Boston College was founded by Enniskillen native John McElroy, who died on September 12, 1877.
Editor's Note: Reverend John McElroy was born in Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh in 1782 and emigrated to the US in 1803. In 1817, he was ordained as a priest and later, in 1847, he settled in Boston where he launched plans for a Jesuit college. In 1858, McElroy broke ground for Boston College and classes began in 1864. Reverend McElroy died in Maryland in 1877. The below is a report on Boston College's 150th Anniversary celebration in 2012:
Boston College will commence its 150th-anniversary celebrations this weekend with a Saturday Mass at Fenway Park, home of the Red Sox.
The college began originally as a school to educate poor Irish emigrants.
At the height of the Famine, as hundreds of thousands of destitute Irish poured into the city, the Reverend John McElroy braved massive anti-Irish sentiment and a vicious anti-Catholic backlash and made plans to open the school for children of the Famine immigrants. He finally succeeded in 1863.
Tens of thousands of people are expected to attend the mass, which will honor BC, which has some 750 staff members and over 14,500 students.
The college's senior vice president, Jim McIntyre, paid tribute to the Jesuits who laid the foundation for the school's success.
"I look back at the number of Jesuits for example who sacrificed their lives and gave everything to BC," he said in an interview with the Boston Herald.
"They didn't take any salaries and they worked night and day. We stand on their shoulders and we stand tall."
McIntyre went on to say that the institution has produced graduates that have excelled in all walks of life and can compete with any other college in the country.
The SVP plans to continue to expand facilities, not to grow, but to make sure that all students coming to BC can expect the best possible conditions to excel.
You can check out some highlights from the Boston College anniversary here, courtesy of The Boston Globe:
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