On Sunday last the Irish Pastoral Centre hosted its annual Family Fun Day at Braintree High School. This is the third consecutive year that we have hosted this event and we drew over 200 children with their parents and grandparents in tow as our event coincided with Grandparents Day. At the IPC we believe in the importance of bringing children and their families together to celebrate their Irish heritage with their fellow expatriates. It was great to see the children sporting their county colors (jerseys) and enjoying the festivities of the day while Galway and Kilkenny battled it out for the All Ireland Hurling Final. What a great way for them to celebrate their heritage here in Boston.


There were activities for children ranging in age from 4 to 12 years old. One of the activities was the traditional Irish Egg and Spoon Race where children of all ages were challenged to run a distance while holding an egg on a spoon. So it was not simply their ability to run quickly that was at stake, rather their ability to run quickly while keeping the egg on the spoon! It was so much fun to watch the children find ways to hold onto the egg without touching it and speed to the finish line. In addition, we had the favourite three-legged race that was a great hit with the crowd and the sack race that brought the house down with laughter. The activities for the children culminated with the kids’ tug-o-war.

The children were so excited to participate while they enjoyed the competitive and fun aspects of the day. The In addition, we had a sweet and snack shop and face painters to bring color and creativity to the day. The children were not the only ones to be entertained on the day. We had a mother and father race and a tug-o-war.

A sincere word of gratitude to all those who help make the day a tremendous success - Moms from the mother and toddler group who worked tirelessly to coordinate the logistics of the day and not to mention those who volunteered their time from those who welcomed families at the gate, shopkeepers, face painters and race organizers. Also to Pat Joyce who helped run the penalty shoot-out. With a special word of gratitude to the exceptional Kevin Doherty who acted as MC and certainly contributed to the success of the day.

We look forward to seeing you all again next year le cunamh de.

More photos to come next week or check out www.ipcboston.org