Presidential Documents

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 41 / Thursday, March 4, 2021 / Presidential Documents 12517 

Proclamation 10151 of March 1, 2021 

Irish-American Heritage Month, 2021 

By the President of the United States of America 

A Proclamation 

Since before the founding of our Nation, Irish immigrants have arrived 

on our shores with an unyielding spirit of determination that has helped 

define America’s soul and shape our success across generations. Driven 

by the same dreams that still beckon people the world over to America 

today, so many crossed the Atlantic with nothing but the hope in their 

hearts and their faith in the possibility of a better life. 

That’s what brought the Blewitts from County Mayo and the Finnegans 

of County Louth to the United States. For years, they brought Ireland into 

their homes in America. Working hard. Raising families. Remembering always 

where they came from. By 1909, my grandparents Ambrose Finnegan and 

Geraldine Blewitt met and married in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and passed 

on to my mother, Catherine Eugenia Finnegan Biden, a pride and a passion 

that runs through the bloodstream of all Irish-Americans. 

The story of the Irish the world over is one of people who have weathered 

their fair share of hard times, but have always come out strong on the 

other side. From often humble beginnings, Irish Americans became the farmers, servants, miners, factory workers, and laborers who fed our Nation, 

kept our homes, and built our industry and infrastructure. They became 

the soldiers who won American independence, died to preserve our Union, 

and fought in every battle since to defend America and its values. 

Irish Americans became the firefighters and police officers who have protected us. They are the activists who organized unions to give voice and 

strength to America’s workers. They are the educators who taught generations 

of American students and the public servants who have answered the call 

to service in the halls of the Congress, the Supreme Court, and the White 

House. 

We owe a debt of gratitude to the Irish-American inventors and entrepreneurs 

who helped define America as the land of opportunity. Irish-American writers 

pollinated America’s literary landscape with their love of language and 

storytelling, while Irish lyricism has brought poetry, art, music, and dance 

to nourish our hearts and souls. 

As I said when I visited Dublin in 2016, our nations have always shared 

a deep spark—linked in memory and imagination, joined by our histories 

and our futures. Everything between us runs deep: literature, poetry, sadness, 

joy, and, most of all, resilience. Through every trial and tempest, we never 

stop dreaming. 

The fabric of modern America is woven through with the green of the 

Emerald Isle. This month, we celebrate the sacrifices and contributions 

that generations of Irish Americans have made to build a better America, 

and we renew the bonds of friendship that will forever tie Ireland and 

the United States. 

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States 

of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution 

and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim March 2021 as 

Irish-American Heritage Month. I call upon all Americans to celebrate the 


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12518 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 41 / Thursday, March 4, 2021 / Presidential Documents 

achievements and contributions of Irish Americans to our Nation with appropriate ceremonies, activities, and programs. 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this first day of 

March, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-fifth. 

[FR Doc. 2021–04641 

Filed 3–3–21; 8:45 am] 

Billing code 3295–F1–P 


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