WHEREAS, St. Patrick, the apostle to Ireland, demonstrated the courage of his spiritual convictions by returning to the scene of his former enslavement and single-handedly assaulting the stronghold of Druidism; and

WHEREAS, Wielding the devotion of his faith like a great sword of righteousness, and using the strength of his intellect and the power of his passions, Saint Patrick assimilated the ancient pagan Irish myths into a Christian message, and in so doing, converted all of Ireland to Christianity during his lifetime; and

WHEREAS, On March 17^th, during the annual celebration of the Feast of Saint Patrick, which began more than fifteen centuries after his death, Irish-Americans join with men, women, and children of all other ethnic origins who, for one day, become Irish and celebrate Patrick and his love of Ireland; and

WHEREAS, On Saint Patrick's Day, all who wear the green live for a day in the spirit of Saints Patrick, Bridget, and Columcille, and in the mythical wonders of Cuchullain, Finn, Osian, and Deirdre of the Sorrows; and

WHEREAS, Irish immigrants to Rhode Island helped form the cultural foundation of our state, and Rhode Islanders of Irish lineage today proudly sing of their roots in Ballinamore and Ballinasloe, in Ennistymon and Enniscorthy, in Cahirciveen and Castlebarr, and in Skibbereen and Skerries; and

WHEREAS, The songs of Ireland are the tragic songs of love and the joyous songs of battle; the nostalgic reveries of the sorrows and the glories that are the Emerald Isle; and the lamentations of life's myriad travails and the odes to joy and the life eternal; now, therefore be it

RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations hereby commemorates the celebration of the Feast of St. Patrick, the Patron Saint of Ireland.