Irish-American trivia: 10 patriotic facts about the Irish in America

4. Three of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were born in Ireland

A total of 56 men signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. Of these men, 48 were born in the American colonies, while three of the eight foreign-born men were natives of Ireland.

These Irish patriots of the American Revolution are: James Smith, from Northern Ireland, a member of the Continental Congress 1776-1778, and a Colonel of Pennsylvania Militia 1775-1776; George Taylor, an Irish native and a member of the Committee of Correspondence, 1774-1776, and of the Continental Congress, 1776-1777; and Matthew Thornton, an Irishman who became a member of the Continental Congress in 1776 and Colonel of New Hampshire Militia, 1775-1783.

5. Irishmen helped build the White House

Not only did an Irishman design the White House, and model it after an Irish building, but the White House was built by the hands of Irishmen as well.

Immigrant laborers from various backgrounds were the chief builders of the presidential home. The Irish laborers mainly worked on the layering the bricks and molding the plaster of the building.

6. The White House has a twin in Ireland

Many people know that the White House was designed by an Irishman, Mr. James Hoban, but not everybody knows that the White House building has an Irish twin.

Kilkenny-born Hoban, who studied architecture in Dublin, is believed to have based his plan for the U.S. presidential home on Ireland’s Leinster House, the Georgian style home of the Dukes of Leinster that is now home of the Dail Éireann (Irish Parliament).

7. A blind Irishman composed the “Star Spangled Banner”

Though British composer John Stafford Smith, who was born in 1750, is credited for composing "The Star Spangled Banner,” the tune is actually based on music composed by the great Irish blind harper Turlough O'Carolan, who died over 35 years before the American Revolution.

The musician and singer is considered by many to be Ireland’s national composer, but many Irish-Americans consider O’Carolan as the man responsible for their own country’s national anthem.

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