Reagan Dons Shamrock for St. Patrick’s

Surrounded by green-clad Girl Scouts and pink magnolia blossoms, President Reagan, who is of Irish descent, donned a shamrock Friday to mark St. Patrick’s Day.

He was given the green sprig by Ireland’s ambassador to the United States, Tadgh O’Sullivan, in a Rose Garden ceremony two days early. The ceremony was held Friday because Reagan will be visiting Canada today.

Reagan, who invited Irish Prime Minister Garret FitzGerald for lunch last St. Patrick’s Day, and who visited the old sod later in the year, said, “I applaud and encourage the active Anglo-Irish dialogue and support all those who are working for peaceful reconciliation there.”

O’Sullivan also gave Reagan a silver bowl from Cork, a historic center of silversmithing. Reagan gave the ambassador a letter commemorating the city’s 800th anniversary with the White House letterhead written in Gaelic and printed in green.

‘Kinship With Irish’

“I am honored to receive this shamrock and will wear it as an expression of my hope for peace and good will in the year ahead. Kinship with the Irish people is deep and enduring,” Reagan said.

Reagan said the silver bowl has historical meaning both for Cork and himself “because I understand that the Clan Reagan is very prominent in Cork and in that city.”

The ancestral home he visited last year, Ballyporeen, is in County Tipperary.

After the exchange, the President turned to the more than 30 Girl Scouts, one of whom presented O’Sullivan with a box of chocolate mint cookies.