Exhibit 5


                   CRAIG AND MACAULEY PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION

                                                                    May 13, 2004

Board of Directors
First Ipswich Bancorp
31 Market Street
Ipswich, MA 01938

      Re:   Registration Statement on Form SB-2

Members of Board of Directors:

      We have acted as counsel to First Ipswich Bancorp, a Massachusetts
corporation, (the "Company") in connection with the registration under the
Securities Act of 1933, as amended, (the "Act"), pursuant to the Company's
registration statement on Form SB-2 (the "Registration Statement") of 300,000
shares of the Company's common stock, $1.00 par value (the "Common Stock").

      In this capacity, we have examined (i) the Registration Statement, which
is to filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "Commission") on
the date hereof, (ii) the articles of incorporation of the Company, (iii) the
bylaws of the Company, (iv) original or copies, certified or otherwise
identified to our satisfaction, of corporate records, agreements, documents, and
other instruments of the Company relating to the authorization and issuance of
the shares of the Common Stock, and (v) such other matters as we have deemed
relevant and necessary as a basis for the opinion hereinafter set forth.

      In conducting our examination, we have assumed the genuineness of all
signatures, the legal capacity of all natural persons, the authenticity of all
documents submitted to us as originals, the conformity to original documents of
all documents submitted to us as certified or photostatic copies, and the
authenticity of the originals of such documents. As to various questions of fact
material to this opinion letter, and as to the content and form of the articles
of incorporation, bylaws, minutes, records, resolutions, and other documents or
writings of the Company, this firm has relied, to


the extent it deems reasonably appropriate, upon representations and
certificates of officers or directors of the Company and upon documents,
records, and instruments furnished to this firm by the Company, without
independent check or verification of their accuracy.

      Based upon our review of the foregoing, it is our opinion that the shares
of Commons Stock of the Company covered by the Registration Statement have been
duly and validly authorized, and when issued and paid for in accordance with the
terms of the offering described in the Registration Statement, will be validly
issued, fully paid and nonassessable.

      We here by consent to the filing of this opinion as an exhibit to the
Company's Registration Statement and to the references to Craig and Macauley
Professional Corporation under the heading "Counsel" in the Prospectus contained
in the Registration Statement.

                                                 Very truly yours


                                                 /s/ Craig and Macauley
                                                       Professional Corporation