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Stone for Irish Brigade hero’s grave

February 15, 2011

By Staff Reporter

The grave of Col. Patrick Kelly, who gave his life leading the Irish Brigade into battle during the Civil War, will be marked once more at a June 6 ceremony after decades of neglect.

The Galway Association of New York, with the help of the Fort Schuyler-based Irish Brigade Association, will unveil the memorial stone over Kelly’s heretofore unmarked grave that day at first Calvary Cemetery in Long Island City. The ceremony will begin with a Mass, featuring harp and choral music, in the cemetery chapel at noon. The unveiling will take place at 1 p.m. with a military procession led by reenactors portraying men from Kelly’s command.

Kelly, born in Castlehacket, Co. Galway, died as he led the Irish Brigade against Confederates troops at Petersburg, Va., in June 1864. He also commanded the remnant of the Irish Brigade that fought heroically in the Wheat Field during the second day of the three-day battle at Gettysburg a year earlier.

Kelly’s grave is unmarked, though historian Jack McCormack recently uncovered a stereoscopic image of a stone that once adorned the grave of Kelly and his Tuam-born wife, Elizabeth. The stone, like many at the 150-year-old sprawling Queens cemetery, disappeared many years ago.

You can reach the cemetery by car or taxi, via the Long Island Expressway, exiting at Greenpoint Avenue just east of the Midtown Tunnel. The nearest subway stop is the 33rd Street station on the 7 Line.

For additional information,call Jack Conway at (718) 779-6780, evenings, or Gerry Regan, (718) 545-1216, days. More information is available via e-mail at iba@thewildgeese.com or on the IBA’s Web site at http://www.thewildgeese.com/

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