Celebrating St. Patrick's Day and Honoring Irish American Patriots' Role in the United States War of Independence

WHEREAS, In recognition of the 250th anniversary of one of the first major victories for the Patriots in the Revolutionary War. On Saint Patrick’s Day 1776, the British ended the eleven- month siege of Boston when they withdrew from the city of Boston, leaving control of the city to American forces including General John Sullivan, who was named Officer of the Day by George Washington. Sullivan, the son of Irish immigrants, would go on to be the Governor of New Hampshire and his brother James would later serve as the Governor of Massachusetts; and

WHEREAS, We celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and the eight Irish American signatories thereof, including three who were born in Ireland. Thomas McKean, who went on to serve as the President of the Continental Congress, Charles Carroll, James Smith, George Taylor, Matthew Thornton, Edward Rutledge, Thomas Lynch Jr., and George Read; and

WHEREAS, These eight men came from different communities and different upbringings, ranging from the sons of lawyers and clergymen to the sons of farmers and indentures, yet they stood united in their efforts to create a republic in the United States which inspired generations in Ireland to seek and ultimately secure an Irish republic, and whose spirit of independence is at the heart of the Republics they would crucially help found in America and Ireland. Their brand of Irish defiance and enlightenment republican ideas were used to create an alternative society for free people; and

WHEREAS, The first 200 copies of the Declaration of Independence were printed by John Dunlap who emigrated from county Tyrone, and it first appeared internationally in the Belfast Newsletter in Ireland; and

WHEREAS, Two hundred and fifty years ago, Stephen Moylan, George Washington’s Irish American aide-de-camp, first committed the phrase “United States of America” to paper; and

WHEREAS, It was reported to the British Parliament by Lord Mountjoy that, “America was lost by Irish emigrants…I am assured from the best authority, a major part of the American Army was composed of Irish and that the Irish language was as commonly spoken in the American ranks as English, I am also informed it was their valor that determined the contest”; now, therefore be it

RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island hereby commemorates the anniversary of these occasions and the contributions of Irish American Patriots in the struggle for independence; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Senator Mark Daly, Chair of the Senate of Ireland.