Commodore John Barry Day is an official observance of the State of New York, a legal holiday in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the only constitutionally mandated observance of the Ancient Order of the Hibernians. 

Commodore John Barry (1745-1803) was a native of County Wexford, Ireland, and a Continental Navy hero of the American War for Independence. Barry’s many victories at sea during the Revolution were important to the morale of the Patriots as well as to the successful prosecution of the War. When the First Congress, acting under the new Constitution of the United States, authorized the raising and construction of the United States Navy, President George Washington turned to Barry to build and lead the nation’s new U.S. Navy, the successor to the Continental Navy. On February 22, 1797, President Washington conferred upon Barry, with the advice and consent of the Senate, the rank of Captain with “Commission No. 1,” United States Navy, effective June 7, 1794. Barry supervised the construction of his own flagship, the USS UNITED STATES. As commander of the first U.S. naval squadron under the Constitution, which included the USS CONSTITUTION (“Old Ironsides”), Barry was a Commodore with the right to fly a broad pennant, which made him a flag officer.

John Barry served as the senior officer of the United States Navy, with the title of “Commodore” (in official correspondence) under Presidents George Washington, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. The ships built by Barry, and the captains selected, as well as the officers trained, by him, constituted the U.S. Navy that performed outstanding service in the “Quasi-War” with France, in battles with the Barbary Pirates and in America’s Second War for Independence (the War of 1812). Significantly, and by joint resolution of Congress, pursuant to Public Law 109-142 (signed by President George W. Bush on December 22, 2005), John Barry was formally recognized, in the Public Law of the United States, as the first flag officer of the U.S. Navy.

For more on the life and achievements of Commodore Barry, written by Council Member Liam Murphy, click here.

Our Council is proud to award the Commodore John Barry Book Award for American Maritime Literature each year. To hear from this year's honoree, author William Geroux, about his winning work, The Ghostships of Archangel, click here.

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