Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Useful St. Patrick's Day information post
In the category of news you can use, Garden State food-blogger Jersey Bites rounds up the best Irish pubs and restaurants around the state.
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By 
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Tue Mar 17, 10:31:00 AM:
Something I wrote for the kids and friends, on this holy day of obligation ...
The Fighting 69th
For more than 100 years now, New York City's St. Patrick's Day Parade has been led by the Army's 69th Regiment, a unit based out of the Lexington Avenue armory at 25th Street. The 69th is an Irish heritage unit, with many of its traditions and symbols continued from a time when the regiment was entirely Irish-American. The unit's crest has a unique green background, two Irish Wolfhounds, a red shamrock and a rainbow.
The 69th was first formed in New York by many who had fought in the failed Irish revolt of 1848, including Thomas Francis Meagher. The regiment distinguished itself in the Civil War, especially at Antietam, where it suffered 60% casualties ... and again at Gettysburg, where -- although outnumbered -- it held the Wheatfield until it was overwhelmed. Robert E. Lee himself gave it the name the "Fighting 69th."
Chaplains from the Civil War 69th who later went to Notre Dame gave that school its "Fighting Irish" nickname.
The 69th had later exploits, especially in WWI ... which was the basis for the movie "The Fighting 69th", starring James Cagney. The 69th was recently active in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Thomas Francis Meagher
As Brigadier General, Meagher led the 69th at Antietam. He's worth noting in his own right. He and his fellow leaders of the 1848 Irish rebellion were sentenced to be hung, drawn and quartered -- Braveheart style -- the last people to ever get that sentence from a British judge. Outcry led to commutation for this group and convict transport to Tasmania, south of Australia. Meagher escaped in 1852 and made his way to New York, where before the Civil War he studied law and pursued journalism. After the Civil War, Meagher served as acting governor of the Montana Territory.
Up the Republic!
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