| R 172 |
| 2026 -- H 8307 Enacted 03/17/2026 |
| 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 |
| 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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| LC003533 |
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