The Irish standard., 1901-05-18
The Irish In the South.

eH~SA~ So~sAAs
At recent banquet of the uiber-
nian Societies OF Montgomery, Ala,
MIR. Alex. Troy, of that city, made an
eloquent address in response to the
toast, "The Irish Race in the Sunny
South" In the South, as in every part
of the United States, the sons of Erin
have been distinguished in war and in
peace, in the professions, in business
and in politics. Mr.. Troy's speech was
happy and just tribute to the ability
and achievements Of the sons of the
Emerald Isle whose lot has been cast
with the South and who have left
their impress on it's history, says the
Baltimore Sun.
Among the eminent men of Irish de-
scent Whom Mr.. Troy enumerated
We're Charles Carroll, of Maryland;
Thomas Nelson, of Virginia; Edward
Rutledge ard Thomas Lynch, of South
Carolina, signers Of the Declaration of
Independence. In the Revolutionary
war there were William Thompson,
John RutleGge, Rutherford, Howard,
Mcclure, Read, Dooly, and hundreds
of others. 1t was an intrepid Irish
man, Sergeant Jasper, who in the Brit
ish attack ON Fort Moultrie, on June
%, 1916, when the Flagstaff which
fioated the crescent flag of South Caro-
lima was cut away by shot from a
British frigatc, sprang over the para
pet, fastened the flag upon staff and,
amid storm of shot and shell, plant
cd it upon the bastion. The Irish
Americans Daniel Carroll, of Mary
land; George Read, of Delaware; John
Rutledge and Pierce Butler, of South
Carolina, were among the trainers of
the Constitution. During the war With
Mexico an Irish-American, James X.
Polk, was at the helm. Andrew Jack
son, a man Who gloried i'll his Irish an
cestry, was elected president, and John
G. Calhoun, another Irish American,
was chosen vice president.
"What have the Irish in the South
accomplished? asked Mr.. Troy land
answered his own question with the
statement that 'it would he far easier
to tell what they have not DONE"
They have established colleges, said
the orator, and maintained them. They
have built railroads and managed
them. They have been in the legisla-
tive halls to make laws and then sat
on the bench as judges to construe
them. They have been representatives
In congress, governors, supreme court
Judges, United States senators, cabinet
ministers and presidents. They are
in the South now pursuing their peace
full vocations-some in the sacred office
OF priesthood, some as merchants,
farmers, doctors, lawyers and in all
the honorable callings in civil life.
1--WE see Southern members of this
race" added Mr.. Troy, Gin all the
grand events Of our race. We see the
fire and enthusiasm of the Irishman in
Patrick Henry, in the Virginia house
of delegates, uttering the battle cry
which won the Revolution-'Give me
liberty or give me DEATH We see
him in Charles Carroll, with Il price
upon his head, who scorned danger by
adding of Carrollton' as an indelible
designation Of the individual to his sig
nature to the Declaration of 1ndepen-
dence. We see him in battle at Kings
Mountain, the Cowpens, Guilford
Court House-in fact, in all the battles
Of the Revolution from Concord to
Yorktown. We see him in Andrew
Jackson at New Orleans and in Stone
wall Jackson at Charlottesville"
When the Southern States seeded
and appealed to tine arbitrament of
arms many a gallant 1rishman cast
his lot with the Confederacy. "We see
the Irish race" said Mr.. Troy, ''in Pat
Cleburne. the 'knightliest of a knightly
race whose bright sword waved and
glittercd in the thickest of the fight:
who, private soldier in 1861 and
hrigadier general in 1862, after Win
ming renown and glory at Shiloh. Per-
ryville, Murfreesboro and Chickamau-
ga leading his handful of men aginst
10000 of the enemy, strongly in
trenchcd behind breastworks, and car
rying two of them. laid down his life
on the bloody field Of Franklin"
Among other Irishmen of the Civil
war period We're Abram J. Ryan, the
poet-priest, "who touched his harp and
the air was filled with music;" Daniel
J. Ryan. the young brother of Father
Ryan, who gave his life for the Con-
federacy; Pat O'Connor, who, mortally
wounded in battle, gave his sword to
his commanding officer and asked him
to give it to his mother and tell her
there was no stain on it. 'sWe see the
Irishmen of the South" concluded Mr..
Troy, "in brave Tom McDenoush,
Fred McManus, Dennis NIadigan,
Frank Monnihana and thousands of 9th
ers laying down their lives for their
country. Their patriotic blood stained
every battlefield from Manassas to Ap-
pomattox and from Shiloh to BENTON
ville."
The deeds of 1rishmcn, as Mr.. Troy