1. St. Patrick has served to inspire generations of people. On St. Patrick's Day March 17, 1943, Eamon de Valera, at the 50th anniversary of the Gaelic League, delivered his "Dream Speech" when he advocated "the Ireland that I would have." His vision, as described in "History Ireland" magazine, was a country where people are gainfully employed, disease and poverty under control, and citizens of all ages can enjoy a life of dignity, free from the degradations of want; a country in which spiritual concerns are more important than materialism and greed regarded as typical of industrial nations. It would, in short, be the home of a people living the life that God desires that man should live. 2. Perhaps the best known of saints throughout the world is St. Patrick; many associate his presence with the peace process particularly in Armagh, the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland where two cathedrals bear his name, Catholic and the Church of Ireland, who present a united front for reconciliation, demonstrating that diversity does not mean disharmony. 3. Theobald Wolfe Tone was the main figure behind the United Irishmen and the 1798 Rising. Many of his adherents were subsequently transported to New South Wales, Australia. New South Wales had its own rebellion of 05 March 1804, when about 300 rebels, including Irish and Scots, staged a revolt against the colonial government. In 1815, thirteen Clonoulty, Tipperary men were arrested for seditious behavior and transported to New South Wales. This event was chronicled by Fr. Max Barrett in his book "Because of These," and by Fr. Brian Maher in his "Planting the Celtic Cross." 4. Colors by Tiffany -- The prestigious NYC firm of Tiffany & Company, known by 1848 for its exquisite jewlery, turned its attention in 1861 to War-related products, including swords, medals, and flags. Colors embroidered by Tiffany & Co. were among the most desirable and costly honors a regiment could receive. National colors by Tiffany were entirely embroidered. Regimental colors were usually embroidered with the state coat of arms or painted with allegorical scenes. Charles Lewis Tiffany (1812-1902) was a dealer in precious stones. His reputation as a jeweler became so great that his name now stands for the highest quality in jewelry. He was born in Killingly, CT. Tiffany went to NYC in 1837, and opened a small notions store. Soon he was specializing in jewelry, glassware and china. Later he imported famous European crown jewels. He also set up factories to manufacture some of the products he sold. His artist son, Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933) became known for the development of "Tiffany Favrile glass." He started his first factory in 1875, and with colored glass made vases, cigarette boxes and tiles for walls and floors. He established the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation in 1919. Tiffany was born in NYC. He studied with American artist George Inness and also in Paris. He served as art director of the Tiffany Studios and as president of the Tiffany Co. Few units in the Union army in the American Civil War enjoyed as colorful a reputation as that of the Second Brigade of the II Corps' 1st Division. The Irish Brigade, as it was known, consisted of regiments from MA, NY and PA, marching into battle under emerald flags sporting gold shamrocks and harps. The unit was commanded at Fredericksburg by Brigadier General Thomas F. Meagher, who had escaped to the US from Tasmania, to which he had been banished for conducting revolutionary activities in Ireland. As part of Winfield Scott Hancock's corps, Meagher's men attacked at the Stone Wall in front of Marye's Heights, perhaps the toughest task of this battle. "The brilliant assault on Marye's Heights of their Irish Brigade was beyond description," wrote a Confederate officer on the scene. A Rebel infantryman in the ranks remembered how the cannon fire "tore great gaps in their ranks," followed by "the blinding flash, the deafening roar, the murderous destruction of two thousand well-aimed rifles..." Though the Irish Brigade advanced closer to the enemy lines than almost any other unit on their part of the battlefield, the attack failed, and cost the 1,300-man Irish Brigade 50 killed, 421 wounded, and 74 captured or missing. "As for the Brigade," wrote an officer, "may the Lord pity and protect the widows and orphans of nearly all those belonging to it! It will be a sad, sad Christmas by many an Irish hearthstone in New York, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts." An Alfred Waud sketch depicts the December 13th Union assaults against Marye's Heights. Per another source -- The 69th NY Infantry Regiment - temporarily without their flags, Capt. Thomas F. Meagher and his men maintained their unity at Fredericksburg on December 13, 1862, by wearing springs of green boxwood in their caps. This Irish flag reached the regiment two days later. In 1963, President John KENNEDY gave the flag to the government of Ireland. 5. In 1998, Fordham University Press in the Bronx, New York, published the titles of Irish interest in its Irish in the Civil War series including: (1) "Irish Green and Union Blue, the Civil War Letters of Peter Welsh, Colour Sergeant, 18th Massachusetts; (2) "Memoirs of Chaplain Life," by William Colby; (3) "An Irishman in the Iron Brigade," by Sergeant James P. Sullivan; (4) "The Irish Brigade and its Campaigns, " by Capt. David P. Conyngham; (5) "Story of the 116th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers in the War of Rebellion," by St. Clair A. Mulholland (about a non-Irish regiment which became part of the famed Irish Brigade). (6) "Commanding Boston's Irish Ninth, the Civil War Letters of Colonel Patrick R. Guiney." 6. While I not certain of the destination, (?Boston) researchers should be aware that there was landlord-assisted emigration of tenants from the large Shirley Estate near Carrickmacross, Co. Monaghan. Perhaps someone can research this. 7. Per "Irish Roots," John Mitchel was tried and found guilty of treason before the rebellion. He was sentenced to 14 years transportation. He served his sentence initially in Bermuda, then in Tasmania. He has no living descendants with the Mitchel surname. Two of his three sons were killed fighting on the Confederate side in the America Civil War, and his grandson, who at one stage was Mayor of New York, as killed in a flying accident. Mitchel also had two daughters, one of whom married a nice of General Robert E. Lee. Some contemporary people with Mitchel connections: Patrick Mitchel of Ballingarry, Co. Tipperary, shared a common ancestor, his gggfather was John Mitchel's first cousin. Michael Higgins from the U.S. has an interesting link to John Mitchel; his gggmother was Jane Haslett, and her cousin, Mary Haslett, was John Mitchel's mother. The same Haslett family also claim a Colonel John Haslet (one T) who served in the Delaware Regiment of Washington's army.! A third person is Judith Burrisk, in Australia. Her gggfather, Daniel Burke, a Tipperary man, played a prominent part in John Mitchel's escape from Tasmania in 1853. He is mentioned in Mitchel's famous book, "Jail Journal." These three contemporary individuals were among those present at the plaque unveiling ceremony at Dromoland Castle in 1998, the 150th anniversary of the Young Ireland Rising. The ceremony took place on the 29th of July, the actual date of the rebellion. Dromoland Castle, was the birhplace of William Smith O'Brien, leader of the Young Irelanders. Direct descendants and descendants of allied lines of John Blake Dillon, William Smith O'Brien, John Mitchel, Thomas Francis Meagher, etc., attended the commemoration. An article and several photos of same can be found in the Third Quarter issue of the 1998 "Irish Roots" periodical.