History reinforces builder's foundation.

COLUMN: Neighbors

Shrewsbury resident Thomas L. Rooney got his Irish up a few years back over the relatively unknown history of the Blackstone Canal and the contractor who built it, Tobias F. Boland (1795-1883). Then in his 70s, Mr. Rooney had worked four decades as a banker but had little background in historical research when he took a local history course at Worcester State College.

But he was hooked. His own heritage played into his decision to research a man who looms over the landscape as builder of not only the canal, but the Providence and Worcester Railroad, area churches and part of the original College of the Holy Cross, among other projects. "My mother came over from Ireland," he said. "I've got Irish in my blood."

Along the way, Mr. Rooney's research was discovered through an ancestry Web site by a descendant of Mr. Boland living in Mobile, Ala. Margaret Boland is a writer and publisher there.

The deal was struck to use his research and her facility for prose to create a historical novel, 154 pages covering a man's 88-year life. The result is "The Irish Pioneer," subtitled, "A Historical Novel on the Life of Tobias F. Boland."

This is the second literary use Mr. Rooney, 80, has seen for his work. He wrote a children's book, "Tobry Boland and the Blackstone Canal," illustrated by Patricia A. Foley-Donovan of Shrewsbury and published in 2005.

"I think it will hold people's attention," Mr. Rooney said of "The Irish Pioneer," "because you've got the history of Worcester right from the beginning. It's a fantastic history."

Mr. Rooney, who retired as president of the Leicester Savings Bank in 1992, appears as a co-author of the book, which is published by Magnolia Mansions Press.

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