HOUSE RESOLUTION CELEBRATING ST. PATRICK'S DAY AND HONORING IRISH AMERICAN PATRIOTS' ROLE IN THE UNITED STATES WAR OF INDEPENDENCE

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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2026
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H O U S E R E S O L U T I O N
CELEBRATING ST. PATRICK'S DAY AND HONORING IRISH AMERICAN PATRIOTS'
ROLE IN THE UNITED STATES WAR OF INDEPENDENCE

Introduced By:
Representatives Kennedy, Shanley, Dawson, O'Brien, Fogarty,
Shekarchi, Blazejewski, Azzinaro, Hull, and Chippendale

Date Introduced:
March 17, 2026

Referred To:
House read and passed
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WHEREAS, In recognition of the 250th anniversary of one of the first major victories for
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the Patriots in the Revolutionary War. On Saint Patrick’s Day 1776, the British ended the eleven-
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month siege of Boston when they withdrew from the city of Boston, leaving control of the city to
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American forces including General John Sullivan, who was named Officer of the Day by George
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Washington. Sullivan, the son of Irish immigrants, would go on to be the Governor of New
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Hampshire and his brother James would later serve as the Governor of Massachusetts; and
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WHEREAS, We celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and
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the eight Irish American signatories thereof, including three who were born in Ireland. Thomas
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McKean, who went on to serve as the President of the Continental Congress, Charles Carroll,
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James Smith, George Taylor, Matthew Thornton, Edward Rutledge, Thomas Lynch Jr., and
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George Read; and
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WHEREAS, These eight men came from different communities and different
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upbringings, ranging from the sons of lawyers and clergymen to the sons of farmers and
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indentures, yet they stood united in their efforts to create a republic in the United States which
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inspired generations in Ireland to seek and ultimately secure an Irish republic, and whose spirit of
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independence is at the heart of the Republics they would crucially help found in America and
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Ireland. Their brand of Irish defiance and enlightenment republican ideas were used to create an
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alternative society for free people; and
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WHEREAS, The first 200 copies of the Declaration of Independence were printed by

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John Dunlap who emigrated from county Tyrone, and it first appeared internationally in the
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Belfast Newsletter in Ireland; and
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WHEREAS, Two hundred and fifty years ago, Stephen Moylan, George Washington’s
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Irish American aide-de-camp, first committed the phrase “United States of America” to paper;
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and
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WHEREAS, It was reported to the British Parliament by Lord Mountjoy that, “America
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was lost by Irish emigrants…I am assured from the best authority, a major part of the American
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Army was composed of Irish and that the Irish language was as commonly spoken in the
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American ranks as English, I am also informed it was their valor that determined the contest”;
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now, therefore be it
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RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island hereby
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commemorates the anniversary of these occasions and the contributions of Irish American
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Patriots in the struggle for independence; and be it further
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RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to
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transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Senator Mark Daly, Chair of the Senate of
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Ireland.
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