The Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, or The Society of The Friendly Sons of St. Patrick for the Relief of Emigrants from Ireland, is an American social organization for Irish-Americans founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on March 17 (St. Patrick's Day), 1771.
General Stephen Moylan was one of society's organizers and its first president. Other founding members included:
- Thomas Barclay
- John Nixon
- William West
- Thomas Fitzsimons
Other early members included:
- Commodore John Barry
- General Anthony Wayne
- General John Cadwalader
- General William Irvine
- General Richard Butler
- General William Thompson
- Tench Francis, Jr.
Honorary members included:
- George Washington
- Robert Morris
- Richard Bache
- John Dickinson
Famous quotes containing the words friendly, sons and/or patrick:
“The permanence of all books is fixed by no effort friendly or hostile, but by their own specific gravity, or the intrinsic importance of their contents to the constant mind of man.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“has Nature shown
her household books to you, daughter-in-law,
that her sons never saw?”
—Adrienne Rich (b. 1929)
“The institution of the family is decisive in determining not only if a person has the capacity to love another individual but in the larger social sense whether he is capable of loving his fellow men collectively. The whole of society rests on this foundation for stability, understanding and social peace.”
—Daniel Patrick Moynihan (20th century)