HR 45 — A Resolution recognizing March 17, 2025, as "St. Patrick's Day" in Pennsylvania and celebrating the involvement of Irish Americans in the American War of Independence.

PRINTER'S NO.   389

                    THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA



           HOUSE RESOLUTION
              No. 45
                                                Session of
                                                  2025

     INTRODUCED BY DALEY, O'NEAL, HARKINS, McNEILL, CEPEDA-FREYTIZ,
        McANDREW, VITALI, HILL-EVANS, FREEMAN, VENKAT, OTTEN, HOWARD,
        JAMES, HADDOCK, MERSKI, GUENST, BRENNAN, GIRAL, CERRATO,
        PIELLI, SAMUELSON, KHAN, SANCHEZ, DONAHUE, CONKLIN,
        HOHENSTEIN, SCHLOSSBERG, MALAGARI, NEILSON, REICHARD, O'MARA
        AND GREEN, JANUARY 29, 2025

     REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON TOURISM, RECREATION AND ECONOMIC
        DEVELOPMENT, JANUARY 29, 2025


                                 A RESOLUTION
 1   Recognizing March 17, 2025, as "St. Patrick's Day" in
 2      Pennsylvania and celebrating the involvement of Irish
 3      Americans in the American War of Independence.
 4      WHEREAS, A native of Roman Britain, Patrick was the son of a
 5   civil servant and deacon; and
 6      WHEREAS, Tradition has it that at 16 years of age, Patrick
 7   was captured along with all the servants of his father's estate
 8   by Irish marauders, then sold to a Druid chief and taken to what
 9   is now known as County Antrim, in the Province of Ulster,
10   Ireland; and
11      WHEREAS, During his six years of captivity, Patrick's
12   occupation as a slave was the tending to flocks of swine and
13   sheep; and
14      WHEREAS, While in captivity, Patrick learned the Irish
15   language and customs; and
16      WHEREAS, During this period, Patrick experienced a religious
 1   awakening with the Christian teachings of his family and pastors
 2   taking hold; and
 3         WHEREAS, Driven by visions urging him to return to his native
 4   land, Patrick escaped his captors, undertaking a perilous
 5   journey in the process; and
 6         WHEREAS, Upon his return home, Patrick dedicated his life to
 7   religion, studying in France where he was ordained as a priest
 8   and later consecrated as a bishop; and
 9         WHEREAS, It was the example and fervor of Patrick's faith
10   that inspired him to continue learning and to pass along his
11   teachings to those in the British Isles and the rest of Europe;
12   and
13         WHEREAS, Patrick's uplifting messages helped to sustain the
14   people of Ireland through famine, oppression and exile; and
15         WHEREAS, It was his faith that earned Patrick not only
16   sainthood, but the everlasting love and respect of the Irish
17   people and many others throughout the world; and
18         WHEREAS, March 17, 461, is generally recognized as the date
19   of St. Patrick's death; and
20         WHEREAS, Each March, during annual parades and celebrations
21   honoring St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, Irish
22   Americans join with people of other ethnic origins in honoring
23   St. Patrick and demonstrating a mutual love for Ireland; and
24         WHEREAS, As we honor St. Patrick, whose life mirrored a deep
25   and abiding example of the challenges of sainthood, we are
26   mindful of the history of the Irish people and their struggle
27   against oppression, religious intolerance and political, social
28   and economic barriers; and
29         WHEREAS, Irish immigrants helped to form the cultural
30   foundation of the United States; and

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 1      WHEREAS, Nearly 2 million Pennsylvanians, more than 15% of
 2   this Commonwealth's population, are of Irish descent; and
 3      WHEREAS, People of Irish descent played a key role in
 4   America's success in the Revolutionary War; and
 5      WHEREAS, Scholarly research has shown that soldiers of Irish
 6   descent constituted 40% to 50% of the Continental Army by the
 7   time the Army reached Valley Forge in 1778; and
 8      WHEREAS, George Washington's step-grandson, George Washington
 9   Parke Custis, wrote: "Ireland furnished one hundred men to any
10   single man furnished by any other foreign nation"; and
11      WHEREAS, Commodore John Barry and other Irish immigrants held
12   high-ranking military positions during the Revolutionary War;
13   therefore be it
14      RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives recognize March
15   17, 2025, as "St. Patrick's Day" in Pennsylvania and celebrate
16   the involvement of Irish Americans in the American War of
17   Independence.




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