that an expensive fire alarm and sprinkler system be installed, club officials, looking up at a leaky roof, decided to call it quits.

When news of the club's closing spread, residents throughout the city quickly came forward with offers of money and free labor.

Supported by politicians and local merchants, fundraisers have been held, and a membership drive has already brought in about 400 new members.

"We've been making excellent progress," Richard Archer told the Echo. "So far we've raised about $12,000, and we've set a goal of $100,000."

Archer, a County Cork native and treasurer of "Save the Irish Social Club," said that volunteers are now reaching out to younger people and families.

"We are getting a good

mix of the younger set and older people involved," he

said.

"And we'll be looking at opening up the club for other functions and possibly having the dances on a Saturday night instead of Sunday because people need to get up to go to work on Monday.

"It would be awful to see this club close down," Archer said. "It's been a great place for the Irish to gather."

On Saturday, September 24, the doors of the club will be opened in the early afternoon for an all-day and evening fundraising event. The fundraiser will feature music, dancing, and raffle prizes, including a trip to Ireland and a free week in a country cottage.

"We've already got eight bands lined up, and we're expecting a good turnout," Archer said.

"We'll have music for the younger set and families during the day, and in the evening we'll feature music and dancing for the older folks."

Archer said that people can make a donation, or join the club for a $5 fee by writing to Save the Irish Social Club of Boston, P.O. Box 320431, West Roxbury, Ma. 02132. The web address is savetheirishsocialclubofboston.org.

 

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