Boston Celtics

When Boston’s new basketball franchise was founded in 1946, owner Walter Brown chose to call them the Celtics. The name honoured the city’s huge Irish-American population, who by then were central to Boston’s identity. The green uniforms, the shamrock, and the leprechaun logo all drew directly from that heritage, making the team a sporting reflection of the immigrant communities that had helped build the city.

The story begins in the mid-19th century. During the Great Irish Famine (1845–1852), hundreds of thousands fled Ireland, and Boston was one of their principal destinations. They arrived poor and desperate, often met with hostility, prejudice, and signs reading “No Irish Need Apply.” But over generations, the Irish carved out a place in the city, working the docks, building infrastructure, and becoming a political force through organisations like the Democratic Party machine.

Boston’s Democratic machine was a political network built around patronage, loyalty, and neighbourhood power. Irish leaders used it to secure jobs in the police, fire service, public works, and city hall for their communities. In return, immigrant voters gave the machine overwhelming support at the polls. Figures like James Michael Curley, the famously populist and flamboyant mayor, embodied this system: he promised to look after working-class Irish families, and they delivered him political dominance. By the early 20th century, the machine had turned Irish-Americans from outsiders into Boston’s ruling bloc.

That Irish legacy left a deep cultural imprint. Boston became famous for its St. Patrick’s Day parades, Irish pubs, Catholic churches, and traditions that remain strong today. The Celtics’ green jerseys and shamrock emblem weren’t just decorative — they were a badge of belonging for a community that had gone from rejected immigrants to a defining part of the city. Even the word “Celtic” itself harkens back to the ancient peoples of Ireland and Scotland, giving the team a link to history and identity that resonated in Boston’s streets.

On the court, the Celtics built one of the greatest dynasties in sports. Under coach Red Auerbach, they won 11 championships in 13 seasons from 1957 to 1969, led by legends like Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, John Havlicek, and Sam Jones. Russell, in particular, became both a basketball icon and a civil rights leader, transforming the Celtics into a team that stood for more than just wins. Later eras brought more greatness: Larry Bird in the 1980s, battling Magic Johnson and the Lakers in one of sport’s defining rivalries, and Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen in the 2000s, delivering another championship in 2008. Today, with stars like Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, the Celtics remain perennial contenders, carrying on the tradition.

Boston itself mirrors the Celtics’ character: a port city built on migration, intellectual ferment, and tough neighbourhoods. It is home to Harvard and MIT, but also to longshoremen and labourers. It is a place where culture, politics, and sport mix fiercely, and no franchise embodies that blend more than the Celtics.

The Boston Celtics are more than a basketball team. They are the story of the Irish famine ships, of prejudice turned into political power, of shamrocks painted green on every March street, and of a city that turned Irish grit into global glory. Their badge — the leprechaun twirling a basketball — is more than a mascot. It is a symbol of Boston itself: proud, tough, and forever Irish at heart.