Kentucky Irish American. (Louisville, Ky.) 1898-1968, 1919-07-12

population, has played a distin-
guished part in these patriotic eff
forts, both at home and in foreign
fields. and i wish to express my ad-
miration for their loyalty and en-
thusiasm.
shall be pardoned If l declare
my particular interest in the old reg
iment, which signals in a special
way the grateful devotion of men of
Irish birth or blood to the cause of
our republic, regiment which
celebrates the recurring festal day of
the apostle of our race by marching
to Holy Mass at st Patrick's
Cathedral / know with what eager
ness its members responded to the
call to arms, and with what courage
they bore the brunt OF battle on
many fronts. For them this war
was doubly sacred, since it was for
our own glorious republic and also
for the protection of the weaker and
oppressed peoples.
The Irish sword, which has been
drawn the world oyer for the cause
of liberty, has once more borne a
noble part in the defense of the
weak. Many lands you have helped
~ AADtAobCs tnOuSA iOL JClg dldos tue
one in which, after America, you, as
myself, are most deeply interested.
But the end, ] hope and believe, is
not yet. Our President has laid
down the principle of self-determina-
ton for all peoples; both houses of
Congress, following the fine Ameri-
can tradition of supporting the OPP
pressed, have declared by over
whelming nlajorities their sympathy
with the aspirations Of the Irish
people.
The voice of men like yourselves,
of hundreds of thousands, nay, of
millions of men Of the Irish race
who have so amply manifested their
thorough devotion TO our republic by
taking up arms without any con-
sideration except the interests of
this country, will be heard with as
sent by our fellow-citizens of every
racial origin and the united voice
Of America will be heard across the
seas as it utters the demand that the
land of our fathers should not re-
main the only country in Europe to
be excluded from the right of self
determination. 1t is a happy chance
that this first request which I have
received since I became Archbishop
to speak on the Irish question
should come from an organization
in which have always been so deep
ly interested, and one whose
thorough loyalty to our country has
been proven by its unstinted bravery
and self-sacrifice.
1t was my privilege to bless the
regiment as IL stood in arms on the
armory floor moment before II
passed through those portals on its
way to the fields Of France, from
which many of those brave lads
we're never more to return. That
day as / watched them march forth.
SO young, so gallant, so joyous, II
could scarce repress my feelings and
the main thought in my mind was
the echo OF the s$aifant Sarsfield's
sole lament as his life blood flowed.
that it was not shed for Ireland I
saw in vision the never-ending pro-
cession of gallant Irish lads who
went forth to fight on every field in
Europe and for the benefit of every
land save the one for which they
would gladly have died. But yet
trust that in your case those of you
VIM lOuSut anu luOSc VI yOu WIN
died, fought and died for the good
of Ireland. The generous republic
under whose flag that hood was shed
is not forgetful or ungrateful and its
influence will be potent in helping
to bring peace and freedom to that
island to whose heroic sons it owes
so much in peace and war and to
no other body of its citizens does
the republic owe a greater debt than
to the members. present and past,
of the gallant Sixty-ninth New York.
I wish 70 take this occasion to
express to you personally, my dear
Father Duffy, both as your Arch
bishop and as your Chaplain Bishop.
my abiding sense of gratitude and
appreciation for your long, hard.
heroic and devoted priestly services
to the wonderful soldier boys OF
your regiment / want also to offer
you, as custodian of the Welfare
Funds of your regiment. the en-
closed small offering for the benefit
of your wounded soldiers and the
families of those who died for their
country. Praying blessing on your
regimental colors and on the brave
officers and men who so CALAMITY
defended them and with special
prayer for the deathless dead. Yours
faithfully in Christ,
PATRICK J. HAYES,
Archbishop of New York.
Enclosed with the Archbishop's
letter was a check for $500.