:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/53EUQRPXA7R5LICHH4MG4BRF7A.jpg)
:quality(70)/s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/irishtimes/06b1d091-4897-4dce-b93a-f7b343434e87.png)
Next Monday the Irish Tricolour will play a prominent role in a formal ceremony to take place in the Senate house in Oregon in America's Pacific northwest.
In the chamber in Salem, the Oregon Senate president pro tempore James Manning will present the Irish flag to a long-serving colleague who is stepping down after decades in politics in the state.
Peter Courtney, a Democrat and the longest-serving Senate president in Oregon history, announced earlier this year that he would not be running again for re-election after 40 years.
The flag to be presented to Courtney by Manning as part of the ceremony on Monday is itself of significance.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/6PHHASDDSWDPAOP5PJR6ALNTTE.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/47VNHRF56VBMYFOITEJT6OOXYM.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/U47WV73XO4AWKTYMDWGA535JSM.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/E4HMW2AVQDQCVWPHDVZPU3AWY4.jpg)
Prior to being sent to the Pacific northwest, it had previously been flown from 33, The Mall, in Waterford. This is the site – of what was then the Wolf Tone confederate club – where Thomas Francis Meagher first flew the modern Irish flag 174 years ago on Monday, March 7th, 1848.
The flag and others like it form part of packs sent out to politicians not just in Oregon but in state houses across America ahead of St Patrick’s Day by American Irish State Legislators Caucus.
This relatively new body is seeking to generate support for Ireland and Irish issues among those elected at all levels of local and state government.
An accompanying letter to politicians in the pack highlights the significance of Meagher as a link between Ireland and America, and in particular with politics at a more local level.
Colourful figure
Meagher is one of the more colourful figures in Irish history and certainly packed a lot into his 43 years. He was an Irish revolutionary leader, a deportee, a lawyer, a journalist, an American military officer and later a governor of the state of Montana.
The son of a merchant, he was born in Waterford and was educated by the Jesuits at Clongowes and later in England.
In 1847, Meagher, along with three others, travelled to France to study the French revolution and formed the Irish Confederation, a movement dedicated to seeking Irish independence.
While in France, Meagher and his colleagues were given a tricolour similar to the national flag of France.
For his part in the unsuccessful Young Irelander rebellion of 1848 he was tried for treason. His initial sentence of death was later commuted to transportation to Tasmania in Australia.
In 1852, he escaped and made his way to New York where he studied law and worked as a journalist.
On the outbreak of the civil war in America he joined the Union army and rose to the rank of brigadier general. He recruited and led the famous Irish brigade, encouraging the thousands of immigrants from Ireland to fight for the union side.
After the civil war, Meagher was appointed to the post of secretary of the Montana Territory and later became the acting governor of the region. He helped create the state of Montana’s first constitution, though the vote for statehood failed in his lifetime.
In 1867, two years after the end of the civil war, Meagher was on a steamboat on the Missouri river travelling to Fort Benton. On the evening of July 1st, 1867, he fell overboard.
Suspicions
His body was never recovered, leading to suspicions and theories surrounding the cause of his death ranging from drowning to murder by political opponents.
A statue of Meagher on horseback, waving a sword over his head, stands outside Montana's state capitol building in Helena.
Meagher was by no means the first Irish person to move to Montana. The state has a long and rich Irish heritage.
The ceremony in Salem, Oregon, on Monday is just one of several to be held by State legislatures across America in the run-up to St Patrick’s Day.
The newly-established American Irish State Legislators Caucus in Montana will be holding an event in Butte.
Montana state senator Shannon O’Brien told The Irish Times this week it would be a day when politicians of all parties in the state could set aside their differences. She said afterwards they would join thousands of others to attend the St Patrick’s Day parade in Butte.
Montana had a strong Irish heritage, she said, dating back to the thousands of Irish people who headed west to work in the mines in the region.
As part of the deepening links between the state and Ireland, about 25 Montana legislators are planning to visit Dublin next August.