New Britain herald., 1924-03-18

We meet as Americans who are proud of our ancestry" ContinuiUs he said: Preference might be made | to the fact that St. Patrick is said to 1 have driven the snakes out of Ireland. 1 You perhaps have noticed that there
 is less joy at banquets since MT. | yolstead tried to do the same thing | for America"
 Mir, Lonergan described a trip he
 made to Ireland several years ago and
 related a number of humorous eN-
 periences connected with it.
 "St. Patrick died on the lIth of
 March in the year 465 A. D., said 1 Mr. Lonerfan. "'rhere has always
 been a dispute as to his birthplace.
 Some say he was born in Scotland and others that he was born in Gaul.
 The place of his nativity makes little difference. We know that he was l captured. and taken to Ireland There he had his great inspiration. He studied for the priesthood and was ordained by Pope Celestinc. He re-
 turned to Ireland, then land or pagans, for 34 years he devoted him
 self to introducing the Catholic faith. He planted the great right arm of the
 Catholic church in Ireland. It has always seemed to me that it was by
 decree Of Divine Providence that the Irish were oppressed. As a result
 of their persecution they scattered to the four corners of the earth and
 planted the seeds of the Roman Catholic church in all parts Of the
 world.
 "l'or centuries before 1t was in-
 yaded by foreign foes, Ireland was the
 intellectual center Of the world. Parents sent their children there to be educated in its schools. Culture and literature had their seats there. Then came the invasion. The Irish were never aggressors, but they did i, fight to retain their civil and religious liberty. Through the eras of their
 struggles they had champions, men
 who stood out and led their cause There was Henry Grafton, who was , deceived by the British and who died i, of broken heart. Then there fol- lowed Emmett, O'Connell, Dewitt and , Parnell.
 f To-day the Irish people have a : government in which the majority , rules. If you will pardon per. 2 sonal reference, I would like to say i that when l had the honor Of repre-
 senting this district of Connecticut in , congress. l advocated the recognition & of the Irish republic. Now the Irish E are so situated that they are allowed , to solve their own problems, as thi, a is as 1t should be because they arC
 close to those problems.
 . "when organizations spring up il s the dark and question the American. . ism of the Irish. when you start t' f count the men who have helped t' Q build up the world and this nation r you must count the Irish first = Mir. Lonergan said that Sir Waite s Raleigh, William Penn and Lord Bal C timore had many Irishmen in thei a expeditions to this country and tha t of the Continental army, 5000 wer r Irishmen. He said that betweei
 1549 and 1859. newcomers to Americ; f numbered 12O.o0O. of which 5000 s were Irishmen. He enumerated tn e Irish who held high executive posi- e tions in the early days of the colonie 2 and referred to the fact that Com t modore Jack Barry. born in Wexford l. Ireland, was the father of the Ameri e can navy. He also said that 12 0 2 the signers of the Declaration of In e dependence were Irishmen: thre e presidents have been sons of Irish - men and four presidents have been 0 e Irish ancestry.
 l. q don't believe there are more thai l. 5000 counties in the United States l. am not sure of this and don't wan 5, to be misquoted by the newspaper
 men present--but of these. 25S ar f named after places in Ireland or fo n Irishmen. and the same thing apple e to 1000 communities" he said. ''Th q Irish take. second place to no peopl l. in upbuilding this nation" He re
 ferred to Morse, Mackay, Thcodor if Vail and Mccarthy. of Irish blood. a l. being leaders in the field of invention q and declared that the Irish had als |. taken a prominent part in finance an' l. the professions. and T need not re E mind you-in politics
 $ Why wouldn't we take pride ii IT our ancestry. The chances are tha - two-thirds of the women here ar n qualified for membership in tn l. Daughters of the American Revolu | ton.
 a "we are Americans and we. mee |. ac Americans. We challenge anyon l. VI ho would question our AmericaBisn !. lbecause of our faith. We need cour $: iage. No organization of good pur