Bayonne Mayor James Davis

This month, much of the world will celebrated St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, the anniversary of the death of the patron saint of Ireland.  St. Patrick is credited with converting Ireland to Christianity in the fifth century after Christ.

Today, there are well over seventy million people around the world of Irish descent. For Irish-Americans, this feast day is a time for us to celebrate the contributions that Irish immigrants and their descendants have made to this country.

There is scarcely an area of American life that has not been touched by Irish-Americans.  Just to take a recent example, a few weeks ago, the NBC television network celebrated the 50^th anniversary of Saturday Night Live.  During its history, that show has featured such Irish-American cast members as Jane Curtin, Bill Murray, Will Ferrell, Jimmy Fallon, Chris Farley, Colin Quinn, Molly Shannon, Julia Sweeney, and Nora Dunn, among others.  Martin Short, another former cast member, is Irish-Canadian.

Elsewhere in television, Irish-Americans have made their mark as great talk show hosts:  Stephen Colbert, Conan O’Brien, Steve Allen, Merv Griffin, Mike Douglas (real name: Michael Delaney Dowd, Jr.), and Jimmy Fallon (after leaving Saturday Night Live).

The ancestors of many American presidents came from Ireland: John F. Kennedy, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, Barack Obama (on his mother’s side), Richard Nixon, James K. Polk, Andrew Jackson, Woodrow Wilson, Ulysses Grant, William McKinley, and others.

Here in Bayonne, the Irish began arriving in large numbers in the 1800’s. Most came here with very little money and a willingness to work hard. Many of the early Irish immigrants lived in the old Fourth Ward (now part of the First Ward) in the Bergen Point area. Bayonne’s Irish-American community has been noted for its large presence in the government sector.  Irish-American elected officials, police officers, firefighters, civil servants, school administrators, and teachers have played major roles in our city’s history.

Wherever the Irish have gone, they have brought their religious faith, great music, and gift for language with them.  The Irish also carry memories of suffering from religious persecution, poverty, foreign occupation, and the Great Hunger of 1845-51. 

Millions of Irish-Americans are grateful for the opportunities this country has provided.  Irish-Americans should be proud of our progress in this country and of our cultural heritage.

On Sunday, March 23, when Bayonne is having our annual St. Patrick’s Parade.  We begin marching at 1:00 p.m. at 5^th Street and Broadway.  The parade will move up Broadway to 39^th Street.  It will move westward on 39^th Street to Avenue C, and then will march northward up Avenue C to the viewing stand between 40^th and 41^st Streets.  Finally, the parade will finish up in the front portion of Gregg-Bayonne County Park.  I look forward to seeing you at the parade!