The Irish Navy
Navy will face off against Notre Dame in Dublin, Ireland on September 1st, 2012. The two storied football programs played in Ireland back in 1996 as well. This time the game will be at the brand new Dublin Arena, better known to the locals as Lansdowne Road and better known for the corporate sponsor as Aviva Stadium. Thus far the 50,000 seat stadium is best known for hosting the UEFA Europa League Final. That’s soccer. For those who care, Porto of Portugal defeated fellow Portuguese side Braga thanks to a late first half goal by Radamel Falcao. Good game…I almost remember some of it.
But for us American folk, the 87th meeting of Notre Dame and Navy will be why we remember Aviva Stadium. The story of Notre Dame’s Irish roots is quite obvious. They are the Fighting Irish and do have a dancing leprechaun as a mascot. The history of the American naval connection to Ireland is as forgotten and as important to American history as that of Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette. At least Lafayette has a bunch of cities named after him.
John Barry has a far less memorable name, but the Irish born American is literally the “Father of the American Navy.” In his long naval career, Barry was the first to capture a British war vessel on the high seas and played a huge role in the American Revolution. Born in County Wexford, Ireland in 1745, Barry was commanding ships in Philadelphia by 1766. When war with the British came, Barry was pretty much put in charge of preparing all ships coming out of Philadelphia. By 1776 he was in command of a warship. Even in 1777 when his ship the Effingham was being fixed up, he joined the Continental Army. By spring of 1778 his expertise was needed back at sea where he would stay fighting the British until 1783. After the war Barry supervised the construction of the innovative frigates and captained the flagship of the new look Navy when they set sail in 1797.
The Irish would continue in the tradition started by Barry and play major roles in the US Navy for years to come. Their exploits in the War of 1812 are well documented and the history goes on and on. But it all started with Barry and that is a name everybody should know. At least it is easier to remember than Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette…he’s an Army guy, but like Barry, Lafayette was a buddy of George Washington, so maybe we’ll cover that some other time.
Read the in-depth football preview for this team
