Louth well represented in New York

March 1998

LOUTH is on the lips of hundreds of people gathered in the Rainbow Room in the Rockefeller Centre, New York on St Patrick’s Day.

A breakfast is hosted by George E. Pataki, Governor of New York State, on the sixth floor, and he tells everyone he is proud of his Irish roots and the fact his grandmother comes from a small seaside village, Blackrock, in Co. Louth.

He is especially delighted that a delegation from the ‘Wee County’, led by county council chairman, Cllr Martin Bellew, is able to join him.

The governor introduces his elderly mother to the audience, and recalls that her mother, Agnes Lynch, leaves Ireland, like so many others, to settle in the USA at the start of the century.

Mr Pataki also has a welcome for Cllr Seamus Byrne, acting chairman of Dundalk urban council, and Minister of State and Chief Whip Seamus Brennan.

All attend Mass in St Patrick’s Cathedral, where they hear Cardinal John O’Connor speak in glowing terms of the ‘Men of 1798’ and the Rising.

It is the governor’s sincere wish that the many who die in that rebellion do not die in vain, and that there will be a renewed effort during the current peace talks to ensure that at long-last Ireland will be reunited and at peace.

His words are cheered by those present, including Irish and American business people, and civic leaders from Ireland.

A special scroll, prepared in Dundalk, is presented to Governor Pataki by Martin Bellew, who notes the Lynch family name is among the most influential in Irish history

He invites the governor to visit Louth, before joining in the massive St. Patrick’s Day parade.