R 140
2015 -- S 0687
Enacted 03/18/2015

S E N A T E   R E S O L U T I O N
COMMEMORATING THE CELEBRATION OF ST. PATRICK'S DAY

Introduced By: Senators McCaffrey, Paiva Weed, Goodwin, Lynch, and Walaska
Date Introduced: March 18, 2015

     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 17th, 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; and
be it further
     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to
transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to the President of the Ancient Order of
Hibernians, Rhode Island.
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LC002216
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