Exhibit 31.1


                                 CERTIFICATIONS

I, Donald P. Gill, hereby certify that:

(1)   I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-QSB of First Ipswich
      Bancorp;

(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 quarterly report;

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

(4)   The small business issuer'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 small
      business issuer and we 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
            small business issuer, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is
            made known to us by others within those entities, particularly
            during the period in which this quarterly report is being prepared;

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

      c)    Disclosed in this quarterly report any change in the small business
            issuer's internal control over financial reporting that occurred
            during the small business issuer's most recent fiscal quarter that
            has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially
            affect, the small business issuer's internal control over financial
            reporting; and

(5)   The small business issuer's other certifying officer and I have disclosed,
      based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial
      reporting, to the small business issuer's auditors and the audit committee
      of the small business issuer's board of directors (or persons fulfilling
      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 small business issuer'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 small business
            issuer's internal controls over financial reporting.


/s/ Donald P. Gill
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Donald P. Gill
Chief Executive Officer

July 22, 2005