Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1915-03-18
IRISH AS AMERICANS.
Their Influence for Good Theme Of lU-
spirlnS Address.

The St Patrick day celebration was
concluded last evening with a lecture at
ST AGry's hall by Francis X. tarmody
of New York. who gave an inspiring ad-
dress on The Influence Of the Irish" "
There was u large attendance Of people.
and the lecture was frequently interrupted
by applause. Preceding the address,
there was a short musical program Of
instrumental and vocal selections the
music of ireland predominating. Among
those present We're the Rt, Rev. Bishop
j. j. Rice and several OF the local
catholic clergy The speaker was in
troduced by the Rev, j. r. Gillis
The speaker said that he would not
attempt to account for the indclible i'm
press that Ireland. country little
larger than the state of New Hampshire,
had made upon tn" rest of the world
save by reference to statistics, as the
well known qualities of her statesmen,
the bravery of her soldiers etc. We're
familiar to all. lie called attention to
the fact that lrcland's population was
greatest in ls4o, when there were >l7o,GD
people within the borders Of the country.
In 1861 her population had fallen to
6,652 90, and ten Years later there was Il
decrease of half million more. Each
decade since that time has seen a de-
crease and at the present tim" she has
but little NOR" than four million souls
If the population of $50 mad remained
within her borders Ireland would prob
ably now number twenty millions. What.
then, became of the other sixteen
millions? In the United States at tho
present time there are two millions Of
people who were born in ireland bcsides
their descendants. This was not the
only nation, either, to which the Irish
emigrant journeycd. Large numbers Of
them went to Australia, New Zealand
Canada, South Africa and, in fact, to
every nation Of the RlOb. These
statistics furnish the explanation of the
familiarity of the civilized world with
the IRISH people and their aspirations and
chara cterstics.
The speaker eloquently described the
heroic character Of the Irish men and
women who from sheer necessity turned
from their native land and journeyed
thousands OF miles to countries to begin
lives of toll with no promise Of recon-
pense, or hope for return. In recounting
the many things that those of Irish birth
have done Professor Carmody said that
with a bomb In his pocket He came
here to build up and not tear down. He
referred to the fact that at the period
of the great Irish influx into this coun-
try the work of railway construction had
Just begun. and it Is fact that the
Irish built the railroads Of the country
So great WAS the influence OF the Irish
In this branch Of endeavor that for fifty
years after they first began TO arrive
In this country they We're never referred
10 In private speech or IN the public
press without Il reference, also, 10 the
pick and shovel Those days have gone
however for the Irish have graduated
from the pick and shovel brigade and in
stead of building they are now super
intendent operations. II it had not been
for the Irish the railroads could not have
been built for half "A century later than
they were.
What do the Irish families stand for
EE lAsax respective commupities2 The