☘️HISTORIC HOME:

Maritime & Irish Mossing Museum at the Benjamin James House (Scituate)

The Benjamin James House, built in 1739, is a historic home now operated as the Maritime & Irish Mossing Museum by the Scituate Historical Society. The museum highlights lives and work of Irish mossers, fishermen, and their families, connecting maritime heritage with the story of Irish and Irish-American communities who settled along the South Shore. 

There are tales of shipwrecks off the coast of Scituate. There are tales of the local Humane Societies and their men. 

They were mossers, fishermen, and farmers. But in the face of adversity, they became as supermen and, in their zeal, achieved what ordinary men would not have dreamed of achieving.

Lois Bailey Wills, author

301 Driftway, Scituate, Hours: Sundays: 1 to 4, except holidays and Father’s Day

Admission is $5.

 Set in the 1739 residence of Captain Benjamin James – a militia captain and shoemaker – the Society’s Maritime & Irish Mossing Museum stands out as one of the Commonwealth’s true “gems” of local history. Envisioned, designed, and curated by Society volunteers, this unique museum opened its doors in 1997.

Since then, the Maritime & Irish Mossing Museum has been featured in Smithsonian Magazine, Chronicle, the Discovery Channel, the History Channel, and many local publications. In 2021, the Museum was accepted as a member institution of the Council of American Maritime Museums (CAMM), joining other museums – such as Mystic Seaport, the Peabody Essex Museum, Nantucket Whaling Museum, and Hull Life-Saving Museum – working toward the preservation and interpretation of North America’s maritime heritage.

Currently, the Museum features five major topics within its exhibit spaces. Owing to Scituate’s treacherous coastline, the Shipwreck Room highlights the devastation and remarkable frequency of shipwrecks off of our shore over the years. One highlight is the Portland Gale of 1898 – a deadly storm so powerful that it drove open a new mouth in the North River. The Lifesaving Room pays tribute to the ingenuity and courage of early lifeboat volunteers in the Humane Society of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and, later, the U.S. Lifesaving Service. In the Irish Mossing Room, visitors become acquainted with the backbreaking work of hauling Irish moss up from the ocean floor. One will learn about the history of this uniquely Scituate industry, the dories and tools used, the products made from moss – and can explore the last remaining Irish Mossing shed in the U.S.

Phillips House in Salem (Irish Experience)

The Phillips House in Salem explores Irish-American history through its Irish Experience program. This living history tour focuses on the stories of Irish staff who worked in the house during the early twentieth century, offering insight into daily life and the contributions of Irish immigrants and their descendants in Salem.  (They are currently temporarily closed)

James Collins Mansion (Boston)

The James Collins Mansion in the City Point neighborhood of South Boston is associated with a prominent Irish Catholic family who helped build community infrastructure and support networks for Irish immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Collins’ leadership in local institutions played a significant role in easing prejudice and expanding home ownership and community services for Irish Americans in the region.