What can we contribute to St Patrick's Day?

The Unspoken Ghosts of Irish-Americans
"Ireland had no defense forces until about 1913, so its people were captured and enslaved by many nations over the years. They endured more oppression than American blacks and suffered living conditions not unlike Jews of the Holocaust. But harboring grudges against ghosts of heritages past was not a mainstay for Irish Americans*. They had more important things to do. We know so little of our Irish’s torturous past because of their impressive will to live beyond victimization rather than living in it. America’s Irish are prime examples of sheer determination turning adversity into stepping stones of a better life."
*Apparently they had no Farrakhans or Rev. Wrights.
But I digress:
 "Throughout the 1600-1700s the Irish settled in Early American colonies and by the 1860s they were among America’s greatest Civil War heroes, renowned for their bravery and leadership. Their competence, patriotic enthusiasm and ingrained confidence in overcoming obstacles helped to diminish some of the religious bigotry against them in a predominantly Protestant America. Of this Civil War Irish History writes:

“There is perhaps no other ethnic group so closely identified with the Civil War years and the immediate aftermath of the war as Irish Americans.  Read more...

We posted this in the Tunnel Wall one year ago and felt it ought to have an encore: The Irish Brigade at Gettysburg

This painting by Don Troiani is titled New York’s Bravest. It is courtesy of 

www.historicalimagebank.com. 

Despite Cuts, Schumer Gets Marine Corps Band to Play at St. Patrick’s Day Parade  "Forget the sequester. If you're Chuck Schumer, there are ways around it. Consider the recent example of a U.S. Marine Corps band cancelling its scheduled performance at a St. Patrick's Day parade due to the "sequester"--and Chuck Schumer's successful "push" for the band to come anyway."