June 10, 2013
Legislator Dunne to Honor Irish Hero
Nassau County Legislator Dennis Dunne, Sr., and the Ancient Order of Hibernians Division 7 invite all to attend a ceremony honoring Commodore George DeKay on Wednesday, June 19th at 7:00 pm at St. George’s Cemetery at 319 Front Street in Hempstead. A brief ceremony will be held to recognize Commodore DeKay’s extraordinary efforts to deliver aid to the Irish devastated by the famine.
George Coleman DeKay (1802-1849), an American citizen of Dutch/Irish descent and also a Commodore in the Argentine Navy, lobbied Congress to contribute a ship and spent large amounts of his own money to provision it to transport aid for Ireland during the 1847 famine.
Congress, as a result of his efforts, authorized the temporary removal of armaments and the transfer of the frigate Macedonian to civilian control under his command.
Commodore DeKay sailed from New York for Ireland on June 15, 1847 with 12,000 barrels (approximately 1.700 tons) of provisions, donated by private citizens of the United States, and arrived in Cork on July 16th.
Attendees are encouraged to bring any clean used clothing and canned goods for donation to St. George’s Church in honor of Commodore DeKay.
