[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 41 (Thursday, March 4, 2021)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 12517-12518]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-04641]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 41 / Thursday, March 4, 2021 / 
Presidential Documents  

[[Page 12517]]


                Proclamation 10151 of March 1, 2021

                
Irish-American Heritage Month, 2021

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Since before the founding of our Nation, Irish 
                immigrants have arrived on our shores with an 
                unyielding spirit of determination that has helped 
                define America's soul and shape our success across 
                generations. Driven by the same dreams that still 
                beckon people the world over to America today, so many 
                crossed the Atlantic with nothing but the hope in their 
                hearts and their faith in the possibility of a better 
                life.

                That's what brought the Blewitts from County Mayo and 
                the Finnegans of County Louth to the United States. For 
                years, they brought Ireland into their homes in 
                America. Working hard. Raising families. Remembering 
                always where they came from. By 1909, my grandparents 
                Ambrose Finnegan and Geraldine Blewitt met and married 
                in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and passed on to my mother, 
                Catherine Eugenia Finnegan Biden, a pride and a passion 
                that runs through the bloodstream of all Irish-
                Americans.

                The story of the Irish the world over is one of people 
                who have weathered their fair share of hard times, but 
                have always come out strong on the other side. From 
                often humble beginnings, Irish Americans became the 
                farmers, servants, miners, factory workers, and 
                laborers who fed our Nation, kept our homes, and built 
                our industry and infrastructure. They became the 
                soldiers who won American independence, died to 
                preserve our Union, and fought in every battle since to 
                defend America and its values.

                Irish Americans became the firefighters and police 
                officers who have protected us. They are the activists 
                who organized unions to give voice and strength to 
                America's workers. They are the educators who taught 
                generations of American students and the public 
                servants who have answered the call to service in the 
                halls of the Congress, the Supreme Court, and the White 
                House.

                We owe a debt of gratitude to the Irish-American 
                inventors and entrepreneurs who helped define America 
                as the land of opportunity. Irish-American writers 
                pollinated America's literary landscape with their love 
                of language and storytelling, while Irish lyricism has 
                brought poetry, art, music, and dance to nourish our 
                hearts and souls.

                As I said when I visited Dublin in 2016, our nations 
                have always shared a deep spark--linked in memory and 
                imagination, joined by our histories and our futures. 
                Everything between us runs deep: literature, poetry, 
                sadness, joy, and, most of all, resilience. Through 
                every trial and tempest, we never stop dreaming.

                The fabric of modern America is woven through with the 
                green of the Emerald Isle. This month, we celebrate the 
                sacrifices and contributions that generations of Irish 
                Americans have made to build a better America, and we 
                renew the bonds of friendship that will forever tie 
                Ireland and the United States.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of 
                the United States of America, by virtue of the 
                authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws 
                of the United States, do hereby proclaim March 2021 as 
                Irish-American Heritage Month. I call upon all 
                Americans to celebrate the

[[Page 12518]]

                achievements and contributions of Irish Americans to 
                our Nation with appropriate ceremonies, activities, and 
                programs.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                first day of March, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand twenty-one, and of the Independence of the 
                United States of America the two hundred and forty-
                fifth.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2021-04641
Filed 3-3-21; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3295-F1-P