Clues Uncovered on Day One By Sheila Eppolito Perhaps the
prayers of St. Patrick’s pastor, Rev. James Taggart, helped. On
day one of the excavation of a former shanty town located on
parish grounds and inhabited by Lowell’s early Irish settlers,
University students unearthed a section of 150-year-old rosary
beads, remnants of a clay pipe and several iron nails. The dig —
part of an international collaboration between UMass Lowell and
Queen’s University in Belfast — has piqued the interest of many
people, and resulted in extensive media coverage, including a
front-page Boston Globe story, two Lowell Sun stories,
interviews on Boston radio and television stations and a
potential story in the Dublin-based Irish Times. “People are
definitely intrigued,” says Frank Talty, director of academic
programs in the College of Arts and Sciences and co-director of
the Center for Irish Partnerships. “The Irish laborers who came
to Lowell to help build the canals to power the mills left a
lasting legacy in the city, and it’s