Consul General, distinguished guests, gentlemen. Throughout the nineteenth century there was one toast that the Hibernian Society here in Savannah would make every year on St Patrick's Day: ‘To America as she is, and to Ireland as she ought to be – free and independent’.
It’s a toast I particularly like, because it offers both a compliment and a challenge. For years it symbolised the strong support which Americans in general, and Irish-Americans in particular, gave to Ireland during her long struggle for independence.
For almost two centuries, the great city of Savannah held an annual St Patrick’s Day Parade, and was one of the first cities to do so. But it did not hold one in 1921.
The parade was cancelled to show solidarity with the Irish people during our war of independence, and that summer a truce was called which paved the way for Ireland to finally become free and independent. Places like Savannah throughout America played their part in making Ireland what it is today.
We share a vision of the kind of Ireland we hope to see in the future – free and independent, both economically and culturally, embodying a spirit of justice, opportunity and equality on the national and international stage. Ireland as she ought to be.
I know I am following in the footsteps of some revered figures of American history: William Howard Taft, Franklin DRoosevelt, Harry Truman and Jimmy Carter. Albeit, they spoke at dinner rather than lunch.
The early days of this society were not easy when financial pressures almost brought it to a close.
In 1857 only a single glass of punch was served to guests because money was so tight – I am told that the servings will be much more generous tonight. Ten years later the bank balance of the society was only four dollars and twenty-five cents, and there was no parade because of the cost.
And yet, during this time, despite all the pressures, members persevered. They continued to provide help to those who needed it the most. They continued to put others before themselves – to invest in a shared future rather than an individual one.
They wanted to build a prosperous future rather than a desolate one. They remained optimistic in spite of adversity, believing in better times and better things. I’m thinking of people like Michael Dillon, who lent his fellow Irishman, John Guilmartin, over 1,000 dollars so he could get his shipping business off the ground. The venture proved a success, and Guilmartin later served as the 8th president of this society.
By the time of President Taft’s visit in 1912 the society was back in business. In fact, there was such a big budget for the centennial dinner that all the guests were given a silver cup to bring home, and a special gold cup was presented to the president.
There are other great stories of people who overcame unimaginable hardships. I am inspired by women like Joanna Ruth Kehoe, who emigrated to America with her eight children in 1851 to escape post-famine Ireland. She worked hard to establish her family in Savannah, and her courage was an inspiration to all those who met her. Four of her descendants became president of this society.
There are other great figures we should honour tonight.Earlier today I took some time to explore Savannah, and I visited your great park – ‘Robert Emmet Park’ – named after the Irish orator and patriot. I was intrigued to learn that it had been originally called the Strand, and later Irish Green, but had been renamed in 1902 in time for the centenary of Emmet’s death.
Like me and Paul Gleeson, our Consul General, Emmet was a student at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland’s leading university, and we were both debaters in the College Historical Society.
His struggle for freedom and equality for better times and better things culminated in a doomed rebellion against British rule in 1803. At the age of 25 he paid for its failure with his life.
His speech from the dock became an inspiration and a rallying cry for future generations. It too posed a challenge. It implored us to work to ensure that Ireland took her place among the nations of the earth.
Emmet’s legacy in the United States was immense. During the traumatic civil war, his influence was felt on both sides of the conflict. President Abraham Lincoln had studied Emmet’s speech from the dock as a young boy, and towards the end of the civil war he pardoned a young Confederate spy who was sentenced to death, because he made a speech which reminded him of ‘young Emmet’.
Stories of Emmet’s heroism against overwhelming odds were also told in the Jefferson Davis household. They inspired the Davis’s daughter, Winnie, ‘the daughter of the Confederacy’ to write a biography of Emmet, and it was published to great acclaim in 1888. The book is credited with reviving interest in Emmet in the United States, and was almost certainly a factor in the renaming of the great park here in Savannah.
And so, today we remember all of the great figures from our history who have helped to change the world. Each in their own way – Joanna Ruth Kehoe and Robert Emmet. Lincoln and Winnie Davis, president of the Women’s Irish Association. They ask us to reflect on the kind of society we live in, and the kind of society we want to live in. Better times and better things.
We must remember the spirit of Robert Emmet and recognise that real change requires that we find the courage within ourselves to make our future as it ought to be – free and independent, equal and just.
Catholic, Protestant, believer and non-believer, gay, straight, male, female.
Today, this St Patricks Day we celebrate all that we have achieved, and rededicate ourselves to what we still must do.
And so, I want to finish as I began, recalling your society’s great toast -
•To Ireland and America as they are, and also as they ought to be.
•And for the optimism that makes for better things.
Happy St Patrick’s Day.