Exhibit 31.1

                                  Certification

I, John D. Doherty,  Chairman,  President and Chief Executive Officer of Central
Bancorp, Inc., certify that:

1.   I have  reviewed  this  quarterly  report on Form 10-Q of Central  Bancorp,
     Inc.;

2.   Based on my knowledge,  this  quarterly  report does not contain any untrue
     statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact  necessary to
     make the statements  made, in light of the  circumstances  under which such
     statements  were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by
     this report;

3.   Based on my  knowledge,  the  financial  statements,  and  other  financial
     information  included  in  this  report,  fairly  present  in all  material
     respects the financial  condition,  results of operations and cash flows of
     the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

4.   The  registrant's  other  certifying  officer  and  I are  responsible  for
     establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined
     in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the registrant and have:

          (a) Designed such disclosure  controls and procedures,  or caused such
     disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to
     ensure that material information relating to the registrant,  including its
     consolidated  subsidiaries,  is made  known to us by  others  within  those
     entities,  particularly  during the  period in which  this  report is being
     prepared;

          (b)  Evaluated  the  effectiveness  of  the  registrant's   disclosure
     controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions  about
     the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures,  as of the end
     of the period covered by this report, based on such evaluation; and

          (c) Disclosed in this report any change in the  registrant's  internal
     control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant's most
     recent fiscal quarter (the  registrant's  fourth fiscal quarter in the case
     of an annual report) that has materially affected,  or is reasonably likely
     to materially  affect,  the  registrant's  internal  control over financial
     reporting; and

5.   The registrant's  other certifying  officer and I have disclosed,  based on
     our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to
     the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of the registrant's board
     of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):

          (a) All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design
     or  operation  of  internal  control  over  financial  reporting  which are
     reasonably  likely to adversely affect the registrant's  ability to record,
     process, summarize and report financial information; and

          (b) Any fraud,  whether or not material,  that involves  management or
     other employees who have a significant  role in the  registrant's  internal
     control over financial reporting.


Date: February 17, 2004

                                 /s/ John D. Doherty
                                 -----------------------------------------------
                                 John D. Doherty
                                 Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer