Pictures: Kilkenny man involved in Boston Tea Party remembered at special Rothe House event

A special event took place at Rothe House at the weekend to remember Boston Tea Party participant and Kilkenny native Thomas White.

Thomas White was born on March 19, 1739 in Kilkenny, Ireland. White emigrated to America sometime between 1755-1760.
On December 16, 1773, at 34 years old, he participated in the Boston Tea Party, but his participation in the historic event has gone almost completely unmarked in Kilkenny, until now.

The Rothe House event included a dramatic, first-person portrayal of Thomas White by Josiah George, Assistant Creative Director, Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum, in full revolutionary era costume.

It also saw the unveiling of a commemorative plaque and the planting of a ceremonial white rosebush in the restored walled garden.

The plaque presented at Rothe House is part of a series of commemorative plaques that mark the final resting places of many of the brave people involved in the ‘single most important event leading up to the American Revolution’.

The image depicted on the commemorative marker is inspired by Nathaniel Currier’s The Destruction of the Tea at Boston Harbour lithograph created in 1846, a popular and often used artistic representation of The Boston Tea Party.

In the time leading up to the 250th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, which takes place on December 16, additional commemorative markers will be placed at the graves of all known Boston Tea Party participants buried throughout New England and the United States and in Ireland and Paris, France.