The Irish at Jockey Hollow

— Morristown National Historical Park —

Saint Patrick's Day, March 17, 1780 was " . . . ushered in with Music and the hoisting of Colours, exhibiting the 13 Stripes, the favorite Harp, and an Inscription, declaring in Capitals, THE INDEPENDENCE OF IRELAND." - The New-York Gazette and the Weekly Mercury; April 24, 1780

Irishmen fought on both sides of the American Revolution.

For the British, they fought in battles from Maine to Georgia as members of the Royal Irish Artillery, the Queen's Rangers and the Volunteers of Ireland.

However, the largest number of Irishmen served in the American Army. Seven out of the eleven brigades in Jockey Hollow were commanded by generals born in Ireland or who had Irish parents. It is estimated that one quarter of the entire Continental Army was from Ireland. In some regiments from Pennsylvania and Maryland, almost half of the soldiers were Irish. The Irish were so numerous in the Pennsylvania Line that General Henry Lee ("Light Horse Harry") of Virginia referred to it as the "Line of Ireland."

St. Patrick's Day was one holiday General Washington granted the army in Jockey Hollow during the hard winter of 1779-1780. He hoped that by recognizing the Irish holiday it might further political unrest in Ireland.

General Washington ordered all work parties to cease for the day. In the New York Brigade the officers were told "not to detail for duty any sons of St. Patrick." Colonel Johnson, commanding the Second Pennsylvania Brigade, bought a large barrel of rum for his men, though he expected them to "conduct themselves with the greatest sobriety and good order."

Funding for this wayside was provided by the Friendly Sons of Saint Patrick of Morris County, the Irish American Cultural Institute.

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