07-R111

2007 -- S 0858

Enacted 03/15/07

S E N A T E R E S O L U T I O N

COMMEMORATING THE CELEBRATION OF ST. PATRICK'S DAY

Introduced By: Senators C Levesque, Alves, McCaffrey, Connors, and P Fogarty

Date Introduced: March 15, 2007

     WHEREAS, St. Patrick, the apostle to Ireland, demonstrated the courage of his spiritual

convictions by returning to the scene of his former enslavement and single-handedly assaulting

the stronghold of Druidism; and

     WHEREAS, Wielding the devotion of his faith like a great sword of righteousness, and

using the strength of his intellect, and the power of his passions, Saint Patrick assimilated the

ancient pagan Irish myths into a Christian message, and in so doing, converted all of Ireland to

Christianity during his lifetime; and

     WHEREAS, On March 17th, during the annual celebration of the Feast of Saint Patrick,

which began more than fifteen centuries after his death, Irish-Americans join with men, women,

and children of all other ethnic origins who, for one day, become Irish, and celebrate Patrick and

his love of Ireland; and

     WHEREAS, On Saint Patrick's Day, all who wear the green live for a day in the spirit of

Saints Patrick, Bridget, and Columcille, and in the mythical wonders of Cuchullain, Finn, Osian,

and Deirdre of the Sorrows; and

     WHEREAS, Irish immigrants to Rhode Island helped form the cultural foundation of our

state, and Rhode Islanders of Irish lineage today proudly sing of their roots in Ballinamore and

Ballinasloe, in Ennistymon and Enniscorthy, in Cahirciveen and Castlebarr, and in Skibbereen

and Skerries; and

     WHEREAS, The songs of Ireland are the tragic songs of love and the joyous songs of

battle; the nostalgic reveries of the sorrows and the glories that are the Emerald Isle; and the

lamentations of life's myriad travails and the odes to joy and the life eternal; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

hereby commemorates the celebration of the Feast of St. Patrick, the Patron Saint of Ireland.

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LC02632

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