The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-03-18
AIT AND WISDOM BLEND IN MEMORABLE FEASTS N HONOR OF IRELAND'S PATRON SAINT; MERRY
 BANQUETTERS RENEW FEALTY TO THE OLD SOD

n19 SUI D5eCG being S5I. sPaJf1ck ana, Are- land. = It proved a most eloquent ad-1 dress and received the Closest atten- ton of the several hundred diners. Rev. Father Kelly briefly recounted the story of St. Patrick and his going to Ireland to preach to the Druid priests and convert nation to Chris tdanity. Father Kelly said in part:
 stSt Patrick found Ireland ready for ChEdsdanity when he came. w her ever Erishmen are gathered you will find that spirit of reverence which caused them to readily adopt Chris t1anity and which cannot be extin- guished. For centuries when the van dasls despofIed other sections of Europe the Irish people by their de-. votion to the Catholic church pre- served ctviltzation from extinctton Tonight you will find that same spirit where Irish missionaries are: in the mud hltts of Africa; in Tokio, Jstpan; In Canton. ChinRss aye. even in Rome herself it is that same undyfng spirit which was found in the patron saint of the Irish.
 s'It will endurei until such time as men cease to believe fn the superna- tlral It is the deep founded faith in the Catholic religion whfch has guided men in following the Cross for centuries and which is the greatest has endured greater than any be- lief or unbenef that this world has ever known We look to find that spirit alone in the land which Pat rick evangelical. It is dotted with churches built by the pennies of the poor It is faith which no atmos- phere or system of oppression or per secution in the whole world has been able to crush and 1t will endure as long as Irishmen or their descend ants live.''
 when St. Patrick came to Ireland he found civilization there. There were schools and universities. The. 1 laws were we'll founded. Even wo- | men had, the right to vote in that day on questions effecting her prop I erty. Patrick evange1ized Ireland and l learning fourished until the Danes came on their raids from the sea and 1 the Irishmen had to take up the ! sword to battle for life
 Ireland and Irish men have suf- l fered in the past as no other coun- I try or people have suffered but through it all we have been stead 1 fast to our ideals of love of God. love of church and love of race and please God these will remain our. character l Istics to the end of tine.'s
 l At the conclusion of his remarks ] the asseulblage applauded Father Kelly for fully five minutes and he was finally forced to rise and bow l his acknoWl cement before the ap- l plause subsfd ded
 < Responding to the toast sssThe Irish I Spirit Attorney John A. Cornell made a brief but eloquent address recount ed the struggles of the Irish and their unfailingi devotion to their ideals. He I said that although deprived of liberty d and almost eversthing they held dear I in their homeland. the Irish had per I severe ed in the defence Of their religion 1 and their nationaIIsrn He said. tsThe consistency with which the Irish have I held true to their religion and their 1 nattonaIisIn though millions of Irish
 
 I para1leled1n the histony of the world. In povertEs in diversity. in exile in I other lands Irishmen have been true T to their religion and their ideals. precision no matter how hard the iron
 heel of their rulers devotion to duty, .i courage in adversity. steadfastness in ,t purpose in clinging to the principles of creed and race have marked the
 spirit of the Irish people"
 Hon. Joseph J Hall of Naugatuck
 spoke of Robert Emmet Ireland $
 apostle Of liberty 7 in thrilling euIogy of the martyr whom all Irishmen re- Il were. He said that although some peo- 1 pie were accustomed to refer to Elm met's attempt as i'll starred,,' yet
 some of the best military experts who
 had examined ETnmet's plans for the
 uprising had pronounced them with 1 out flaw andSas displaying a high type
 of military genius.
 Hon MT, Hall said that Emmet's plans nniscarried through no fault of circumstances over which he had no control and even then he might have
 escaped to France had he not stopped to say farewell to his bethrothed, Sara
 Curran- In conclusion he predicted
 that the day of freedom for Ireland
 was near and urged that all Irishmen
 insist that Ireland have complete in
 dependence instead of remaining as a
 part of the British empire with Home
 Rule. This was the principle for i, which Emmet laid down his life, he
 said, and in conclusion: .sAs long, as
 memory lasts no Irishman shall forget the brave and spotIess Emmet.,'
 Frank A. Haggerty of Hartford
 spoke on Irish Traits, He said that
 no other nation in the history of the ,I world had been so persecuted and yet
 the nation had sustained the charac e.
 teristics of light heartedness. genero- sity, frankness, patriotism, love of lib erty, humor and Christian zeal He
 said there had been but one conauero1
 of Irishmen and that was St, Patrick whose conquest was conquest of love
 His work is cherished and his
 name venefated said he. swherever
 the Celt has made his homer. So the Irish traits will sustain, the Irish ,sl spirit until Ireland shall again belong to the Irish people and they shall tCOAAAS 10 J1eLl SES4l11SssS III IIS1rg own land which they have in so many oth- CT lands"
 Judge Thomas F. Ryan of Iitchfeid made a splendid address in respond ing to the toast. The Mission of ICelt'' Because of the lateness of the
 hour Judge Ryan did not go into lthe subject he had prepared to talk about. He said he could not let the opportunity go by without calling at itention to the great part that Irish men and especially Catholic Irishrnen had played in the building of the Re public. In the great exodus which : followed the British persecution in Ireland in 1851, Judge Ryan said thousands of Catholic Irish came to make their homes in New England