2026 -- H 8307

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LC003533

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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

     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.

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