William P. Morrissey                                         Immediately
     Senior Vice President
     (617) 628-4000


                    CENTRAL BANCORP ANNOUNCES THE ELECTION OF
                         JAMES F. LINNEHAN AS A DIRECTOR

     SOMERVILLE,  MASSACHUSETTS,  May 23, 2003- Central Bancorp,  Inc.  (NASDAQ:
CEBK)  today  announced  that  at a  meeting  of the  board  of  directors  held
yesterday,  James F.  Linnehan  was  unanimously  elected as a  director  of the
Company to fill the vacancy  created by the death of Mr. Garrett  Goodbody.  Mr.
Linnehan's  term as director  will  expire at the  Company's  annual  meeting of
shareholders in 2005.

     Mr.  Linnehan is an attorney  and a certified  public  accountant.  He is a
former  director  and  chairman  of the audit and trust  committee  for  BayBank
Middlesex. He is also a Life Trustee for Suffolk University, having served as an
Alumni  Trustee and as Chairman of its Board of Trustees for ten years ending in
1996.  Mr.  Linnehan  was  formerly  the  Assistant  Attorney  General  for  the
Commonwealth of  Massachusetts,  and he also was a Special  Investigator for the
Suffolk County District  Attorney's  Office.  Mr. Linnehan  resides and works in
Middlesex  County,  Massachusetts,  where seven of the eight offices operated by
Central Bank are located.

     John D.  Doherty,  Chairman  of the Board,  stated "The Board is pleased to
welcome James Linnehan to Central  Bancorp,  and we look forward to working with
him to serve the Company, our stockholders, our employees and our community."

     Central Bancorp,  Inc. is the holding company for Central Bank, whose legal
name is Central Co-operative Bank, a  Massachusetts-chartered  co-operative bank
operating eight full-service banking offices and one limited-service high school
branch in suburban Boston.

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