Irish American Heritage Month proclamation

34:08Now resolution number twenty-five one twenty-nine. A resolution by the Board of County Commissioners of Pasco County, Florida, declaring the month of March as Irish American Heritage Month in Pasco County. Whereas by seventeen seventy six nearly three hundred thousand Irish nationals had emigrated to the American colonies and played a critical role in America's war for independence, and five signers of the Declaration of Independence were of Irish descent. Three signers were Irish born and twenty-three

34:39presidents have proudly proclaimed their Irish American heritage. And whereas the Irish first came uh first came to Spanish La Florida in the fifteen hundreds, first as missionaries and mercenary soldiers, and then as planters, traders, businessmen, doctors, and administrators, and three of the Spanish governors of La Florida were Irish military officers and Irish-born priests. Priest, Father Richard Arthur, was

35:09appointed uh parish priest for St. Augustine in 1597. And uh Your classical a judge of La Florida. and establish the first public school in America and open it to boys and girls of all races. and whereas Irish born Commodore John Barry fought the last battle of the American Revolution off the coast of Florida, and was recognized by the United States Congress in September of twenty oh two.

35:39as the first flag officer of the United States Navy. and whereas in seventeen ninety two Irish born uh James Hor Hoban provided the architectural plans for the White House and served as one of the supervising architects for the construction of the Capitol. and whereas in eighteen thirteen Captain Oliver Perry, an Irish American, received a major naval victory in the Battle of Lake Erie. And whereas future President Andrew Jackson, whose family

36:10came from County uh Antrim, served as Florida's military governor following its acquisition by the United States, and whereas in nineteen forty two, the five Sullivan brothers made the ultim ultimate sacrifice for democracy and freedom during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, and later had the destroyer USS The Sullivans commissioned in their memory. And whereas Irish Americans, since the America's inception, have provided and

36:40continue to provide leadership and service to this nation's political, business, and religious establishments, and it is fitting and proper to celebrate the rich cultural heritage and the many valuable contributions of Irish Americans. Now therefore be resolved by the Board of County Commissioners of Pasco County, Florida, the said board hereby declares the month of March as Irish American Heritage Month in recognition of the long history of Irish American contributions to the state of Florida and Pasco

37:11County. Done in resolved and regular session with a quorum president voting this twenty-fifth day of February twenty twenty-five.

37:19No approval.

37:20Second.

37:21All in favor? Aye. Aye. Is there anyone here?

37:28Is anyone here th to accept this one?

37:31Ch Chief Iris, big part of the fire department, I don't know.

37:37Well

37:38heelts and bagpipes and

37:39all.

37:40Yeah.

37:41All Irish people stand up. We got one. Um two, three. Come on, come on.

37:53Um Call down together, fellas.

37:55Come on, Dick.

37:56I mean

37:57You know, I think this is the first time that we've done this. I don't remember ever hearing this. Yeah, it's also not

38:02going to

38:02work. You're free. Okay, how are you Irish? Tell us.

38:10Okay, here you go. My grandfather's side. On your grandfather's

38:15side. Kathy, you too? My um my grandmother was born in Ireland and my grandfather was born in Sweden. Scotland. Sorry, Scotland.

38:24Scotland. Scotland. Well, I I just think that's that's sad.

38:31Um And I th you know I

38:36I think that when uh when these five Sullivan brothers died they made a rule after that, right? That you couldn't have family all serving like that. Um but gosh, that that it was very interesting. I don't know who asked us to sponsor this. Commissioner Mariano isn't here, but um one of y'all you know, you wanna say anything?

38:57Kathy just did.

38:59Yeah. Yeah.

39:00I I think honestly if we did uh if we did genealogy we probably would all be included in in every group that's out here right now. So it's just you know recognition of one great part of of all of who we are. So

39:11Yeah, one big

39:12melting pot. One big melting pot. Yes, ma'am, we're just a big mix. So

39:15good good timing since March is coming too.

39:18Yeah, I guess that's why we did this. Yeah,

39:20Saint Patrick's Day.