86R7027 JGH-D
 
  By: Murphy H.R. No. 65
 
 
 
R E S O L U T I O N
         WHEREAS, The Honorable James Collins, Mayor of the City and
  County of Limerick, is visiting the Texas Capitol on January 16,
  2019, and this occasion provides a welcome opportunity to pay
  tribute to this distinguished guest and to celebrate the many
  contributions that the people of Ireland have made to Texas over the
  centuries; and
         WHEREAS, Mayor Collins is visiting Texas to establish a
  formal relationship between the City of Austin and Limerick City
  and County Council, and he is accompanied by representatives from
  the University of Limerick, the Limerick Institute of Technology,
  the Limerick Enterprise Development Partnership, the Limerick
  Chamber of Commerce, the Limerick Gaelic Athletic Association, and
  other senior business and community leaders from Ireland; and
         WHEREAS, Among the earliest Irish settlers to Texas was Hugo
  Oconór, who served as governor of Coahuila and Texas from 1767 to
  1770; in the early 19th century, Irish-born impresarios James
  McGloin, John McMullen, and James Power settled Irish families in
  South Texas and along the Gulf Coast, and a number of Irish took up
  homesteads in Stephen F. Austin's first colony; at least 15
  Irish-born soldiers fought at the Alamo, four Irishmen signed the
  Texas Declaration of Independence, and a hundred fought with Sam
  Houston at the Battle of San Jacinto; and
         WHEREAS, In the mid-19th century, new arrivals from Ireland
  helped to build the physical infrastructure and develop the economy
  and social fabric of the young state; prominent Irish Texans
  included Samuel McKinney, an early president of Austin College, and
  Father Michael Sheehan, who established the first Catholic church
  in Austin; later in the century, John William Mallet served as the
  first faculty chair at The University of Texas, and the artist Henry
  Arthur McArdle specialized in paintings based on Texas history,
  several of which hang in the State Capitol; today, some two million
  Texans, representing eight percent of the state's population, claim
  Irish ancestry and are making their mark in both the private and the
  public sphere; and
         WHEREAS, Ireland continues to be a key friend of Texas and a
  strong economic partner, with trade between the two at record
  levels; Ireland is among the top 10 foreign investors in the United
  States, and Irish and Irish-Americans play leading roles in
  community investment and job creation across the Lone Star State;
  in recognition of these economic, social, and cultural links, the
  Irish Government opened a consulate general in Texas in 2015, and it
  remains the only European Union member with a diplomatic mission
  located in the state capital; and
         WHEREAS, The people of Texas share deep, historical bonds
  with the people of Ireland, and it is a privilege to recognize those
  ties and the immeasurable contributions of Irish Texans to the
  growth and vitality of the Lone Star State; now, therefore, be it
         RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 86th Texas
  Legislature hereby welcome Mayor James Collins of the City and
  County of Limerick and the delegation from Ireland to the Texas
  Capitol and join with them in celebrating the long-standing
  friendship that exists between Ireland and this State; and, be it
  further
         RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be
  prepared for Mayor Collins as an expression of high regard by the
  Texas House of Representatives.