Proud son of Connemara takes the helm at oldest Irish organisation in the Americas

Jim Foley of Marblehead, Massachusetts – a city north of Boston and close to Salem – said he was proud to head up a charity that was found by Irish immigrants from Ireland to Boston…just like his own Connemara grandparents.

“I am very proud of being named President of the Charitable Irish Society. We have been around almost 300 years and have two primary goals. The first is to aid immigrants to Boston – both Irish and non-Irish,” he said.

“My Dad’s father Michael Folan (Michael Mhic Jackie O’Cualain) was from Carraroe.  His name got changed from Folan to Foley by immigration officials in the 1920s,” he revelas.

“My Dad’s Mom was Mary (Conley) Foley, she was from Inverin. Both of my Dad’s parents spoke Irish around the home.”

He himself was back in Galway last year – thanks to All-Ireland Final tickets and a twist of fate!

“The Carraroe GAA team came to Boston in February 2024 for a fundraiser at Florian Hall in Boston,” he recalled.

“My ticket was drawn third and while the hurling tickets were already gone, I was able to pick the tickets to the All-Ireland football final. Of course, at the time, I had no idea that Galway would actually be in the final!

“After winning the draw, I quickly made the decision that I was going to go to the game and not sell the tickets.

“Winning the tickets spurred me to get in touch with some of my cousins that I hadn’t talked to in years. I ended up meeting with a few of them. We had some pints at Tigh An Taillura in Carraroe. My second cousin is Ciarán Ó Cualáin who was one of the Selectors for the Carraroe team that won the championship in 2024.”

The Society’s other goal is to build community and collaboration among the Irish and Irish/American community.

“Even though we aid immigrants to Boston from all over the world, our largest disbursement in 2024 was to a family from the North of Ireland,” he said.

“We partnered with The Irish Pastoral Centre in Dorchester to aid a family where the main financial provider was suffering some severe health issues.

“We also have a strong relationship with the Irish Consulate in Boston and were able to provide some funds to an Irish expat who had a short-term financial emergency based on the recommendation of the Consulate,” he added.

Jim Foley lives in Marblehead, MA with his wife and two children and is an active parishioner at Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church. He works at Oracle as a Senior Practice Manager in the ACS group focusing on the NetSuite Product.

His own goals for this year for the Charitable Irish Society is to increase the amount of money raised to help immigrants and to increase the amount of paid memberships.

The Charitable Irish’s Fall Fundraiser is the Silver Key Reception where they will honour Boston Archbishop Richard Henning for his work supporting Catholic Charities and defending immigrants.

The event will be held on Wednesday, October 29, at the UMASS Club in Boston.

Pictured: Jim Foley….ties to Carraroe and Inverin.